by M A Comley
She recalled a dream she had not long ago, about a group of hillwalkers marching people up to the top of Arthur’s Pike, which she had visited more times than she cared to remember, and leaving them there to perish in the harshest of winters. She shuddered at the image. Why did people have to be so heartless in such a stunning environment? Rural crimes of this magnitude were few and far between throughout the country, but definitely on the rise, a statistic she and her team were keen to address.
Moving on to tackle the post, she whizzed through it while she finished her coffee and then left her desk again to join the team. There was nothing in the brown envelopes that needed her immediate attention, thank goodness. “All right, have you all teamed up?”
“We have. I’m going with Liam,” Suzanna announced. “And Oliver and Alex are making up the other team. I’ve made a note of the farms and other houses in the immediate area, well, within three miles. There aren’t many.”
“Great stuff, can you divide the addresses into three so we get going? Wait, what about the forms for HQ Suzanna?”
Suzanna tore the large sheet of paper into three parts and handed one section to Sam and the other to Alex. “All done. I just need your signature on a few.”
Sam smiled. “You’re amazing. That’ll keep them happy for a few months.” She signed the papers and then the six of them left the incident room together. “Let’s hope something comes of this little excursion,” Sam shouted to the team as they got into their respective cars.
The cars set off in a convoy until they neared the farmhouse where the murder took place, then they split up. Sam and Bob called at the neighbouring farm and introduced themselves to the farmer and his wife.
“We’re David and Brenda Chatley. We’ve only just heard the news. Can’t quite believe it,” Mr Chatley said after he and his wife had invited Sam and Bob into their living room. “Take a seat. Can we get you a drink?”
Sam scanned the room quickly; it was full of family photos and the odd knick-knack. “No, it’s fine, thank you. It’s shocking news, I appreciate what a difficult time this must be for both of you. Will you be all right to answer a few questions?”
“Of course, if we can. We’re very keen to help the police. Nothing like this has ever happened around here, and to think someone killed our best friend… well, it’s simply appalling and extremely hard to understand,” David replied.
“It’s hard for us to get our heads around. May I ask how well you knew Tom Douglas? You said you were best friends, for how long?”
“Crikey, how long is a blasted piece of string? I can’t remember, Brenda, can you?”
“Must be around fifty years or more. His wife, God rest her soul, and I met at secretarial college, then we bumped into the boys on a night out. After that, we started hanging around as a foursome. Our lives changed when the boys took on the farms next to each other. We’ve been neighbours ever since. They were family, far more than just friends, you see,” Brenda said, tears sparkling in her eyes.
“I see. So you’re likely to know if there was anything troubling Tom lately.”
“Possibly,” Mrs Chatley replied. “You’re aware he was moving home, aren’t you?”
“Yes, his daughter told us as much. He was moving closer to his family, that’s right, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Not that—” Mrs Chatley began before her husband silenced her.
“Hush now. Don’t go starting all that nonsense up again.”
“They should know, David. It’s up to them to decide, not us.”
Sam inclined her head. “If there’s something going on with the family, we should definitely know.”
“There’s not,” David hissed and glared at his wife.
Her head dropped and she stared at the floor. Something didn’t sit well with Sam. She sighed and said quietly, “You can trust us. We won’t go in there all guns blazing, you know. If you think there’s something we should know, please, it would be best to tell us.”
“There’s not!” David repeated adamantly, issuing another stark glare at his wife.
Sam was determined to get the information out of the couple. She smiled and nodded in the right places throughout the rest of the interview, but constantly referred back to what was bugging her. There was something serious the couple weren’t telling her, and in order for the investigation to be successful, she needed to find out exactly what they were covering up.
“Look, it’s clear you’re determined to keep whatever was going on a secret. Why, I don’t know, especially when your friend has passed away; keeping quiet is doing him an injustice.”
The couple stared at each other for the longest of moments and then Mrs Chatley said, “We have to tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Sam asked swiftly. David squirmed in his seat and shook his head adamantly at his wife. Sam watched as Mrs Chatley sighed and appeared to deflate before her eyes. “Please, if you have something to tell us—”
“We haven’t,” David snapped.
“We have,” his wife countered adamantly.
Sam sensed she was about to get a breakthrough. She smiled again at Mrs Chatley.
“We had some of Tom’s belongings here.”
Inclining her head, Sam asked, “What type of belongings?”
“Valuable ones. His medals and a large sum of cash.”
“Brenda, for goodness’ sake, what did you say that for?” David was seething, the colour in his cheeks rising.
“I had to. She has a right to know.”
“Please, don’t fall out about this,” Sam interjected quickly. “Yes, your wife is correct, we do have a right to know. May I ask why he trusted you with the medals and the cash for that matter, instead of leaving them with a family member?”
They both stared at each other and remained silent.
Sam pushed them for an answer. “Is there something we should know regarding the family?” When neither of them responded, she pushed harder. “Because if there is, then we’ll have no hesitation in dragging them all down to the station.”
Horrified, Brenda cried out, “No, you can’t do that.”
“See, now look what you’ve gone and done, woman. I’m always warning you that big mouth of yours will get us into bother one day,” David complained.
