As fascinating as Mrs Coopertown’s observations on the provinciality of British television were, we felt compelled to ask about the incident with the dog.
‘That too is typical,’ said Mrs Coopertown. ‘Of course Brandon didn’t want to press charges. He’s English. He didn’t want to make a fuss. The policeman should have prosecuted the dog owner regardless. The animal was clearly a danger to the public – it bit poor Brandon right on his nose.’
The baby paused and we all held our breath, but he merely burped once and started crying again. I looked at Nightingale and rolled my eyes over at the baby. Perhaps he could use the same spell as he used on Toby. He frowned at me. Maybe there were ethical issues about using it on babies.
According to Mrs Coopertown, the baby had been perfectly well behaved until the thing with the dog. Now, well, now Mrs Coopertown thought he must be teething or have colic or reflux. Their GP didn’t seem to have a clue and was unforgivably short with her. She thought they might be better off going private.
‘How did the dog manage to bite your husband on the nose?’ I asked.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Mrs Coopertown.
‘You said your husband was bitten on the nose,’ I said. ‘The dog’s very small. How did it reach his nose?’
‘My stupid husband bent down,’ said Mrs Coopertown. ‘We were out for a walk on the Heath, all three of us, when this dog came running up. My husband bent down to pat the dog and snap, with no warning, it had bitten him on the nose. At first I thought it was quite comical, but Brandon started screaming and then that nasty little man ran over and started yelling, “Oh, what are you doing to my poor dog, leave him alone.”’
‘The “nasty little man” being the owner of the dog?’ asked Nightingale.
‘Nasty little dog, nasty little man,’ said Mrs Coopertown.
‘Was your husband upset?’
‘How can you tell with an Englishman?’ asked Mrs Coopertown. ‘I went to get something for the blood and when I got back Brandon was laughing – everything is a joke to you people. I had to call the police myself. They came, Brandon showed them his nose and they started laughing. Everyone was happy, even the nasty little dog was happy.’
‘But you weren’t happy?’ I asked.
‘It’s not a question of happy,’ said Mrs Coopertown. ‘If a dog bites a man, what’s to stop it from biting a child or a baby?’
‘May I ask where you were last Tuesday night?’ asked Nightingale.
‘Where I am every night,’ she said. ‘Here, taking care of my son.’
‘And where was your husband?’
August Coopertown, annoying yes, blonde yes, stupid no, replied, ‘Why do you want to know?’ she asked.
‘It’s not important,’ said Nightingale.
‘I thought you were here about the dog,’ she said.
‘We are,’ said Nightingale. ‘But we’d like to confirm some of the details with your husband.’
‘Do you think I’m making this up?’ asked Mrs Coopertown. She had the startled-rabbit look that civilians get after five minutes of helping the police with their inquiries. If they stay calm for too long it’s a sign that they’re professional villains or foreign or just plain stupid. All of which can get you locked up if you’re not careful. If you find yourself talking to the police, my advice is to stay calm but look guilty; it’s your safest bet.
‘Not at all,’ said Nightingale. ‘But since he’s the principal victim we’ll need to take his statement.’
‘He’s in Los Angeles,’ she said. ‘He’s coming home late tonight.’
Nightingale left his card and promised Mrs Coopertown that he, and by extension all right-thinking policemen, took attacks by small yappy dogs very seriously and that they would be in touch.
‘What did you sense in there?’ asked Nightingale as we walked back to the Jag.
‘As in vestigium?’
‘Vestigium is the singular, vestigia is the plural,’ said Nightingale. ‘Did you sense vestigia?’
‘To be honest,’ I said, ‘nothing. Not even a vestige.’
‘A wailing child, a desperate mother and an absent father. Not to mention a house of that antiquity,’ said Nightingale. ‘There should have been something.’
‘She seemed a bit of a neat freak to me,’ I said. ‘Perhaps she hoovered up all the magic?’
‘Something certainly did,’ said Nightingale. ‘We’ll talk to the husband tomorrow. Let’s get back to Covent Garden and see if we can’t pick up the trail there.’