by V L McBeath
“Come back,” Mr Hewitt shouted after them. “Let me go.”
Eliza and Connie ran towards the noise but as they entered the wood, the shape of a man became apparent.
They both stopped and within seconds Mr Hewitt joined them and took the lead.
“Wait there, this is no place for women.”
Ignoring him, Eliza followed close behind. “What is it?” Her voice was breathless.
Mr Hewitt didn’t respond but a second later Robert Hartley turned, his face ashen. He pointed to the small clearing not ten feet ahead.
“I-It’s James. He’s dead!”
Chapter Seventeen
Eliza stepped forward and bent over the body before abruptly straightening up to usher everyone out of the wood.
“All right, stay calm. We need the police and Dr Thomson, quickly.”
“I’ll go for the police.” Mr Hewitt turned and raced across the churchyard before she could say another word.
“Excellent. Connie, will you go back to the surgery and see if Archie’s home? I would go but…”
Connie sighed. “I know, you have other things to do.” Without argument, she hurried after Mr Hewitt leaving Eliza to focus on Robert Hartley. She helped him to a bench that overlooked the river.
“I’m so sorry, Mr Hartley. It must be quite a shock.”
Robert nodded but said nothing.
“Vicar, can you help him?”
The vicar sat on the bench beside Robert. “Of course, I can; let us pray.” He clasped his hands together and waited for Robert to follow suit before closing his eyes. “Heavenly Father, be amongst us at this time of wickedness…”
Whether Robert complied because of the situation or whether he was genuinely calmed by the prayers, Eliza couldn’t say, but as both men sat with their eyes shut, she took the chance to slip away. The crime scene wouldn’t stay untouched for long.
She made her way back to the body that was lying face down over a fallen tree trunk and crouched beside it. The atmosphere was eerily calm. The birds sang joyfully in the trees and the water rippled against the riverbank but they couldn’t mask the fact that a dead body lay before her. How have I become so accustomed to this? The large gash on the back of James Hartley’s head was clear to see and she turned his head to see his eyes wide open as if the attack had taken him by surprise. It didn’t seem right to leave them open, but she couldn’t close them. She couldn’t destroy the evidence.
She stood up and looked around the area. There was nothing unusual about it, except a lot of the branches on the lower levels of the trees had been broken off … and wait a moment, some of the foliage had been trodden into a path. Maybe animals had done it … but maybe not. She started to follow the track, but it was narrow and her skirt caught on the broken branches forcing her to turn back.
She was about to step away from the trees when Inspector Adams, followed by Mr Hewitt and the unathletic Sergeant Cooper, ran into the churchyard.
“What’s going on?” Inspector Adams called as he approached the vicar.
“It’s this way, sir.” Mr Hewitt caught up as the inspector slowed to a walk and directed him towards the wood.
Inspector Adams scowled when he saw Eliza. “Mrs Thomson. What are you doing here?”
“We can get to that later, Inspector, but first you must come and see this.” She turned back into the wood and made her way back to the clearing as the inspector followed her. “It’s James Hartley; this is how we found him.”
“You found him?”
“Well, no, not exactly, Robert Hartley did; we just heard him scream and came to find out what was wrong.”
The inspector bent down beside the body. “What time was this?”
“Not long ago. We were with the vicar and Mr Hewitt, and Mr Hewitt came for you as soon as he could. The church bell struck a quarter to three as we were walking from the post office and so I’d say we found the body about five minutes later.” Eliza glanced up at the clock on the church tower and as if on cue, the bells struck three o’clock.
“And the four of you were together?” Inspector Adams asked.
“We were.”
“But Robert Hartley was ahead of you?”
“He was, by a couple of minutes. We saw him come into the churchyard when we were by the post office.”
The inspector screwed up his face. “And you heard him shout from the road?”
