You idiot, what are you doing? Go back right now and pick up where you left off, or he's going to get the wrong idea!
'Shut up!' she muttered to herself, putting her hands over her ears, 'Shut up! Shut . . . oh God! Theo! THEO!!' In an instant he was at her side, as were several of the other picnic-goers.
'What is it? What happened? Are you all right?'
'I saw- Oh, God! Oh my God! . . .'
'What did you see? There's nothing out there but open moor.'
'It was Albert! He was- I saw him- what he did! He was standing there, looking right at me.'
Theo's look was unreadable, but he said to the other women, 'Stay with her, please. The rest of you stay right here. I'm going to go have a look.'
'I'd better come with.' It was Fred Pascoe, the father of little Jennie. He was a strapping fellow of even temperament but not one to be mucked about or argued with once his mind was set on something. 'I know these moors. If he's anywhere about I'll know it.'
Theo nodded curtly and they moved off.
The two were gone for so long that, though still in full view and looking at the ground, Pamela began to wonder it she'd have to suffer the humilation of discovering that she'd imagined it all, that what she'd seen was no more than a figment of her own overactive imagination. But the two returned, brusquely, something chilling and curt about their movements. Going straight to his wife, Fred said, 'Give us the mobile, luv, and go sit in the car and lock the doors.' Raising his voice so that all could hear, he said, 'I suggest the rest of you do the same, whilst Theo and I wait for the police and get things sorted out here.'
As dusk settled on the moor, the tranquil evening was shattered by a chaos of sirens and flashing lights. The commotion grew to a crescendo as a coroner's van parted the knot of parked vehicles and a body was carried towards it on a folded gurney, revealed in a stroboscopic nightmare sequence of flashing cameras.
After an interminable time Theo came to Pamela's window and gestured. 'Come, CID wants to speak with you.' Through the open window, he said, 'Lock the doors and roll up the windows, please, Mr. Pascoe. You may as well head on home with the others. We may be here a while, so don't wait up for us. In fact, would you mind taking Mrs. Dewhurst with you, and Anne and little Jennie? Fred and Pamela and I are going to have to answer a lot of questions, and there's no telling how long this is going to take.'