The Case of the Missing Letter
Page 17
EPILOGUE
THE FALL FROM grace experienced by Charlotte Hughes and her campaign manager, Lillian Hart, in the days after their arrests was swift and absolute as knowledge of Sir Thomas Hughes’ treasonous activities became known.
Charlotte was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. She completed it by working on a rundown, drug-riddled estate in Goslingdale. Her tasks included picking up litter, cleaning off graffiti, clearing wasteland, and maintaining community property, all while wearing a distinctive orange vest.
Lillian Hart was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter of Felipe Barrios. She appealed her sentence and requested a move to an open women’s prison, but her appeal was rejected. She has received no visitors during her imprisonment thus far and has no expectation of any in the future. She was offered the chance to learn woodworking during her stay in prison but turned it down.
Don English was found guilty of three crimes, including breaking and entering and perverting the course of justice. A charge of involuntary manslaughter could not be proven. He was given a sentence of six months jail time and two years community service. He served three months in HMP Shrewsbury and later found work as a gardener working in the grounds of a National Trust property. He still lives in Goslingdale.
The Hughes’ family solicitor, Carl Prendergast, was a witness in all three cases. In a statement to the press, he claimed that he “would prefer to have nothing more to do with the Hughes family. Spending decades dealing with one dreadful, sociopathic Hughes was quite enough.” A week before Charlotte Hughes’ trial began, he announced his retirement from practicing law.
Adam Harris-Watts was sacked from his position as curator of the Jersey Heritage Museum. He was sentenced to 75 hours community service and now works as a researcher for a left-wing academic at Manchester University.
Frank Bertolli was sentenced to twelve years for the attempted murder of Laura Beecham and Billy Foster. He also asked for six other murder charges to be taken into consideration. He is likely to die in jail unless he is willing to turn Queen’s evidence against those who hired him.
Thomas Hughes’ estate gave permission for the Fuente letter to be published as part of a full-page London Times advertisement that began an international campaign to seek justice for those mistreated or executed by Fuente’s government. The raising of awareness and the important celebrity endorsement led to mounting and eventually intolerable pressure on the crumbling regime. Within a year, a peaceful revolution swept the now elderly general from power. San Marcos recently held its first democratic elections since the early 1970s.
Shortly after the arrests of Don English, Lillian Hart, Adam Harris-Watts, Charlotte Hughes, and Frank Bertolli, Janice Harding and Jack Wentworth took five days’ vacation to drive around southern France. On their return, they began looking for an apartment together in Gorey.
Barry Barnwell was once again commended for his valiant and selfless efforts and received a second Queen’s Gallantry Medal at Buckingham Palace. He was offered a much higher profile assignment by the Metropolitan Police, one his London-based mother hoped he’d accept, but he turned it down.
Near perfect results in his sergeant’s exam and a glowing recommendation from DI David Graham brought a new opportunity for Constable Jim Roach. He will divide his time between Gorey and the forensics lab in St. Helier, where he will study criminology and pathology under the guidance of Dr. Marcus Tomlinson.
After the case, Simon Oxley resumed his semester of teaching at Cambridge University. He recently published a paper in X-ray Quarterly discussing his role in decoding “THE LETTER”.
Viv Foster was accepted into Jersey’s drug rehabilitation program once again and is doing well. Billy visits her daily. On Sergeant Harding’s recommendation, Social Services fostered Billy with Mrs. Lampard for the duration of Viv’s stay in the program, giving Billy a stable home base on the island and Mrs. Lampard some company and a regular income. Despite their disparate ages, the two get on famously. As Billy had generally refused to talk about it and was not required to testify at the trial, the incident at the library remains shrouded in mystery among his peers. Harding and Barnwell did, however, refer to Billy as a “hero” during a visit to his school recently, something which has completely transformed his school life.
David Graham and Laura Beecham are often seen together at the Bangkok Palace for their regular Friday “date night.” She always has the Pad Thai or Tom Yum soup while he always experiments with whatever’s hottest on the menu. The wait staff no longer ask him to confirm his well-being the morning afterward.
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THANK YOU
Thank you for taking the time to read The Case of the Missing Letter. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and very much appreciated.
Thank you,
OTHER BOOKS IN THE INSPECTOR DAVID GRAHAM SERIES
The Case of the Screaming Beauty (Prequel)
The Case of the Hidden Flame
The Case of the Fallen Hero
The Case of the Broken Doll
ALSO BY ALISON GOLDEN
FEATURING REVEREND ANNABELLE DIXON
Death at the Café (Prequel)
Murder at the Mansion
Body in the Woods
Grave in the Garage
Horror in the Highlands
FEATURING DIANA HUNTER
Hunted (Prequel)
Snatched
Stolen
Chopped
Exposed
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alison Golden was born and raised in Bedfordshire, England. She writes cozy mysteries and suspense novels, along with the occasional witty blog post, all of which are designed to entertain, amuse, and calm. Her approach is to combine creative ideas with excellent writing and edit, edit, edit.
She is the creator of the Reverend Annabelle Dixon cozy mysteries, a charming, fun series featuring a female vicar ministering in the beautiful county of Cornwall, England. She also produces a Jersey-based detective series featuring Inspector David Graham and the Diana Hunter series, set in Vancouver.
Her books’ themes range from the humorous and sweet to harder hitting suspense. They are recommended for readers who like to relax and unwind with their books, who enjoy getting to know the characters, and who prefer the tougher side of life implied.
She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and twin sons. She splits her time traveling between London and San Francisco.
For up-to-date promotions and release dates of upcoming books, sign up for the latest news here: http://cozymysteries.com/graham.
For more information:
alisongolden.com
alison@cozymysteries.com
THE CASE OF THE MISSING LETTER
An Inspector David Graham Mystery
Revenge. Scandal. Murder.
The valuable Satterthwaite Desk has found its way to the island of Jersey and is on display at the local museum. The desk is an old piece, rich with history, exquisite design, and whispers of a letter, the contents of which could destroy the lives of politicians and prominent people alike.
When a dead body is found at the museum, a turbulent family drama becomes a police inquiry, and together with his recently lauded investigative team, Graham must tackle the mystery, one that soon spills out of the museum and spreads further afield.
Can Inspector Graham and his team solve the crime? Without suspects or a motive? A mystery that bleeds murder across their shores, but which has its origins on beaches far, far away?
The characters and ev
ents portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Text copyright © 2018 Alison Golden
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Cover Illustration: Richard Eijkenbroek
Published by Mesa Verde Publishing
P.O. Box 1002
San Carlos, CA 94070
Edited by
Marjorie Kramer