“Not exactly.” Eliza’s cheeks coloured. “We’d seen James Hartley heading in the direction of the police station and wondered why he was walking the streets unaccompanied. We were going to come and tell you but before we had time to leave, we saw Robert following him. Both were heading towards the station and so we decided we’d make sure that was where they were going.”
The inspector’s forehead furrowed. “So why are you here?”
“As I said, we saw Robert Hartley entering the churchyard and decided to follow him. We thought he’d gone into the church, but as we approached, we met the vicar and Mr Hewitt, who told us he hadn’t. That was when we heard the scream.”
“All right. I don’t care what the vicar might say, we need to talk to Robert Hartley. Now.” Inspector Adams’ voice was brusque as he turned and marched out of the wood. “Excuse us, Vicar, but could we have a few words with Mr Hartley? We need to establish what happened here.”
Robert Hartley’s face had regained none of its colour as he stared at the inspector. “Is he really dead?”
“Yes, sir, I’m afraid he is. I’m wondering if you could tell us anything about the events leading up to his death.”
Robert shook his head. “He didn’t tell me.”
“Mr Hartley.” Eliza touched Robert’s left arm to get his attention. “I saw James leaving your little cul-de-sac about half an hour ago and then I saw you following him. Could you tell us what was going on?”
Robert scratched his head. “I’ve no idea, that’s why I was following him. He’d been behaving oddly ever since you interviewed him yesterday afternoon. He was convinced you thought he was guilty and said he was going to find out who the real culprit was, if it was…” Robert buried his face in his hands “…if it was the last thing he did.”
“I realise this must be difficult for you, but did he say who he thought the killer might be?”
Robert again shook his head. “He went out into the garden after he’d spoken to you, and once I was free, I went to look for him, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. At first he was in the grounds, and then in the wood before he came back again. All I could do was watch but nothing he did made any sense. He came in for afternoon tea at about four o’clock and tried to act as if nothing had happened but then the postman called with a letter for him and he immediately went out again.”
“Did you see the letter?” Inspector Adams asked.
“No. He put it in his inside pocket and went out without a word. He didn’t even join us for dinner.”
“Could he have shown it to anyone?”
Robert’s shoulders rose and fell. “I suppose so. I didn’t see him again until this morning when he was talking to Mother, but I didn’t see any sign of the letter.”
“Tell me,” Eliza said. “Was he wearing the same suit yesterday that he’s wearing today?”
Robert stared into space. “I think so, I can’t say I noticed but I wouldn’t imagine he brought many with him.”
“The letter may still be in his pocket then.” Eliza turned to the inspector. “Shall we go and check?”
Inspector Adams was on his feet and ready to move when Robert stood up.
“I’m coming with you. If there’s anything to find out, I want to know what it is.”
Inspector Adams arrived at the body first and was about to turn it over when Eliza joined him. “Wait a minute, Inspector. I’ve just seen Dr Thomson walking up the path. Mrs Appleton went to get him. Perhaps we should let him examine the body first?”
“That sounds like a splendid idea.” Archie marched towards them and crouched beside the
body as Connie joined Eliza. “Do we know what happened?”
Eliza pointed to the wound on the back of the head.
“Yes, that would most likely do it,” Archie said. “Is there anything else?”
“Not that we’ve seen.”
Archie ran his hands over the back of James’ head and examined the wound. “It’s a pretty deep gash, and it looks like the skull’s been fractured. Let’s see if there’s anything else.” He turned the body over onto its back. “Good gracious, look at this?” He pointed to a bright red line that ran across the victim’s throat. “It looks like someone tried to strangle him as well. It’s difficult to tell which was the fatal wound, but my guess is that they strangled him first but then to make sure he was dead, they hit him over the head.”
“What sort of animal would do that?” Robert’s face was now red. “You can see in his eyes he was taken by surprise. Whoever did this didn’t give him a chance.”
“Can you give an indication of the possible murder weapon?” Inspector Adams asked.
Archie looked around at the broken tree branches. “It could be any of these. There are a number of branches thick enough to cause the head wound. We need to check all those around the scene for traces of blood.”
