Death at Burwell Farm

by Betty Rowlands

  It was almost eight o’clock that evening before she had any word from Jim. He sounded tired and dispirited. ‘Is there any chance you might be able to feed a weary DI?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ve had my supper, but I could rustle up some sausages and chips from the freezer. Will that do?’

  ‘Perfect. I’ll be with you in half an hour.’

  He was there within twenty minutes. ‘God, what a day!’ he groaned as he sank on to the couch in Sukey’s cosy little sitting room and closed his eyes.

  ‘I take it it’s the stabbing at RYCE that’s been keeping you?’ He nodded. ‘Has there been any progress?’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘Well, get this down you while the food’s cooking.’

  ‘Bless you.’ He sat up and drank deeply from the glass of beer she handed him. ‘It looks as if it might end up being a very long investigation,’ he said as she settled down at his side. ‘It’s not as if we can be sure the killer is one of the people who were known to be there at the time of the murder.’

  ‘But it must have been – I mean, who else would have access to that knife?’

  ‘The knife was used only occasionally, as part of a kind of grand finale to one of the more advanced courses. The last time was nearly three weeks ago. It could have been taken almost any time since then, which means we have to check on everyone who was there from then on.’

  ‘But surely someone would have noticed if it was missing. Josie spotted it immediately.’

  ‘Theoretically, yes, but we can’t take anything for granted.’

  ‘And what about Jarvis? I thought—’

  Jim gave a weary shrug. ‘We had to bail him for the time being. He faces charges over growing and probably supplying pot, of course, but we’re satisfied he had nothing to do with the killing. We were right in one respect, though; when he waylaid you and Serena on your way back to the house, he did already know Burrell was dead. He said he was missing a pair of secateurs, remembered he’d been working the previous day in the private garden and thought he might have left them there. Knowing Burrell would be “saying his prayers” as he put it and wouldn’t notice if the SAS came charging in, he slipped back to look for them. When he saw the body he panicked and fled. The SOCOs found the secateurs during their search, which seems to bear out his story.’

  ‘It doesn’t explain why he didn’t raise the alarm immediately.’

  ‘That was put to him. His first thought was self-preservation, so he began trying to hide the cannabis plants in a disused shed. I don’t think it occurred to him that he might be suspected of the murder, but he decided it would look odd if he didn’t put in an appearance after all the kerfuffle. His intention was to go back and finish the job before the police got there; he hadn’t bargained for “that effing bossy-boots” – that’s you, my love – keeping him banged up until the police arrived.’

  Sukey chortled with delight. ‘Well, three cheers for clever old me!’ She detached herself from the encircling arm he had slipped round her shoulders and stood up. ‘I’d better go and check on your supper – it should be nearly ready.’

  ‘That’s good. I’m starving.’ He followed her into the kitchen and tucked in with gusto to the plate of food she put in front of him. ‘By the way,’ he said when he had taken the edge off his hunger, ‘what’s this I hear from Radcliffe about you wanting a freebie therapy treatment at RYCE?’

  Sukey blinked in astonishment. ‘Is that what he told you?’

  ‘That’s the impression he got.’

  ‘Not quite accurate, although it might be quite a pleasant experience. I just wondered whether I was the only one who didn’t receive the special offer – which I assume was by way of compensation for the disruption to the course – and if so, why? And if Jennifer was the only one to get it, what could be the explanation for that?’

  Jim shook his head. ‘No idea at the moment. Have you got a theory?’

  ‘Well, one possibility is that somehow they knew Jennifer is Oliver Drew’s widow and it was a kind of goodwill gesture – but if that’s the case, you’d expect Serena to have said so, made some expression of sympathy, said she hoped their teaching had been a comfort to her, that kind of thing.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound very convincing to me.’

  ‘Nor to me.’

  ‘So what else do you have in mind?’

  ‘Did Serena just forget to make the offer to me, as Jennifer suggested, or was it a deliberate omission because for some reason they didn’t want me anywhere near the so-called Rejuvenation Suite.’

  ‘Any idea why that should be?’

