Adders on the Heath by Gladys Mitchell

themselves among trees. There was no marked path, but the trees, mostly pines, were not very close together and it was easy enough to follow the course of the stream. It was at this point that the hotel collie manifested himself and joined them.
    'Damn that dog!' said Richardson. He stooped and fondled the collie. It bounded along, barking joyously.
    'Yes, you're right,' said Denis. 'How big and heavy was this chap you saw? Colnbrook, I mean.'
    'Oh, I really don't know! You don't go trying to judge height and weight when you find a dead man in your tent! All I remember about Colnbrook is that he was about my height and seemed fairly chunky. Why?'
    'Oh, well, I was only wondering-if he was murdered, I mean-whether it was the work of only one person. Still, I suppose the police will establish that. Of course, I'm hoping it was accidental, or that he was taken ill. Where do we go now?'
    'Well, it's all a bit circumscribed, really, for all that it looks a vast expanse. You'd think that wood over on the far side would lead somewhere, but, actually, it peters out on this side of the stream. There's almost a right-angle bend.'
    'Let's have a look, anyway,' said Denis.
    'You know,' said Richardson, as they left the stream and took a broad track marked heavily by caterpillar wheels, car tyres and hoof-prints which led over the heath to the wood, 'I do so wish I'd told the police I'd met Colnbrook before. It'll be absolutely ruinous for me if it comes out now-that is, if the death wasn't accidental.'
    'Oh, the police aren't going to worry too much about that,' said Denis easily. 'They understand panic. Besides, as we learned in our youth, the best way to get out of difficulties is to tell a lie, a good lie, and stick to it. You only had an electric torch, remember, and you certainly weren't expecting to find a dead man in your tent. How well did you know this blighter, anyway? I know you met him again after you socked him on that cross-country run. You remember telling me about that?'
    'I've never seen or heard of him since, until this wretched business, except for the railway station episode.'
    'Then, if you'll pardon my bluntness of speech, what the hell are you worrying about? Those incidental manifestations of the sporting spirit are two a penny. If he had murdered you , it might have been a bit different, although, I think, not very much. Your socking him could have supplied him with the shadow of a motive, I suppose. But, in the case under review, having put it across him for criticising your birth and breeding, you'd satisfied your ego and had no more use for vengeance, and he responded by landing you with that girl. My advice is to see the facts clearly and see them whole, and then, for God's sake, to forget all about them.'
    There was a silence as they tramped onwards towards the woods. It lasted a full two minutes. Then Richardson said, 'Thanks. That clears the air.' He sounded doubtful, however.
    'Look here, why have you got it so firmly into your bean that he was murdered?' demanded Denis. 'You didn't notice any injury?'
    'I didn't stop to notice anything much. I do just remember a slight smell of almonds when I tried to revive him, you know.'
    'Well, you did what you could when you telephoned from the hotel. Incidentally, I don't for a moment believe that we're going to find his body, however much we trek around. The chap or chaps-and I distinctly favour the plural-who exchanged the corpses will have taken him far enough away from here.'
    'I'm not so sure,' said Richardson, 'that I want to find his body, after all. Won't the police think it damned fishy if we do?'
    Denis considered this point.
    'I see what you mean,' he said. 'Perhaps I was feeling a bit over-enthusiastic when we started out. I quite see that it's better, from your point of view, to have your tent connected with a dead bloke whom you didn't know, than with somebody whom you did. Oh, yes, I think you may have got something there. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying