The Cretingham Murder Read Online Free PDF

daughter, Lizzie after he had conducted the Harvest Festival services on 25 September. The Suffolk Chronicle in its edition for Saturday 1 October reported that at Cretingham:
    The church had been tastefully decorated by Mrs Farley and other ladies and at the morning service the Revd A E Gilbert-Cooper had preached an excellent and suitable sermon from the words ‘Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth’ (James 5:7)
    Little did the reporter realize that in the following week’s issue the Revd Gilbert-Cooper would be making the headlines.
    Harriet Louisa was delighted to see the return of the curate, not least because over recent days, her husband’s health had deteriorated. Farley had become so infirm that he needed the assistance of Frank Bilney to get out of bed where he now spent most of the time. On Tuesday, 27 September, Harriet Louisa who seems to have struck up a correspondence with Arthur’s mother wrote to her telling how glad she was that they had her son back with them. He had, she wrote, been greatly missed in the parish where he was so bright and cheerful. Mr Cooper’s heart, she said, was so good and she felt he was one of God’s own children. Was there a hint in this letter that Mrs Gilbert-Cooper might suspect too much partiality on her behalf, for she went on to stress that Mr Farley was also glad to have him back. The vicar, she continued, had affirmed that his own family could not behave better towards him or be more kind and gentle. This same kindness and gentle approach made him so good at visiting the sick parishioners.
    Becoming more confidential in her tone, as one woman to another, she added that she was well aware of Arthur’s (she, of course, called him Mr Cooper in her letter) ‘little faults and failings.’ She had told him to be more watchful and to try to keep himself closer to his Great Master. She was concerned about his health as was the vicar who had told him he was overtiring himself. She was of the opinion that he had over-exerted himself in the summer with all the walking to play tennis. She finished by saying that at times Arthur was fretful.
    This letter, which starts so full of her delight in the return of her young companion, hints that everything is not quite right. Something has happened in the three or four days since Arthur’s return for he himself had written earlier to Dorset to say how well he felt. What was Mrs Gilbert-Cooper to make of Harriet’s letter as she read it over the breakfast table? If she heard warning bells, then they would have been reinforced by the letter, written the same day, that Arthur sent to his father to wish him a happy birthday. After the greetings, Arthur described in some detail the Harvest Celebration and the sermon he had preached. Both parents must have been concerned when they read:
    I am all mops and brooms, and have been for the last fortnight. I cannot understand why, as I have been very regular and abstemious, and I am not at all the thing, and I thought perhaps it was smoking too much. I have knocked it off, but the good results have not yet shown themselves. My nights might be a good deal better than they are. However, I must keep out in the open air as much as possible, and interest myself in my work and I hope it will gradually pass off.
    This very intimate paragraph reveals a great deal. It shows the relationship between father and son was such that Arthur felt able to confide his feelings, yet there is almost a childlike quality to his description of the regular and abstemious habits. Then, grown-up again, he attempted to take charge of himself, looking for a cure for his sleepless nights in fresh air, exercise and hard work. What is perhaps even more interesting is that Arthur appears to have been suffering from nicotine withdrawal symptoms. In believing that excessive smoking was causing his depression – his ‘mops and brooms’, by giving it up, he exacerbated the situation. It is a chilling