  Sukey helped herself to a chip from the dish at Jim’s elbow and munched it thoughtfully for a moment. ‘Not at the moment, but when I went back to Burwell Farm the second time, on the pretext of letting them know their stolen mower had been recovered—’

  ‘Just a minute.’ Jim paused with a sausage halfway to his mouth. ‘What second time?’

  ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you?’

  ‘You did not.’

  ‘It was probably because you’d made such a fuss about what Jennifer and Adrian had asked me to do.”

  ‘All right, let’s not go over all that again. What were you about to say?’

  She gave him a brief account of her conversations – first with Jarvis, who identified Vera as a woman he had seen emerging from the Rejuvenation Suite looking ‘put out’, and then with Serena, who she felt was uncomfortable over the reference to Oliver Drew. ‘And there was something in the way she looked at me when she was doing her ‘Welcome to RYCE’ act on Monday morning that made me think she wasn’t altogether happy at seeing me there.’

  ‘You think, knowing your connection with the police, she might have suspected your motive?’ Jim frowned as he helped himself to the last of the chips. ‘It sounds a bit thin on the face of it. Just the same, I wish you’d listened to me, and stayed away from the place.’

  ‘And missed out on a commendation from DCI Lord?’ Sukey teased, but there was no answering smile.

  ‘All right, you did a great job at the time, but please, leave it to us from now on.’

  ‘A propos of that, there’s one other point you might want to think about.’ She described the lame explanation that followed Jennifer’s inadvertent reference to a third party.

  For the first time, Jim showed an interest. ‘That does need looking into,’ he agreed. ‘Any idea who “he” might be?’

  ‘How about Loveridge? As I told you yesterday, Jennifer looked pretty shocked while he was making a scene at not being allowed out of the room – which was natural, I suppose, but it’s occurred to me since that it might be more than shock. I thought she looked scared as well – almost as if she was afraid of what he might let drop. I’ve been wondering whether she might know him – or know something about him. Remember, her initial motive in going to RYCE was to try and pin responsibility for her husband’s death on someone there. Next thing, the owner of the place gets topped. And Loveridge didn’t strike me as the kind of man likely to suffer from “internal shackles” as the jargon goes.’

  Jim laid down his knife and fork and pushed his empty plate aside. ‘You never know what goes on inside people’s heads, but as you say, it’s worth following up. I’ll have a word with Andy Radcliffe and tell him to see what he can dig up on Loveridge.’

  Twenty-One

  Towards the end of the following Monday afternoon, Sergeant Radcliffe entered DI Castle’s office with a file of papers in his hand.

  ‘Ah, Andy. Just the chap I wanted to see.’ Castle indicated a chair. Radcliffe sat down and put the file on the desk. ‘What have you been able to dig up on the Percy Burrell murder?’

  ‘A few interesting tit-bits, but at first sight nothing significant. We’re still waiting for forensics to complete their examination of the witnesses’ clothing – initial reports indicate no trace of blood found so far, although all the shoes had picked up grass cuttings. Nothing particularly suspicious there – the lawns had
been cut the previous day and they all admitted going into the garden before the start of the session.’

  ‘What else?’

  ‘Serena Elford, who is supposed to be one of Percy Burrell’s converts, turns out to be Edith Burrell’s daughter. She claims to have studied various forms of alternative medicine and joined the team shortly before they moved to Burwell Farm from London. I looked up the reports of their earlier brush with authority – you may remember Percy and Edith had their knuckles rapped for making misleading claims about their treatments – and came across the fact that Elford was Edith’s maiden name. Rumour had it that she was a bit of a wild child and Serena was the result of a teenage fling with a Spanish hippie. Maybe she became involved in some sort of cult religion, which would explain the attraction to Percy Burrell.’

  ‘Presumably they decided to conceal the relationship because they thought presenting Serena as a disciple would be a good selling point,’ Castle observed. ‘That might be a slightly dodgy marketing ploy, but it’s hardly criminal.’

  ‘I’m not suggesting it is, guv. I just thought it was another indication that they’re not above the odd deception.’

  ‘Point taken. Sukey seems to think Serena controls the business side of the enterprise, as well as giving some of the so-called rejuvenation treatments. Does that tie in with your information?’

  ‘Pretty well. There’s a young woman called Josie Garrard who handles the day-to-day admin and she’s directly responsible to Serena. Edith and Serena give the treatments between them. Edith comes swanning into the office now and then to check her appointments, but Percy seems to have taken little interest in the hands-on side of things – Josie hardly ever saw him except now and again in the garden. I must say,’ Radcliffe added with a sigh, ‘Josie hasn’t been a particularly useful witness. The job suits her because it’s close to home, but outside office hours she hardly gives it a thought. She’s not in the least interested in her employers’ private lives, or those of the punters. She says Percy was “a bit of an oddball, but a lovely man” and privately thinks the RYCE philosophy is “a bit of a laugh”.’

  ‘She knew about the knife and she was quick to spot that it was missing,’ Castle pointed out.

  ‘Only because it was kept in a place where her duties took her now and again. She happened to comment on it one day and Serena explained the part it played in the proceedings.’

  ‘I see. What about the others?’

  ‘Edith Burrell once did a drama course, but never made the big time. Gave up her hopes of an acting career when she met Percy and threw in her lot with him. Lisa Crombie interviewed her, says she’s devastated by his death but passionate in her determination to carry on his “mission”, as she calls it. Claims to be motivated by his spirit guiding her from “the Great Unlimited”.’

  Castle frowned. ‘Either she’s a genuine fruitcake or she’s putting on an act. Is there any reason to suspect her?’

  ‘None at all at the moment, but naturally we’re keeping an open mind. Lisa said she sounded totally dedicated and sincere – and, of course, losing the key player out of a three-person act is going to present enormous difficulties.’

  ‘Do we know who benefits financially?’

  ‘We checked with their accountant – they were quite happy for us to speak to him – and everything is already in the wife’s name. Percy doesn’t seem to have been interested in anything so sordid as money or worldly goods.’

  ‘Any other family?’

  ‘They say not. Edith’s an orphan and Serena’s father probably did a runner years ago, but I suppose we’d better check on that.’ Radcliffe made a note before continuing. ‘Percy inherited a considerable sum of money from his widowed father – again, the only relative – which enabled them to buy Burwell Farm and convert it. Serena says left to himself, he’d probably have given it all away, but Edith managed to talk him into setting up the RYCE Foundation on the grounds that it would enable him to reach more people with his divine message.’

  ‘Apart from Jarvis the gardener, are there any other staff – cook, cleaner, that sort of thing?’

  ‘They’re all vegetarian and what cooking is done Serena and Edith do between them. A Mrs Robbins comes in for a couple of hours three times a week to do the laundry and cleaning and a window-cleaner calls every three or four weeks. They were both elsewhere on the day of the murder.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Castle got up and began prowling round the office, repeatedly tossing a bunch of keys into the air and catching it. It was a long-standing habit of his and Radcliffe knew better than to interrupt his train of thought. It was several minutes before he sat down again, replaced the keys in his pocket and said, ‘So that brings us to the people who made up the group that day. Jennifer. Drew’s background we know about and I think we can eliminate Sukey from our enquiries. What about the others?’

  Radcliffe opened the file and handed the top sheet of paper to Castle. ‘Daniel Foster, human resources manager for an electronics company. Reason for attending the course: stress levels among the company personnel have been causing anxiety and the chairman’s given him the job of sussing out a few places where they can be sent to chill out.’

  ‘That’s interesting.’ Castle scanned the report briefly before returning it. ‘Sukey said she thought he had what she called “leadership qualities”.’

  ‘Perceptive girl, Sukey,’ Radcliffe commented.

  ‘Very,’ Castle replied drily. ‘She’s got me sized up. D’you know, Andy’ – for the moment, he dropped his official manner and addressed Radcliffe as the man with whom he had enjoyed a close comradeship going back to their early days in the force. Radcliffe, with less ambition, had been content to remain a sergeant while Castle had always had an eye to further promotion, but outside their work the difference in rank had not affected their friendship – ‘she told me the other day that I was pompous.’