His wife burst into tears, and there were sobs and snot aplenty within seconds.
“Please, be kind to each other. All this has been a shock to both of you, you’re going to be relying on each other for extra support over the coming weeks. If you argue between yourselves now, it will only make things a lot harder in the long run. You need to confide in us if there is something going on that doesn’t sit comfortably with you.”
Brenda blew her nose on a tissue. “He never told us. Out of the blue, around six months ago, he asked us to do him a huge favour and look after his medals and the cash. He knew he could trust us.”
“It’s lovely that he thought so much of you both. Do you think there were problems within the family?”
Brenda shrugged and a helpless expression descended. “Honestly, he didn’t tell us. He was quite a secretive person and we didn’t like to intrude. He knew he could trust us. We put the medals and cash away and they have remained in their hiding place, untouched, ever since.”
“What now?” David asked. “Do we hand the items over or keep hold of them? That’s our concern—what to do for the best.”
“Did he mention what his intentions were with the medals and the cash?”
“No. He asked us to hide them, but never really gave us a reason as to why and we didn’t push him for an answer. We’re not inquisitive people by nature, we only agreed to do it to help out a friend.”
Sam and Bob shared a look. “Well, I’m not sure what to do with the items just yet. If they’re in a secure place, I would suggest leaving them there for now. And you are the only ones who know of their existence?”
“Not sure about that,” David muttered. “Once they were hidden, we nev
er really discussed the matter again. I think the medals are fairly valuable, not that it mattered any to Tom, he kept them for sentimental reasons. They belonged to his father and his uncle. They obtained them after the First World War. He showed them to me before we hid them; he kept them immaculate, polished them every few months.”
“I see. Keep them safe for now, I’ll have to have a word with my superior about how to proceed, it’s not something I’ve ever had to deal with in the past. Maybe Tom mentioned them in his Will. I’ll double check when I get back to the station.”
Sam saw Bob remove his mobile from his pocket and scroll through it. It suddenly dawned on her that he had the photos of the document in question on his phone. She waited for him to say something. He glanced up and shook his head.
Strange, I would have thought something so valuable would have been mentioned. Oh, well, Tom must have had his reasons. Maybe he was considering selling them after all. Perhaps he was waiting for the right auction to come up first. Lockdown would have scuppered that idea until recently.
“Okay, we’ll leave it there for now. In case you can think of anything else you feel we should know, I’ll leave you my card. One last question before we go, have either of you seen anyone suspicious hanging around the area lately?”
They both shook their heads. “Strangers tend to stick out more when you live out in the sticks like we do. We get the odd person, you know, holidaymakers who have taken the wrong turn, but that’s it, nothing lately though, not from what I can remember,” David said.
“No, I can’t think of anyone either. Mind you, the memory isn’t what it used to be, for either of us.” Brenda ran a hand around her face.
“If I mentioned a group of foreigners, would that ring a bell with you?”
Again, the couple looked at each other. This time they both frowned and shook their heads until David clicked his fingers. “Yes, there was that group around here a few weeks ago. You remember, love? Tom sent them packing and then rang us, advising us to do the same.”
“Good Lord, so he did. I’d forgotten all about that. Yes, they came to us the next day, but we told them politely that money was tight and we didn’t have enough to buy our own food, let alone employ them. They seemed okay, didn’t become aggressive or anything like that. Which I was grateful for.”
Sam smiled. “In your opinion, then, they didn’t seem the type to hold a grudge or cause mischief?”
David shook his head. “Not really, but who can tell these days? The whole world has gone nuts. Who would have thought we’d be sitting here today, discussing our best friend being murdered? Not me. Shocking situation, it is. Hard to get my head around, that’s for sure. Totally unnecessary to kill someone of our age, and that poor dog of his. She was a good girl, a real beauty.”
“Hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of what went on soon enough. Thank you for speaking with us today. Sorry it was regarding such a harrowing subject. We’ll leave you to it now and get on with our investigation. You’ve got my card, don’t hesitate to call me, day or night.”
“Thank you, dear. I’ll show you out,” Brenda said, already on her feet and heading for the door. “I know you’ll do your very best for us. That man and his dog need justice to be served.”
“We’ll do our best. Thank you again for being so open with us. I’ll get back to you regarding the medals and money.”
“I look forward to hearing from you. I hope you find the person who took our friend away from us, soon.”
Sam smiled and walked towards the car with Bob. “I take it there was nothing in the Will then?”
“No. I thought that was strange. Why wouldn’t he mention them? Unless he was about to sell them.”
“That thought crossed my mind as well. I’m leaning towards these foreigners, aren’t you?”
“Hard to say at this time. We’ve still got a lot of digging to do. Maybe Claire will come up with something positive in the background searches.”
“I hope so. If the foreigners are to blame, then it’s going to be like searching for the proverbial needle. I can’t hack that sort of thing. I need some form of clue to go after.”
“Something will come our way soon enough. Where to next?” Bob peered back at the farmhouse.
They both got in the car. “The other neighbours. Remind me what their names are?”
