A corpse can't be
hidden for long; a corpse betrays itself. One couldn't throw it in the
Thames, for it would have been found inside twelve hours. One
couldn't bury it - it wasn't safe. The only thing was to keep it handy
and movable, ready for emergencies. I needn't inform you that,
without embalming, you can't keep a corpse handy and movable
for more than four or five days. It's the kind of thing that won't
keep. And so it was suggested that I should embalm it, and I did.
Mind you, I still objected to the murder, but I couldn't go back on a
colleague, you understand. You do understand that, don't you?
Well, here you are, and here it is, and that's all.'
Rocco leaned back in his chair as though he had said everything
that ought to be said. He closed his eyes to indicate that so far as
he was concerned the conversation was also closed. Theodore
Racksole stood up.
'I hope,' said Rocco, suddenly opening his eyes, 'I hope you'll call
in the police without any delay. It's getting late, and I don't like
going without my night's rest.'
'Where do you suppose you'll get a night's rest?' Racksole asked.
'In the cells, of course. Haven't I told you I know when I'm beaten.
I'm not so blind as not to be able to see that there's at any rate a
prima facie case against me. I expect I shall get off with a year or
two's imprisonment as accessory after the fact - I think that's what
they call it.
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