  ‘That’s a bit steep,’ said Radcliffe with a grin. ‘What had you done to deserve that?’

  ‘I suppose I was laying down the law a bit too strongly,’ Castle admitted. ‘Anyway, back to the job in hand. What have you on the other three?’

  ‘The woman, a Miss Mary Hargreaves, is a teacher in a comprehensive school in Bath. Gives her reason for enrolling at RYCE as job-related stress, which sounds reasonable enough. Hubert Phillips was a little reluctant to divulge his profession – said it would look bad for him if it became known to his employers.’

  ‘Who are?’

  ‘The church. He’s a reverend gentleman.’

  Castle gave a soft whistle. ‘I can’t imagine that would go down well with his bishop – he might suspect a whiff of paganism. If he was under stress, you’d have thought he’d have applied to go to some Christian retreat.’

  ‘That occurred to me,’ Radcliffe agreed. ‘So I had a few discreet enquiries made, and it turns out that Miss Hargreaves is a member of his congregation and – according to one garrulous old gossip of a churchwarden – “rather sweet on our vicar”. And,’ the sergeant continued with a certain amount of grim relish, ‘it emerged that they were staying in the same pub on the outskirts of Tewkesbury, under assumed names. They were taken back for a change of clothing so that forensics could check the things they were wearing – separately as it happened and about half an hour apart because of the way the interviews were timed, so the coincidence wasn’t spotted until the reports were compared later.’

  ‘And I imagine the reverend gentleman has a lawfully wedded wife?’

  ‘You’ve got it. According to Josie, they registered at RYCE in their own names – he as plain mister – but any correspondence went to Hargreaves’s address.’

  ‘Is there any way that Percy Burrell could have known about their relationship?’

  ‘It seems unlikely and there’s no apparent reason why he should be concerned about it, but obviously we’ll have to go into that in a bit more depth. It’s going to come as a shock to Mrs Phillips, I’m afraid. She thinks her husband’s been visiting
a sick aunt in Carlisle.’

  ‘That leaves Loveridge. What have you got on him?’

  ‘Not a lot. We haven’t managed to speak to him since we took his initial statement; all our phone calls have been taken by a dragon of a secretary who claims his diary’s completely full for the next few days. He enrolled at RYCE at the last minute, by the way. She says he came back from a very stressful business trip and told her to fix him up somewhere where he could unwind. They happened to have had a last-minute cancellation so they were able to take him.’

  ‘Any idea why she chose RYCE?’

  Radcliffe shook his head. ‘Never thought to ask. Could be because it’s conveniently situated – the firm’s headquarters are in Birmingham. I’ll check on that.’ He made a note. ‘I think I’ll put DC Hill on this one – if Loveridge continues to be elusive he can see what he can get out of the secretary. Young Tony’s got a way with women.’

  As he approached the glass front door of the headquarters of Loveridge International, DC Hill noticed that the young woman behind the desk in the reception area was filing her nails and looking bored. When the automatic panels slid apart to admit him she hurriedly put down the file and greeted him with a welcoming expression that appeared natural and spontaneous rather than the professional baring of the teeth that in similar situations so often passed for a smile. He guessed – rightly as it turned out – that the arrival of a personable man in his twenties held the promise of a pleasant if brief diversion during an otherwise uneventful period. She was blonde and blue-eyed with pretty, mobile features, and there was a slightly breathless quality to her voice as she said, ‘Good morning, can I help you?’

  Hill treated her to one of the ingratiating smiles that had been known to disarm the least impressionable of female witnesses, held up his identity card and said, ‘Good morning. I’m Detective Constable Hill of Gloucester CID. Would it be possible to have a word with your Mr Mervyn Loveridge?’

  ‘A detective!’ Her tone was a mixture of awe and apprehension. Then the blue eyes widened in alarm and the smile faded. ‘Oh dear,’ she breathed. ‘I do hope it’s nothing too serious. Poor Mr Loveridge has had so much worry lately.’