The Kaikoura Horror

2

Dusang gazed over at Uxbury interestedly. "A very interesting little problem, Uxbury," he remarked. "But what did you do after that?"

"Well, naturally, we went to investigate," said Uxbury. "There was no longer any doubt what Dr. Truly had told us was true. That pagoda had, indeed, been destroyed by a giant, squid-like creature, which had subsequently vanished into thin air. But the conclusion left us baffled. Such a thing was just not possible in the sane world. My logical brain sought for a more rational explanation. As such, I went on to investigate. That pagoda, apparently, had been owned by a particularly rich man by the name of Nolan Proust. According to the survivors from the pagoda, Proust had earned a considerable amount of wealth abruptly and out of the blue. Immediately I suspected blackmail.

"I went on to investigate Proust's living relatives and friends. It would appear that Proust had once made the acquaintance of a notable artist in the region, a certain Paul Bethany. As such, I looked up Bethany. He and his assistant worked in a rather small art studio in the city. Bethany, it seemed, had come into some financial trouble... but during the time of the crime, he had an alibi. He even showed me a painting he did that day. His assistant corroborated that. Although that assistant had gone to purchase more paint (they had run out of paint, you see, and only waterproof paint was available), he was able to ascertain that the painting was done only in the past few hours, right when the crime transpired. As such, I eliminated Bethany as a suspect. To be honest, I was trying to get out of that art studio as quickly as possible, the smell of gas was so pungent. You cannot even begin to imagine the horrid stench of that studio.

"The next person of interest was Proust's ex-girlfriend. She, too, appeared to have come into some financial trouble, and, unlike Bethany, did not have an alibi for the time of the crime. According to her friends, Proust had been an abusive boyfriend... which led me to believe that Proust had been blackmailing her. Add that to the fact that she had no alibi that day, and it becomes doubly suspicious.

"I continued to investigate. At the sight of the crime, we uncovered several peculiar stones that did not belong to the pagoda. That is to say, the rocks were not used in the construction of the pagoda. They were not part of the pagoda. But we had a case against the ex-girlfriend."

Colonel Uxbury sighed. "We have motive and opportunity, but the means still remain baffling to us. She could have destroyed the pagoda and killed Proust, both to prevent him from blackmailing her and to ensure that whatever dirt Proust had on her was destroyed. But how could she have caused the destruction of that pagoda? Bethany appeared to be a connoisseur of detective novels, so I consulted him first. But even he, too, had no idea."

Dusang had not spoken throughout the entire course of Uxbury's tale; his eyes remained half-closed, as though he were not listening. But, once Uxbury had finished, his eyes suddenly snapped open. There was now an intelligent gleam in his eyes. "Tell me, Uxbury," said Dusang suddenly, "was there a separate studio in Bethany's art studio?"

Uxbury looked bewildered. "Why, how did you know? But what the deuce has it to do with this..."

Dusang rose to his feet, as though he had not heard Uxbury's question. "Quickly, Uxbury," he said, with a note of urgency in his voice, "I have a theory. But I require a final piece of evidence."

"Thunder and blazes!" exclaimed Uxbury, amazed. "How the devil were you able to--?"

"There is not a moment to lose, Uxbury," interrupted the detective. "Tell me, Uxbury, was Bethany well- acquainted with Proust's ex-girlfriend?"

"Why, I'm sure they met each other on several occasions. Look here, Dusang, what's this about? Are you meaning to say that you might divine some more information about the ex-girlfriend from Bethany?"

Dusang made no reply. He merely instructed Dharma to prepare the Hispano-Suiza, and for it to be driven over to Paul Bethany's studio.