The Second Suspect
Two suspects, one stolen painting
The Hollowmere museum sat at the top of the old harbour, grey and silent in the fog.
Overnight, a valuable painting had vanished from its heavy .
By morning, the police had narrowed the case to two suspects.
The first was Danny, the young night guard, barely twenty and always short of money.
The second was Mrs Ashford, the elderly who had looked after the museum for forty years.
"One of them must have taken it," said Inspector Penrose, tapping his cane on the floor.
Mira opened her notebook and began to compare the two carefully.
The painting was far heavier than it looked, and its was made of oak.
"Mrs Ashford is the older , and much frailer than Danny," Mira said slowly.
"She can't have lifted that by herself; it would have been too heavy for her."
Danny, on the other hand, was younger, stronger, and far quicker on his feet.
"He must have carried it out through the back door," Mira added.
There was another problem for Danny too.
Only he had the key to the , and someone must have used a key that night.
The lock had not been broken, so the thief can't have forced the door.
Danny had also left the museum earlier than he claimed.
The car park camera showed his van leaving at half past ten, not midnight.
"He must have lied about the time; that is the strongest we have," Mira said.
Mrs Ashford listened quietly, her thin hands folded in her lap.
"You are cleverer than the last detective they sent," she said with a smile.
Then her eyes drifted to an old photograph on the wall, showing the clocktower and a young woman beside it.
"I have lived here longer than anyone, and I knew them all," she murmured.
"Elena was the finest, bravest clockkeeper this town ever had," she said, almost to herself.
Then she fell silent, as if she had said too much.
"Brave enough to do what?" Mira asked, leaning forward.
But Mrs Ashford only shook her head, her hands trembling, and would say no more.