“What about the marks on his neck? What would have done that?”
Archie re-examined the mark. “It’s difficult to say, especially in this light. It was most probably a rope or a piece of leather.”
Inspector Adams wrote in his notebook. “I’ll get Sergeant Cooper to check the area once we’re finished, but while you’re here, can you check his pockets? We think he may have been carrying a letter.”
Archie patted down the outside of the jacket before he opened it up and pulled a letter from the inside pocket. “Is this what you’re looking for?” He handed it to Inspector Adams.
The envelope was addressed to Mr J Hartley and had been marked ‘Private & Confidential’.
“That letter was hand-delivered,” Eliza said, as she peered over the inspector’s shoulder. “I thought you said the postman had brought it?”
Robert rubbed his forehead. “I assumed he had; I must have been mistaken. What does it say?”
Inspector Adams took the letter from the envelope and read it to himself. “Well, this explains why James Hartley was here.” He read the letter out loud. “I know who killed your father. Meet me in the woods behind the church at half past two tomorrow afternoon. I’ll tell you everything.”
“Why would anyone write a letter like that?” Robert snatched it from the inspector and read it himself. “Why didn’t they just go to the police if they had any information?”
“Unfortunately, that’s not how everyone operates. It appears we were wrong about your brother and I’d suggest this letter could have been written by the real killer and they wanted to lure James here in order to do this.” The inspector pointed back to the body.
“If James was about to be arrested and charged for the murder of his father, it makes no sense for the real killer to take his life unless…” Eliza paused and studied the inspector. “Unless, James was close to identifying the killer. If James could prove someone else was guilty, the real killer may have panicked and decided this was the only option.”
“But who would know…?” Robert stopped and stared at those around him as his brain caught up with his words. “The only people who knew what he was doing were at the house.”
Sergeant Cooper gave a slight cough from behind the gathering. “Looking at the injuries, I’d say it was a man that did this, not a woman. A woman couldn’t have pulled a cord that tightly around a man’s neck, not to mention wield a branch heavy enough to make a wound that size.”
“But look at the handwriting on the letter,” Robert said. “That’s not been written by a man.”
“Well, it’s not a woman’s,” Eliza said. “It’s nowhere near neat enough.”
“It could be.” Connie leaned forward to get a better look. “I’d say it’s worth checking it against Maria Hartley’s. She could have written the note knowing her man friend would be here when James arrived.”
“No, I’m sorry. We’ve already established that this man friend was nothing more than a figment of James and Robert’s imagination, designed to cause trouble between their father and Maria Hartley.” Inspector Adams took a step forward and stood face to face with Robert. “Robert Hartley, I’m arresting you for the murder of your brother, James Hartley, and the possible murder of your father, Edward Hartley.”
“Me! But that’s nonsense, why would I do that?” Robert’s eyes were wide as he stared around the group.
“Money is a powerful motivator, Mr Hartley. Sergeant, can you put the cuffs on him?”
“Inspector, one moment, you can’t arrest him based on no evidence. Can we talk about this?”
“We’ve already spoken, Mrs Thomson. If you remember, at the end of yesterday, we had three clear suspects, Mr James Hartley, Mr Robert Hartley and Mrs Maria Hartley. James Hartley was the most likely based on the evidence we had but given we can now rule him out and given Sergeant Cooper’s observation that a woman couldn’t have inflicted these wounds, I don’t think there’s anything to debate.”
“But we saw Robert Hartley walk into the churchyard. He wasn’t ahead of us by much, which I would suggest is not enough time to inflict these wounds.”
“Precisely,” Robert said. “It took me that long to find the body. Please, you must believe me.”
“You can tell us all you like at the station, sir. Now, if you wouldn’t mind coming with me. Sergeant, can you check the large branches for any sign of blood and also do a search for the cord?”
The sergeant’s face was red as he ran his finger around his collar. “This should be a job for Constable Jenkins.”
