Chapter 11 chapter Ten

1 Superintendent Harper stood looking at the distorted pile of metal.A burnt-out car is always disgusting, not to mention a charred, black, horrific corpse. The Wien Quarry is located in a remote location, away from populated areas.Although the quarry was really only two miles in a straight line from Danemouth, the only road leading to it was little better than a carriage drive, narrow, winding, and uneven.The quarry has long been abandoned, and the only people who come along this trail are those who are looking for blackberries.This place is very ideal for handling cars.If a worker named Albert Biggs hadn't happened to see the flames in the sky on his way to work, the car would have gone unnoticed for weeks.

Albert Biggs was still there.Although what he should have said had been said not long ago, he continued to repeat the touching story in detail. "I said, what's going on here? My God, what the hell is that? It's a fire. At first I thought it might be a campfire, but who would light a campfire at the Wayne Quarry? No, I said, it must be a Fire. What the hell is that? No houses or farms that way. It's over at Wayne, right there. I didn't know what to do when Sergeant Greg came up on his bike and I Told him. The flames were all gone by then, but I could tell which direction. I told him the flames were blazing. I said it might be a stack of hay. Someone might have stepped on it, stepped on it. I never thought it would It was a car - and no one was expected to be burned alive in it. It was a great tragedy, there's no question about that."

Police in Glenn County have been busy.The camera clicked continuously, and the location of the charred body was carefully recorded, after which the police doctor began to examine carefully. The police doctor flicked the black ash on his hand and walked towards Harper, his lips were tightly closed. "Very well done," he said, "only the remains of a foot and a shoe remain. Although we can get some information from the skeleton, it is not yet possible to determine whether the body is male or female.But the shoe was the black buckle-strap kind—the schoolgirl kind. " "There's a schoolgirl missing in the neighboring county," said Harper. "Not so near here. A girl of sixteen or so."

"It could be her," said the doctor. "Poor child." Harper said uncomfortably, "Is she still alive? When—" "No, no, I don't think so. There was no sign of an attempt to escape. The body was just lying on the car seat - one foot sticking out. I think she was put there after her death.Someone then set the car on fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence. " He stopped and asked, "Can I go?" "OK thanks." "Okay, then I'm leaving." The doctor walked over to his car.Harper walked over to a busy sergeant who was an expert in car crimes.

The latter raised his head. "The case is clear, sir. The car was doused with gasoline and set alight on purpose. There are three empty cans in the hedge over there." Not far away, another person was carefully sorting out the small things that had been retrieved from the wreckage. ——only charred black leather shoes and some charred and blackened pieces.Seeing Harper approaching, he looked up and said, "Look at this, sir. This will speak for itself." Harper took the little thing with his hands.He said, "Buttons on Girl Scout uniforms?" "Yes, sir."

"Well," said Harper, "it does seem to be telling." Harper was so upright and kind that he felt like throwing up.First Ruby Keene, then this kid, Pamela Reeves. He asked himself again: "What's the matter with Glen County?" Next he called first his police chief and then got in touch with Colonel Melchett.Pamela Reeves disappeared in Radfordshire and her body was found in Glenshire. The next thing is not easy to do.That is, he must inform Pamela Reeves' parents... 2 Superintendent Harper rang the front door bell, and he looked carefully at Braeside's front.

A neat little cottage with about an acre and a half of pretty gardens.This kind of housing can be seen everywhere in the countryside in the past two decades.Veterans, retired civil servants—people like that.They were well-bred, decent people; a little dull, perhaps, to put it bluntly.They give everything they have in their children's education. No one would associate them with tragedy.And now tragedy has struck.He sighed. He was led at once into the drawing-room, where a serious man with a white mustache and a woman with eyes red and swollen from crying stood up at once.Mrs. Reeves asked eagerly, "Have you heard from Pamela?"

She shrank back immediately, and the superintendent's pitiful gaze seemed to be a blow. "I'm afraid you have to be prepared for bad news," Harper said. "Pamela—" the woman's voice trembled. Major Reeves blurted out: "Boy—is something wrong?" "Yes, sir." "You mean she's dead?" "Oh, no, no," cried Mrs. Reeves, followed by a burst of sobbing.Major Reeves put his arms around his wife. His lips quivered, and his eyes looked questioningly at Harper, who bowed his head. "An accident?" "Not exactly, Major Reeves. She was found in a burnt-out car in an abandoned quarry."

