Confession at Maddleskirk Abbey Read Online Free PDF Page A

Barnaby, to take scrapings and perhaps imprints of their soles, just to see whether anyone else had been attending the body before you found him. We don’t suspect you, Barnaby, but we are trying to prove that you are innocent; we want to eliminate you from our enquiries.’
    ‘If you say so, sir.’
    ‘So before you found the body, did you see or hear anybody else in these woods this morning?’
    ‘No, sir, not a soul. Honest, nobody.’
    ‘And last night? Or yesterday?’
    ‘I wasn’t here then, sir, not yesterday. I was working over at Ploatby, helping with the harvest.’
    ‘Ah, which farm?’
    ‘Throstle Nest, sir. Mr Hendry’s place.’
    ‘So when was the previous time you were here?’
    ‘Oh, it would be some weeks ago, sir.’
    ‘Obviously before this man arrived?’
    ‘It must have been, I never saw him until this morning, lying where he is now.’
    ‘That agrees with what I think. I’d hazard a guess that he’s been here only for a day or two at the most. There’s nothing to indicate how he got here unless he fell or jumped off that cliff. Or was pushed. Thanks for your help, Barnaby. Will you be around if we want a chat?’
    ‘I’m here for another few days. I sleep in the old barns just down the road then I’ll be moving, I don’t know where. Helping with a harvest. Not far away.’
    ‘Will anyone know where to find you?’
    ‘Mr Greengrass might.’
    ‘Claude Jeremiah lives at Aidensfield,’ Nick told the detective.‘I know him well enough.’
    ‘Thanks. Now when our officers have finished their initial examination, we’ll transfer the body into a mortuary for a more detailed scientific examination. It might take some time. You can all leave if you wish.’
    ‘Can I stay to see what goes on?’ Barnaby asked. ‘In all my born days, I’ve never seen this sort of thing, so I have not.’
    ‘Yes, of course,’ responded Sullivan, much to everyone’s surprise. ‘We might want more help from you as we go along, so stay as long as you want but don’t stray into that area inside our yellow tape.’
    ‘No, sir, I won’t, I promise I won’t. Thank you for letting me stay, I’ve never seen such a thing in my life, never.’
    With Sullivan’s consent, everyone remained as a tight little bunch of observers as the meticulous work proceeded. It was a splendid display of police work that benefited the monkstables watching. Sadly, they could not all be there to witness the work at a crime scene but Father Alban said he would relate his experiences to his colleagues.
    The examination and ground search of the area began, including the stately beech trees and the top of the small cliff that overlooked the death scene. The official photographer recorded everything including the removal of soil samples and the collection of leaf-mould for forensic analysis. In all, the examination continued for about two hours. It was fortunate that DS Sullivan provided a running commentary to explain what was going on, and why such a detailed examination was necessary.
    ‘Detective Chief Superintendent Napier is on his way,’ he told them after taking a call on his mobile. ‘He’ll want to examine both the scene and the body in situ. There’s little more we can do until he arrives and I’m sure he’ll call out the full murder team. The stretcher is on its way and once Mr Napier has viewed the body, it will be placed in a mortuary vehicle to be taken to Middlesbrough for a forensic post-mortem.’
    There was a brief lapse of activity, then everything changed. Puffing through the undergrowth with his large size and famous big feet trampling shrubs and crushing plants, Detective Chief Superintendent Roderick (Nabber) Napier arrived with Detective Inspector Brian Lindsey at his side. They were quickly followed by the stretcher party consisting of four powerful young policemen, and after they had placed the stretcher close to the body, the pathologist, along with Napier and Lindsey, came for a closer look.