The Honest and The Brave

by Rebecca King

  THE HONEST

  AND

  THE BRAVE

  The Local Heroes Series

  (Leicestershire)

  Book One

  by

  REBECCA KING

  © 2019 by Rebecca King

  The moral right of R L King to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Further books in this series will be published shortly.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  THE LOCAL HEROES SERIES (STAR ELITE)

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  MISS FLORENTINE’S SCHOOL FOR INVESTIGATORS

  DUTY OR DISHONOUR

  MURDER AT HYNDE HOUSE

  TUPPENCE

  OTHER BOOKS BY REBECCA KING

  THE LOCAL HEROES SERIES (STAR ELITE)

  LEICESTERSHIRE

  The Adventures begin Autumn 2019

  The regional branches of the Star Elite have never been busier. But when their adventures bring trouble to their homes they face a whole new set of problems.

  Join Joshua, Hamish, Luke, Daniel, Ronan, Peregrine, Dean, and Grant, as they battle fraud, murder, theft, and several rather inquisitive ladies whose penchant for trouble mean more headaches for the local heroes in this brand-new series.

  The Honest and the Brave (Joshua – Annalisa)

  Damsel in Distress (Roger – Leonora)

  Once Before (Daniel – Tabitha)

  Righteous Rumours (Ronan – Geranium)

  A Very Dishonest Scandal (Luke – Rosemary)

  Midnight Capers (Dean – Pheony)

  Shameful Desires (Hamish – Leonora)

  Consequences (Peregrine – Matilda)

  CHAPTER ONE

  Joshua tapped on the door to the small cottage on the outskirts of the small rural village of Bamtree but didn’t wait for it to be answered. He quietly crept inside and nodded briskly to Peregrine Malvern, a colleague who was already in the hallway. Even before he stepped across the threshold, Joshua could hear a woman weeping. Beyond that, absolute silence hung over the small, humble abode. The heavy atmosphere cast a shadow that left everyone on edge and deeply concerned not only for the fate of the property’s owner, but also for what the latest turn of events meant for themselves, the Leicestershire branch of the Star Elite.

  “There is not much here worth taking,” Joshua grunted, throwing Peregrine a dour look.

  Peregrine nodded. “It is senseless because the bounty doesn’t seem to be worth the trouble. Even pawned, what can be found in a house like this seems small compared to what can be stolen from some of the bigger houses.”

  “Yet the burglar keeps targeting the poorest in the village.” It wasn’t a question.

  The latest news to reach the Star Elite from the local magistrate that morning was that yet another burglary had taken place. Again, the crime had taken place at a house that belonged to someone who could only be described as impoverished. The lady who lived in the tiny cottage on the outskirts of the village had barely a farthing to her name, but what she did own had been stolen by the fiend who tended to burgle some of the more rural homes. Because of the isolated nature of some of the properties, no trace of the culprit had ever been found, and the locals were demanding answers. They were, unfortunately, answers the magistrate couldn’t provide, which was why the Star Elite had been called in to help.

  “We are glad you could join us,” Peregrine breathed to Joshua. “It’s good of you to get here so quickly.”

  “Sir Hugo said it was urgent.”

  “Have you read the brief?” Peregrine asked of the tall, incredibly good-looking Joshua Holton.

  At four and thirty, Joshua had joined the Star Elite several years ago and had swiftly earnt himself a sterling reputation for being one of the best trackers it was possible to be. His unerring capacity of finding people who were otherwise untraceable, whether it be missing people or hidden criminals, meant Joshua had become one of the Star Elite’s best investigators. The local team in Leicestershire were hoping that Joshua’s incredible skills could provide them with a lead, which might take them to the culprit they were otherwise struggling to catch.

  “I read it on the way here.”

  “We have put patrols on the street but the thief is like a bloody ghoul. We can’t watch everyone’s houses in a place like this, so he is making sure he chooses houses we aren’t near. We need help. We need your help.”

  “I’ll do what I can, but it depends on what tracks he has left for me.”

  “We have tracks. We just need you to follow them and tell us where this blackguard is going.” Peregrine grinned when Joshua puffed out his cheeks.

  “How bad is it?” Joshua whispered with a nod to the closed sitting room door.

  He listened half-heartedly to the detailed description the latest victim was giving to the Star Elite’s local manager, Roger, about how she locked up and went to bed last night only to wake up this morning to find a precious vase missing together with a small pouch of coins.

  “It is the loss of the vase that’s upsetting,” the old woman, Mrs Asquith, explained. “If it was worth much, I would have sold it myself to be able to eat. It has more sentimental value to me than anything else, you see. It was given to me by my husband when we first got married. I have had that vase for nigh on forty years. It is all I have – had.”

  The woman began to weep once more, clearly heartbroken at the loss of her most prized possession.

