Dr. Granville began to bathe the injured area, keeping his hands away from the part that hurt the most. Then he proceeded to bandage the entire foot, glancing again at his wife as he worked.

“For right now, swollen as it is-and will be-it’s most important to stay off your feet entirely. But if you can’t-” He turned, and his wife set a pair of crutches into his hands. “If you can’t, then use these. Don’t walk at all until the swelling is down. I’m quite serious. Elevate your foot on a stool, and soak it in this-” His wife passed him a small packet of crystals. “Bandages and all, every two hours and again before you go to bed. After that we’ll see. I’ll come round to the house after my dinner and have another look at that bone.”

Mrs. Granville stood smiling at her husband’s back, as if he’d worked a miracle for the inspector.

“Crutches?” Bennett demanded. “Can’t you just set it, put some plaster over it, and let me be about my business?”

“You’re not to put your weight on that foot, Bennett. Do you hear me? Not until I can look at it again. Who did this to you? Mrs. Blackwood?”

Mrs. Blackwood had learned to drive her husband’s motorcar when he hadn’t come home from France. She was a terror on the roadway, her control minimal and her attention seldom on the mechanics of driving.

The silent constable smothered a grin.

“Mrs. Blackwood?” Bennett said, almost snarling. “What has she to do with it? No, it was that-that-” Words failed him. “I was trying to bring in Mallory, in connection with Mr. Hamilton’s thrashing. Mrs. Granville tells me Hamilton’s still alive but not speaking. More’s the pity. All he has to do is nod his head to a question or two, and I’ll have my man.”

Granville said sharply, “You think Stephen Mallory is behind this beating? Surely not!”

“Then why did he nearly break my neck, and run over my foot in his hurry to get away from me? When I set eyes on him again, it’s charges he’ll be hearing, assaulting a police officer with intent to do bodily harm, suspicion of attempted murder, and anything else I can think of. I’d almost wish Hamilton dead, to make it murder.”