He removed the slip of paper from his jacket pocket. “Eric and Mary Paulson. We want Greenacres Farm. I think we passed the sign down the road, on our way here.”
“Good, saves us putting the info into the satnav. I wonder how the others are getting on.”
“Want me to give them a quick ring to find out?”
“Yes, you do that, I’ll get the car turned around.”
Bob made two calls by the time Sam pulled up outside the next farmhouse. “Nothing yet from either of them.”
“Sod it! That doesn’t bode well. Let’s push the negativity aside for now and see what this couple has to say about things.”
They exited the vehicle, and a barking black and white collie came hurtling towards them from one of the barns. An elderly man resting on a shepherd’s crook shouted at the dog, and it dropped to the ground. “Sorry, bit of a guard dog he is. Can I help you?”
Sam produced her ID and offered it up to the man who was on the other side of the courtyard. “DI Sam Cobbs and DS Bob Jones. Are you Mr Paulson?”
“Police, you say? What do you want?”
A woman came out of the farmhouse and crossed the yard to stand alongside the man. “What is it, Eric?”
“I’m waiting to find out, love,” Mr Paulson told her.
“It would be better if we spoke to you both inside,” Sam replied, not taking her eyes off the dog who, in turn was eyeing her up.
“Jax, come away, lad.” The dog retreated to stand next to his master. “There’s a good boy.”
“Come inside. I’ve just got some scones out of the oven, I’m sure I can tempt you with a cup of tea and one of those, can’t I?” Mrs Paulson offered kindly.
Sam’s stomach instantly gurgled its pleasure. “Sounds fabulous, you’re too kind.”
She and Bob followed the couple into the hallway, which was dark and dingy, through to a small homely kitchen at the rear. The room was hot and stuffy, an Aga at full pelt on one side of the room and a table with four chairs on the other.
“Take a seat. I’ll get everything organised. Can I get you a sandwich as well?”
Sam gave the woman a warm smile. “Please, don’t go to any bother on our account.”
“I’m not. How does homemade cheese and tomato sound?”
“Wonderful. Thank you.”
Sam, Bob and Eric took their seats at the table. Sam felt guilty leaving the woman to tend to the snack, but she needed to get on with the interview ASAP.
“We’re here regarding a neighbour of yours, Tom Douglas,” Sam began.
“Terrible thing to happen,” Mrs Paulson muttered while she buttered some bread.
“How did you hear?” Sam enquired.
“David rang us, told us you had just dropped in. We didn’t have a clue until a few minutes ago,” Eric told them. He shook his head and placed his crook on the floor under the table. “Never thought I’d see the day one of our own got killed, not around here. Totally shocked us when we heard, didn’t it, love?”
“Appalling. I shook from head to foot. Nonsensical thing to do in my opinion. What harm can a seventy-six-year-old man do? As for killing Daisy as well, she was the sweetest dog, most loyal thing I’ve ever met. She would have given the killer a run for their money, no doubt. Always with him, no matter where he was. True one-owner dog, that one. Poor thing. Do you have any idea who did it, or why?”
“Not at the moment, no. We’re conducting house-to-house enquiries in the area this morning, to see if we can get any insight into what might have gone on in Tom’s life in recent months. Can you share anything with us?”
“Stubborn old fool, he was,” Eric replie
d, his eyes watering. “Nice with it, though. We never fell out, did we, love?”
His wife smiled and sighed. “No, we didn’t. He was a strange man. Maybe strange is the wrong word to use. Perhaps strong-willed would be a better way to describe him.”
Sam’s gaze flitted between the husband and wife who were clearly devoted to each other and spoke to one another fondly, unlike some married couples Sam had interviewed over the years. “Strong-willed? Was that in his personal life or in his working life as well?”
“Both. To strangers, he would have come across as rude or ignorant maybe, but deep down, he had a heart of gold. Would have done anything for anyone, if they reached out to him,” Eric said.
“Such a shame, to happen now when he had so much to look forward to,” his wife chipped in. “Retirement, a well-earned one at that, just around the corner. He was so looking forward to not getting up at four in the morning to tend to the cows. They were all sold in readiness of his big move. Brenda and I said we’d give him a hand packing up the boxes; he declined at first, insisted he wasn’t an invalid, but we talked him around. We were due to go over there this weekend to make a start. It’s what we used to do for each other. Help out where we could, to ease the stress.”
“I see. Didn’t his family help out when necessary?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything derisory by that. His family all work long hours, it’s to be expected that they should stay away and get on with their own lives. He accepted that. Never really complained about it at all,” Mary clarified. She arrived at the table with a tray laden with scrumptious scones and a pot of home-made jam plus a pot of tea, cups and saucers. After setting the tray down, she returned to collect a platter of sandwiches, side plates and napkins.
“Now don’t be shy, I don’t want to see any leftovers, I can’t stand waste. Tuck in, but leave room for your scone.”
“You really are very kind. We don’t get this sort of welcome everywhere we go.” Sam ran a hand around her waistband. “Thank goodness,” she added. Crikey, I doubt if I’ll be able to eat for the rest of the week once I’ve consumed this lot. I’ll be avoiding the scales for at least a week or two.