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Hallucination, you think?”
    â€œIt’s possible.”
    â€œNo doubt it is,” Palfrey said. “Cooper.”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œWe might be involved in a very peculiar business indeed. A great number of people might see the same hallucinations, and if they do, rumour will spread quickly. I would rather it didn’t for the time being. I don’t mind the mystery of a murder, but I don’t think it would be wise to say too much about rabbits. Is Mrs. Fordham likely to let her tongue run away with her?”
    â€œI don’t know her well enough to say, sir, but generally speaking she’s very level-headed.”
    â€œHow is she now?”
    â€œJust getting over the shock, sir, and talking to Jacob Gosling, the innkeeper. I’m afraid there’s no way of stopping wild talk about rabbits though. Several people heard her story.”
    â€œPity,” Palfrey said. “Great pity.”
    He approached the front of the Goose Inn, heavy hearted. Cooper would know the situation, and it had to be faced. A rumour that a man had been attacked and killed by two rabbits would now spread, but of course no one would believe it – they would assume that some creatures other than rabbits had been involved. Wildcats? Foxes? What he needed was a story which would satisfy the local people and the newspapers, but he doubted if that was possible. Man kills rabbit, no news story. Rabbit kills man, and the story would be flashed around the globe. Until he knew much more, he did not want this spread about. Were the creatures rabbits? Were all of them deadly? Until he knew, until he found it impossible to avoid, he did not want terror to spread.
    The ambulance pulled up.
    â€œWhich is Mrs. Fordham ?” asked Palfrey.
    â€œThe heavy woman with the green jumper,” said Cooper.
    â€˜Heavy’ was not a good description. Plump, perhaps, but there was a comeliness about her; a wholesomeness.
    â€œIntroduce me, please,” Palfrey said.
    The thing which most surprised him about Mrs. Fordham was the brightness of her eyes. Here was an intelligent woman, and he did not for one moment believe that she had imagined what she had seen. He had to take a chance on her goodwill.
    â€œMrs. Fordham,” he said, “I am an Intelligence officer, and I’m intensely interested in your story. Will you say as little as possible about it until we’ve been able to talk?”
    There was a hint of apprehension in the clear blue eyes.
    â€œPerhaps I’ve already said too much.”
    â€œLet’s hope not,” Palfrey said. “It’s a very serious matter indeed.”
    Her apprehension faded into a kind of wary appraisal, as if she could not quite make this man out; he had a very good impression of her composure.
    â€œHave you talked to the newspapers, yet?” he asked.
    â€œNo one’s been here from the Press, as far as I know,” answered Mrs. Fordham.
    â€œGood. I want to go along to the spot where you saw these rabbits,” Palfrey said. “If you’ll come with me, we can talk on the way. Will you?”
    â€œI’ve been trying to get someone to take me there, or allow me to go,” she said. “My husband will wonder what’s happened to me.” Again, Palfrey had a mental picture of the man lying near the big oak tree.
    â€œThen let’s go,” he said.
    â€œSo you don’t write me off as subject to hysteria,” Mrs. Fordham remarked.
    â€œI do not.”
    Mrs. Fordham gave a little shiver.
    â€œWill you want to use my car? That’s the old Hillman.”
    â€œMay we?”
    â€œI’ll go and wait in it,” she said. “I don’t mind admitting I don’t feel too good.” She nodded and went off, and he felt sure she was concealing her anxiety for her husband.
    The body of Neil Anderson was lifted from the ground and carried to the ambulance. Palfrey