  “We will do what we can to get it back for you,” Roger promised.

  Joshua winced because he knew the odds were that the item had probably vanished forever. He turned to warn Peregrine. “As you know, I am more adept at tracking people through London’s backstreets than around rural locations like this.”

  “You can find him, though, right?”

  “Of course,” Joshua shrugged. “But don’t pin all your hopes on tracking him leading you to his front door. It might take a while for us to find a trail that will take us to his house.”

  “We just need to know if he is a resident of Bamtree, or travels from Minserly.”

  “The town about five miles away?”

  Peregrine nodded. “Right now, we have no idea where the burglar is coming from, or where he goes with his ill-gotten gains.”

  “There are no witnesses.” It wasn’t a question.

  Peregrine’s face was grim. “It is unsurprising the cretin would pick on Mrs Asquith. This place is so remote nobody is around to witness anything.”

  “From what the brief said, the culprit has worked their way around all of the houses on the outskirts of the village. He is going to have to venture deeper into the village if he wants to keep stealing. If he isn’t prepared to take the risk he will have
to stop and move on to somewhere else equally as rural.”

  “We have to catch him before that happens. Having the residents of Bamtree angry is bad enough. The last thing we want is for this to become a county-wide epidemic of burglaries,” Peregrine growled. “If we cannot resolve this, and quickly, we are going to have this area flooded with every crook, thief, and ne’er do well in a fifty-mile radius all doing what they want because they think they aren’t likely to get caught.”

  Joshua moved to stand in the doorway and looked out over the property’s back garden. From his position, he could see footprints beneath the cottage’s now broken window; the route the thief had taken to get into and out of the house. The footprints led to the woods bordering the garden, behind a large vegetable patch. To Joshua’s well-trained eye, the footprints were easy to follow, but to someone who was looking for an obvious footprint to follow it was hopeless because the obvious footprints vanished about half-way down the lawn when the soil had obviously been wiped off the thief’s boots by the moist grass.

  “He isn’t doing much to hide his trail, is he?” Joshua nodded to the footprints beneath the window.

  “We have followed what we can see, but they stop in the garden. There is no trace of where he has gone beyond that vegetable patch. We have checked but there are wide open fields beyond the woods, and hoof prints everywhere on account of a local farmer’s horses being kept in the field. It’s impossible to find anything fresh,” Peregrine warned.

  “No, it isn’t. You just don’t know what you are looking for,” Joshua corrected. “It’s why I am here.”

  Peregrine opened his mouth to reply only to be interrupted by the arrival of a solemn looking Daniel, who was in such a rush he dismounted before his horse stopped.

  “There has been another one,” Daniel informed them without preamble.

  “Another burglary?” Peregrine’s brows shot up.

  “It’s worse than just a burglary,” Daniel announced flatly. “The homeowner has been murdered. He was found this morning, and it’s worse than we could ever imagine.”

  Within seconds, Roger appeared in the doorway with a heavy scowl on his face.

  “What’s that?” He looked over his shoulder at the elderly woman who was trying hard to listen to what was being said. After calling ‘goodbye’ to her for a second time, he waved everyone out of the house and closed the door.

  Daniel told his boss what had been reported to the patrol.

  “Are you sure it is not just another burglary?” Peregrine asked.

  “A window has been forced open at the back of the house. There are clear signs that one or two items have been taken. This time, though, there has been a struggle and the homeowner has been knifed in the back. It’s murder.”

  Joshua lifted his brows when it became obvious that Daniel hadn’t finished.

  “Who is the victim?”

  “The Church Warden.”

  “Did you say there were clear signs of a struggle?” Roger was already on his way to fetch his horse.

  “The house is a mess. It doesn’t look like it has been ransacked because the drawers are in place, but chairs have been knocked over, and a plant, and the contents of the desk have been swept onto the floor. The room is in chaos.”

  “Who found him?” Roger demanded.

  “The housekeeper when she arrived to clean his house this morning. Luke and Dean are with her now and are making sure nobody touches anything. Moreover, that the housekeeper doesn’t go telling everyone. I am not sure if you want word of this getting out right now. The villagers are on edge enough already.”

  “Go back. Keep her quiet. Has Margate been informed yet?” Roger swung into his saddle.

  “Not yet.”

  “Margate has been called to London. Sir Hugo isn’t impressed that we have had to be called in to help and has asked the magistrate to attend a meeting to discuss it.” Joshua turned his horse around and nudged it into a steady walk.

  “Margate handed everything in his file to us and left this morning,” Daniel confirmed.

  “It appears we are on our own for now then, gentlemen,” Roger announced. “So, let’s get to it.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Joshua added with a nod to the footprints in the grass behind them.

  “Do you think there is a trail you can follow?” Roger squinted sceptically at the grass.