“That’s a good point, Sergeant.” Eliza’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the inspector. “You said that Constable Jenkins had been posted on the gates of Oak House to stop James Hartley leaving, and yet a little over an hour later, James managed to walk around here. Where is Constable Jenkins?”
“I, erm … I suppose he must have been indisposed.”
“What do you mean, indisposed? He had one job.”
“Should I go and find him?” Sergeant Cooper asked the inspector. “Someone needs to go to Oak House anyway and break the news to his wife.”
“What about my wife?” Robert shook Inspector Adams’ hand from his arm. “I should be with the family, not sitting in a police cell.”
“You should have thought of that.” Inspector Adams glared at Robert, before turning to the sergeant. “Yes, go to the house, see if you can find Jenkins and then speak to the wives of James and Robert, as well as their mother. Once you’ve done that, come back here and start looking for the murder weapon.”
“But Inspector…” Eliza stepped forward.
“Mrs Thomson, we’ve been through this. Now, if you believe someone else is responsible, I’ll give you until this time tomorrow to find them. If not, I’ll be charging Mr Hartley here with the murder of his brother and probably his father.” He grabbed hold of Robert’s arm and pulled him forward. “Good day to you all.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sergeant Cooper followed Robert Hartley and Inspector Adams out of the churchyard, before Eliza turned to consider those around her.
“Well, that was a turn-up. I don’t know what’s got into Inspector Adams.”
A corner of Archie’s mouth turned upwards. “I’d say he’s just done all the paperwork to support the arrest of James Hartley and now he’s back to square one. He was probably hoping to go back to London tonight.”
“Well, it’s no reason to arrest the wrong man.” Eliza put her hands on her hips and looked around. “Mr Hewitt, I found a path beyond the clearing. Do you know anything about it?”
“A path? No.”
He and the vicar followed Eliza as she showed them to the trodden-down foliage. “It’s not very wide. I imagine it’s been made by
a fox, or possibly a badger; we have both around here.”
“We’d better get the body moved then,” Archie said. “We don’t want to leave it overnight if there’s a chance it could be eaten.”
Connie shuddered. “I wish you hadn’t said that. It’ll put me off my dinner.”
“I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m just so used to talking to Eliza, and she doesn’t mind things like that, do you, dear?”
“Whether she does or she doesn’t, I’m sure it’s no conversation for a woman,” the vicar said.
Eliza noticed the amusement in Archie’s eyes as they flicked towards her.
“Now see the trouble you’ve got me into. To make amends, you can go to the post office and send a telegram to the undertakers asking them to come and collect the body. I’ll stay here with it until they arrive.”
The corners of Eliza’s mouth turned up. “If you insist. I don’t suppose we can do much more here.”
“How will you prove it wasn’t Mr Hartley who killed his brother?” Mr Hewitt asked as they left Archie and walked back towards the church.
“That’s a very good question, Mr Hewitt. Ideally, I’d like to go back to Oak House, but given the circumstances it seems rather insensitive. I’d say Mrs Appleton and I need a sit- down with a cup of tea while we think about it.”
Connie smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Well, if you need anything from us, you know where we are,” Mr Hewitt said.
“Thank you both. Now, we’d better go, we haven’t got much time.”
“I know Archie’s probably right, but I still can’t believe Inspector Adams would deliberately arrest the wrong man,” Connie said as they left the churchyard.
“I don’t think he sees him as the wrong man, that’s the thing,” Eliza said. “He reminded us that yesterday we identified three suspects and if we’re looking for a man, Robert Hartley is the only one left. My problem is, it seems too convenient. We saw Robert going into the churchyard and he just didn’t have time to do those things to his brother.”
“Maybe he had it all set up. We were a minute or two after him, I suppose.” When Eliza failed to respond, Connie nodded towards the bowling club. “Mr Bell said he was practising this afternoon. There doesn’t seem much activity.”
