The Lammas Curse Read Online Free PDF

go
out on his own in the early hours of the morning to acquaint
himself with the layout of the fairways. There were no other
players out on the links at the time but some of the local lads
often hunt for stray golf balls which they sell at the market, and
sometimes they have a few hits on the sly at the same time. The
ball in question did not appear to have an owner. And since it was
the first death no one was looking for it to be murder.”
    “Just a freak accident.”
    “Exactly.”
    “And the second accident? Was
the caddy conveniently absent?”
    “The Italian, Giuseppe Sforza,
had his caddy with him, but the caddy noticed that the putter was
not in the bag soon after they set off so he rushed back to the
golf pavilion to get it before they reached the first green. In the
meantime, Mr Sforza played on and must have hit his ball into or
near a water hazard and somehow ended up in the water too. He was
found tangled in some bull rushes. The water was only ten inches
deep.”
    “No signs of any contusions? No
signs of a struggle?”
    “Nothing of any significance
apart from a large bruise to his chin conducive to suffering a
severe knock after slipping on wet grass, landing face first,
rolling down an embankment and ending up in a shallow pool. The
caddy panicked on seeing the body floating face down and
immediately cried out for help. By the time a dozen people trampled
the scene there was no chance to check for footprints. Again, no
one was assuming it was murder.”
    “The bruise on the chin could
have been from a knock-out punch to the jaw making it an easy thing
to hold the head down until drowning occurred,” suggested the
doctor, drawing from experience. “And the third death?”
    “Peter Lancaster, the
Australian, was taking a shortcut from the twelfth fairway to the
thirteenth when a tree branch fell on him, killing him instantly.
His death was a little more interesting than the previous two.
There was thick fog so visibility was poor. The caddy had hung back
to mark the scorecard while Mr Lancaster had hurried ahead and
taken the shortcut through a woody bosque in order to relieve
himself, so it could not have been a pre-meditated act but simply
opportune and daring.”
    “What sort of bosque?”
    “A spinney of silver birch
trees.”
    “Birches are not renowned for
dropping large branches – twigs, yes.”
    “Quite correct, but the branch
did happen to strike him on the top of the head as if it fell from
on high.”
    “Someone could have wielded it
and brought it down to make it look that way,” the doctor
volunteered.
    “Yes, and since it was the
third death it needed to look accidental in all respects.”
    “I suppose no one checked to
see if the branch had broken loose recently, I mean, that the break
was fresh, not weathered by time?”
    “No one checked, as you say,
and the branch soon ended up as firewood, but after three
unfortunate accidents the tournament was halted. The local police
constable did his best but he was out of his depth and probably
felt intimidated by his lordship.”
    “Who called in the Yard?”
    “Lady Moira Cruddock, mother of
the current Lord Cruddock. He was hostile to the idea of bringing
in the Yard because of the negative publicity but she went ahead
and did it anyway. She lives in the gatehouse, not at the castle,
and has made no secret of the fact she is vehemently opposed to her
son turning the Lammas moor into a golf course.”
    “Oh, yes, I remember reading
that she is a Spiritualist of some renown who believes that the
spirits of the dead have been disturbed.”
    “A nice story to put about if
one is planning to nip the golf course in the bud, not that I am
suggesting she is a murderess. There is more to this mystery than
meets the eye.”
    “In what way?”
    “You could say: in witch
way.”
    “Which way?”
    “Witch as in Wicca – and though
I might make a pun of it the Scottish take their witchcraft
seriously.”
    “No need to remind me of