  “Yes, but it is going to take a while to follow them. Do you need me at the Warden’s house?” Joshua hoped not because he relished the challenge of being able to track through the woods. It had been a long time since he had done it since there had never been any need for it in London.

  “Yes. Given the severity of the crime, and the fact that we are now looking for a murderer, you need to come with us to see what you can find at the Warden’s house. If you find a trail, see where it takes you. When you have done, come back here and follow the trail into those woods,” Roger ordered.

  With a curse, Roger stopped his horse, dismounted, and then promptly disappeared back into the house. Moments later, he was back.

  “Mrs Asquith has assured me that she will stay out of her garden,” he informed them. “She is busy packing to go and stay with relatives for a while, so the garden should remain untouched until you get back, Joshua.”

  Minutes later, the men arrived at the Warden’s house, a rather non-descript two storey dwelling was hidden by a thick wall of almost impenetrable hedgerow that was nestled discretely beside an old Norman church. At first glance, it was difficult to see that there was a house tucked away behind the dense shrubbery. Only a small gate indicated that someone lived behind the privet.

  “What do we know about the house’s history?” Joshua asked as he followed his colleagues up a narrow path which led around the side of the property.

  “The previous owner, the old Warden, was a Mr. Derek Harlow. He moved away to look after his brother who had taken ill with a wasting disease. With no intention of ever returning, the vicar engaged another Warden, a Mr Julian. Robert Julian. I presume Mr Julian is the killer’s victim.” Roger looked askance at Daniel, who nodded.

  “Wait!”

  Everyone froze.

  Joshua edged closer to the window and studied the ground. “Avoid this area, please. We need to go in through the front door. I need these tracks undisturbed.”

  Everyone stared at him for a moment, but Joshua was too distracted by the fresh soil marks visible beneath the now broken window to notice.

  “Just like last time,” he breathed. “These footprints are the same size as the ones found at the Asquith house.”

  “How can you be sure?” Peregrine asked.

  Joshua pointed to an almost perfect indentation on the ground. “See here? That is where the sole of the boot has a crack in it. If you look closely at that left footprint, it is unmarked. The right boot has a crack in the sole at the ball of the foot. It’s quite distinctive, and something to remember when you are looking for the fiend. The killer might lie about his guilt if he is caught, but his boots won’t.”

  “How? How do you do that?” Daniel cried, astonished at Joshua’s skill. To him, they were footprints in soil but on studying them a little closer, it was evident that there was a mark on the right boot that wasn’t on the left boot.

  Joshua grinned and edged away. “We need to avoid the back garden.”

  Roger waved at Daniel, who immediately removed his pocketbook and began to make notes. “It’s going to come in handy when we are providing evidence to convict our criminal.”

  They all knew it was the kind of evidence that would get the killer cornered because facts didn’t lie, especially something unique like damage to a boot.

  “Footprints can be like fingerprints; distinctive to the wearer.” Joshua studied the footprints in the soil, which led across the neatly tended lawn, around the vegetable patch, and on to the thick row of aged oak trees lining the far end of the garden.

  “Does every property in this county have trees ar
ound it?” he grunted in disgust. “Don’t people realise that having trees around a property gives a thief the perfect place to hide while they watch people in their homes?”

  “This is the countryside. Trees are practically everywhere,” Luke reasoned with a shrug.

  “Let’s go and see what the damage inside is,” Roger muttered.

  Inside, the men met with Hamish, who was one of the men guarding the property. He yanked the door open before the men even reached it and greeted them with a grim look.

  “It’s a bad one,” he warned, stepping back to allow his colleagues to enter.

  The men were solemn as they entered the property. First impressions were that everything was calm and undisturbed – until they entered the study. Their gazes fell upon the man lying prone on the floor, his arms and legs akimbo. He had a large black handle protruding from his back and was lying amidst a room that could only be described as chaotic.

  “Now why would a burglar kill the Warden?” Roger whispered.

  Papers were strewed haphazardly across the floor. A large chair had been tipped on its side and a plant that had been sitting in a large pot beside the fire had been smashed to smithereens. Large spots of blood were evident on the otherwise white walls, hinting that the victim hadn’t died a swift, merciless death. He had probably fought with his attacker before he had succumbed to the injuries inflicted by the knife.

  “It is a relief that none of the other victim’s caught the thief red-handed,” Joshua growled.

  “One thing is for certain, whoever the burglar is, he left this house covered in blood,” Roger warned. “I want him found, gentlemen, before he murders anybody else.”

  “How in the hell do we catch him? Right now, we are playing catch up. He knows he is one step ahead of us. I have had a look at the back of the house from the garden. Even the house next door is too far away for any of the neighbours to see into this garden. Look how secluded this house is. We are almost in the middle of the village but it is just as isolated as the more rural properties. Again, there are no witnesses.” Hamish’s voice was rife with frustration.