But how could Derek have been following along behind? He’d been far below on the beach, strolling along under the cliffs, looking for that special seaweed whose name no one had bothered to remember. Not that anyone had actually seen him searching for the stuff, but half a dozen people at least had heard him declaring his intention to spend the afternoon thus—and anyway, it was so exactly what he would do, so completely in character. In addition to which, he’d actually had some specimens of seaweed in his rucksack when he got back, all ready to show to anyone who was interested, not excluding the police. As it happened, the one person who might have been interested—old Colonel That-Clock’s-Slow—was asleep in his chair throughout, and no one—least of all Derek—had any inclination to rouse him.
*
And it never occurred to the police—indeed, why should it?—to examine the film Derek brought back in his camera that afternoon, as well as the specimens he brought back in his rucksack. And even if they had—even if Derek had actually boasted to them about the marvellous shots he’d got of Ophrys sphegodes (the slides of which were destined to be his prize exhibit at the September meeting of the Dorset and Hampshire Botanical Society)—even if he’d expatiated at length on how uncommon it was, and how it had never been found in just this area before—even then, how likely was it that any of his hearers would have known that Ophrys sphegodes is the botanical name for the rare and beautiful Spider-Orchid? And that the Spider-Orchid couldn’t, by any possibility at all, have been found during a stroll along the base of the cliffs, but only on top, growing in the light, chalky turf, far, far above the sea?
Copyright
This ebook edition first published in 2014
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
All rights reserved
© Celia Fremlin, 1977
Biographical Sketch © Chris Simmons, 2014
The right of Celia Fremlin to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–31295–5
The Spider-Orchid Page 21