‘Yes, Mr Liu, thank you,’ said Lady Hardcastle, also in Mandarin.
‘But stories must wait,’ he said. ‘Now we must find Miss Hallows. She is a great acrobat and she and her sisters have been good friends to us over the years. I shall get my troop to join the search.’
‘Thank you, Mr Liu,’ I said.
‘Liu Feng, please,’ he replied. ‘I feel we shall be friends.’
‘I do hope so,’ I said, ‘In which case you must call me Flo.’
‘Thank goodness for that,’ he said in English. ‘I was wondering how I would ever manage to say Florence.’
We laughed as he bowed and went to fetch the rest of the acrobats.
‘What was all that about?’ asked Colonel Dawlish once he had gone. ‘Did he tell you anything useful?’
‘I just told him about our time in China,’ I said.
‘Oh.’ He looked dejected. ‘I thought from all the chatter that he was giving you some vital clue or other.’
‘No dear,’ said Lady Hardcastle, ‘just chit-chat. I suspect they feel a little homesick. I think he was pleased to find someone who knew even a little of his homeland. He’s invited us to dinner.’
‘Has he, by crikey? And where’s he gone now?’
‘To fetch the rest of the troop,’ I said. ‘He seems very fond of Prudence and wants to help find her.’
‘Then thank you for taking the time to chat, dear girl. Many hands, and all that.’
‘Indeed,’ said Lady Hardcastle.
Presently the rest of the troop arrived and we recommenced our own “systemagic” search of the camp. Liu Feng organized the acrobats and stayed with us, chatting occasionally as we looked through tents, opened trunks and peered into every nook and cranny.
‘Something has been bothering me, Flo,’ said Liu Feng in Mandarin. ‘Were you at the show last night?’
‘We were, yes,’ I said.
‘And you didn’t happen to be outside, perhaps, getting a drink or a breath of the evening air while my troop and I were performing.’
‘No, Liu Feng, we saw the whole thing.’
‘Ah.’ He blushed.
I laughed. ‘Please don’t worry. I’d never heard that one before. And it was quite an eye-opener. I never realized you could do that in a hammock.’
He blushed redder still.
‘But I do hope we haven’t caused any trouble,’ I said. ‘We told Colonel Dawlish and he seemed very amused. And Mickey loves them.’
‘And I thought it was utterly delightful to be next to such prim old English ladies listening with such rapt attention to a speech that would have them spitting out their false teeth in horror if they’d understood it,’ said Lady Hardcastle.
‘I confess that’s why I do it,’ he said, with a mischievous twinkle. ‘But I would die of shame if I thought I’d caused any actual offence.’
‘None whatsoever,’ I said.
‘Gracious me, no,’ agreed Lady Hardcastle.
He smiled and we continued our search.
Suddenly, there was a shout from our left and one of the younger acrobats waved frantically to us from outside another store tent. We broke into a run and raced towards him.
‘In here, Colonel,’ he said, holding up the tent flap.
We went inside and he led us to the farthest corner where there stood a beautiful mahogany steamer trunk. Gingerly, he lifted the lid and beckoned us closer. Inside was the grotesquely folded body of Prudence Hallows.
‘My God!’ exclaimed Colonel Dawlish.
‘Who would do such a thing?’ asked Liu Feng in English.
‘A monster,’ said Colonel Dawlish, furiously.
‘But how did you know she was in danger?’ said Liu Feng.
I explained the sequence of murders to him in Mandarin, as well as our thoughts about the group of friends who were at the centre of it all.
He nodded. ‘That would mean that the next murder would be Adeline, the contortionist,’ he said in English. ‘And then you will have the set.’
‘The set?’ said Lady Hardcastle. ‘What do you mean?’
‘They were the five close friends from your group. The inner... clique, do you say?’
‘Clique, yes,’ she said.
‘This is all news to me,’ said Colonel Dawlish.
‘When they were with you, George,’ said Liu Feng, ‘they were all one group, they were... united by your presence. But when you were not there, they formed different... alliances. The four victims and Adeline formed one faction. Then there is the married couple, Veronica and Wilfred. The other three are alone without the group. They are outside it when you are not there. Jonas tries to woo Sabine but she remains... aloof. Mickey keeps his own counsel.’
‘Well I never,’ said Colonel Dawlish. ‘I’ve always prided myself on knowing my troops well, especially my junior officers. I feel quite ashamed never to have noticed.’
‘There is no shame, George,’ Liu Feng assured him. ‘You knew what you needed to know to make the circus run smoothly and well. We have never worked in a better... atmosphere. You cannot know those things that they choose to conceal from you.’
‘Thank you, Liu Feng. But we must take care of this poor girl. Can you send one of your troop to tell Mickey we’ve found her, and to ask him to inform Sergeant Dobson.’ He turned to Lady Hardcastle. ‘This has gone on long enough, Emily. I don’t think I can insist on keeping the police out any longer. I should have listened to you sooner. These deaths are on my conscience.’
‘You’re not responsible, George, and we do need the authorities to be involved, but we might yet be able to catch the killer before anyone else has to die. By all means tell Sergeant Dobson and Dr Fitzsimmons, but our killer is still confident of getting away with it. If you close down the circus and get the CID involved now, he or she might just fade back into the background and we’ll never hear from them again. There have been no real clues and no solid evidence that we can see, so we need to catch them in the act.’
‘My lady!’ I said, slightly shocked. ‘You mean to use Adeline as bait? You’d put that poor girl’s life in danger to catch the killer?’
‘Flo makes a good point, Emily,’ said Colonel Dawlish. ‘It’s a bit reckless to risk a girl’s life to prove a point.’
‘There needn’t be any risk,’ she said. ‘You go to her now; I’d lay odds she’s in her tent. Keep her chatting. Don’t frighten her. But don’t let her out of your sight until you hear from me.’
‘And what will you be doing?’ he asked.
‘Armstrong and I will be having words with a sideshow attraction.’
And with that, she turned and left. I had no option but to follow.
‘Where are we going, my lady?’ I asked as I strode along beside her.
‘What did you think of what Liu Feng said, Flo? About the group, I mean.’
‘I’m not sure I thought anything very much. It’s interesting the way that small groups of friends like that are made up of still smaller groups, but I don’t really see...’
‘What was it that the tuba player said about Mr and Mrs Carney? They’re a bit stand-offish? They keep themselves to themselves? And why did we think that? Because they were always being mocked and bullied. And I’d bet that the bullies were the ones that formed the inner circle’s inner circle. And now all but one of those bullies is dead.’