"In the car? The quarry?" He was very surprised. Mrs. Reeves collapsed completely, and she collapsed on the sofa, sobbing violently. Superintendent Harper said, "I can wait a while if you want." Major Reeves snapped, "What's the matter? Outrage?" "It looks so, sir. So, if it doesn't make you too hard, I'd like to ask you a few questions." "Okay, do what you say. If what you say is true, we shouldn't waste time. But I can't believe it. Who would hurt a kid like Pamela? " Harper said nonchalantly, "You have reported your daughter's disappearance to the local police. She left for a Scout rally and you're waiting for her to come back for dinner. Is that so?"

"yes." "Should she come back by bus?" "yes." "Her Scouting buddies said that after the rally, Pamela said she was going to Woolworth via Danemouth and then take the late bus home. Do you think it's normal for her to do that?" "Oh, yes. Pamela likes to go to Woolworth. She often does her shopping in Danemouth. The bus goes up the road, and it's only about fifteen miles away." "As far as you know, she has no other plans?" "No." "Is she going to see someone at Danemouth?" "No, I'm sure she won't. If she is, she'll tell us. We agreed to wait for her to come back for dinner. So when she didn't come back late, we called the police. She doesn't usually do that. "

"Does your daughter have bad friends—that is, friends you don't like?" "No, there was never any trouble about it." Mrs Reeves said tearfully: "Pamela is just a kid. She's not human for her age. She likes games and all that. She's not mature at all." "Do you know a Mr. George Bartlett who lives at the Majesty Hotel in Danemouth?" Major Reeves opened his eyes wide. "Never heard of him." "Do you think your daughter knows him?" "I definitely don't know him." Then he asked sharply: "What has he to do with it?" "He was the owner of the burned Minos 14 car." Mrs. Reeves exclaimed: "Then he must be—" Harper immediately said: "Earlier today he reported his car was missing. It was still in the courtyard of the Majestic Hotel at lunchtime yesterday. Anyone could drive that car away. " "Did no one see who drove away?" The superintendent shook his head. "There are dozens of cars coming in and out of the hotel in a day. Minos 14 is the most common car." Mrs. Reeves cried: "Have you not done anything? Don't you want to try to find the - the devil who did it? My little girl - oh my little girl! Wasn't she burned alive Dead, eh? Oh, Pamela, Pame "She's not in pain, Mrs. Reeves.I assure you she was dead when the car ignited. " Reeves asked stiffly, "How was she killed?" Harper glanced at him meaningfully. "No idea. The fire destroyed all relevant evidence." He turned to the bewildered woman lying on the couch. "Believe me, Mrs Reeves, we are doing everything we can. It's just a matter of investigation and verification. Sooner or later we will find the people who saw your daughter yesterday at Danemouth and who were with her. You know it takes Time. We’ll get dozens, hundreds of reports of seeing a Girl Scout here, there, or anywhere. It’s going to take picking and patience—but we’ll get to the bottom of it eventually, don’t worry.” Mrs. Reeves: "Where is she—is she? Can I see her?" Superintendent Harper took another look at the woman's husband.He said: "The police doctor is dealing with everything involved. I suggest that your husband and I - go through all the formalities together. In the meantime, please try to recall anything Pamela said - maybe you didn't pay attention at the time The—something that will help in understanding the case. You know what I mean—a chance word or expression. That's the best way you can help us." The two of them walked toward the door, and Reeves pointed to a photo and said, "That's her." Harper looked at the picture intently.The photo shows a group of hockey players. Reeves pointed to Pamela standing in the middle of the line. "A good boy," Harper thought, looking at the earnest face of the girl with the pigtails in the photo. He thought of the charred corpse in the car, and his mouth was tightly pursed together. He swore to himself that the murder of Pamela Reeves would not become another Glenn County mystery. He thought Ruby Keene's thing might be her own, and Pamela Reeves' was something else entirely.If he had ever met a good child, it was her.He vowed not to stop until the murderer was found.