The Tewkesbury Tomb Read Online Free PDF Page B

next two fingers of his left hand, whereas there are none on his right hand. I think that if we were to examine his clothes we might also well find signs of ink on the left cuff of his shirt.’
    Crabb walked over to the chair, where the deceased’s clothes had been placed and picked up the item in question. ‘I do believe you’re right, sir.’
    ‘Although there are inkstains on the cuffs, there is not a great deal of wear on the garment, suggesting that it was either a recent purchase, or that its owner had taken particular care of it,’ said Ravenscroft, joining his colleague and examining the shirt before turning towards the remainder of the dead man’s clothes. ‘In fact, the suit, although not expensive and of a plain, ordinary nature in its design, is of a smart, presentable appearance, suggesting that our friend liked to dress well. I would say that although he was a clerk by profession, he was nevertheless not of a lower station. This man either worked in a senior capacity in an office, or took steps to see that his appearance created an impression of far greater importance than his actual position in life. Unfortunately there are no labels in any of the garments toenable us to trace them back to their place of sale.’
    ‘Looks as though our victim will go unnamed,’ added Crabb.
    ‘Let us take a look at the deceased’s shoes.’
    Crabb handed them to Ravenscroft, who examined them both inside and out.
    ‘I would say these are what you would call, London shoes, being extremely well made and of a fairly expensive nature. Our unknown stranger seems to have spent more money on that item than the rest of his apparel, suggesting perhaps that a recent investment had borne fruit.’
    ‘I will leave you two gentlemen to your deliberations,’ said the doctor who had been standing quietly by during the conversation.
    ‘Yes, thank you, Doctor,’ said Ravenscroft, as the medical man left the room. ‘Did you notice anything else unusual about the corpse, Crabb?’
    ‘I don’t believe so, sir.’
    ‘Look again at his feet. The nails on his left foot have been recently clipped, whereas the nails on his right foot are quite long,’ said Ravenscroft, returning to the table and bending over the deceased man.
    ‘Now you mention it, sir, you are quite right. What an odd thing to do. Why cut the nails on one foot and not the other? What do you make of it?’
    ‘I don’t. I cannot see the significance at all.’
    ‘What do we do now? Shall I circulate his description to the local newspaper and nearby police station? Someone might know who he is,’ suggested Crabb making notes in his pocket book. ‘He might have been staying locally, so it might be worth our while making enquiries at the local hostelries.’
    ‘By all means, Tom, but it may be of little avail if he had just recently arrived in the town. Let us gather together what weknow about our friend. We have a middle-aged clerk, of less than average stature, who cuts the nails on one of his feet but not the other, and who dresses well, but not extravagantly so, except for his shoes, and who probably originates from London. Now we have to ask ourselves – what was such a gentleman as this doing in the abbey in Tewkesbury late yesterday evening – and why was he killed in such a brutal fashion and then placed in a tomb belonging to a medieval knight?’
    ‘I must admit, sir, that I am at a complete loss,’ said Crabb replacing his notebook in the top pocket of his tunic.
    ‘When we were in the abbey just now, we wondered why the top stone had not been replaced on the monument. I think that this man and one other broke into the abbey yesterday evening between the hours of eight and twelve, where they drove a wedge under the lid of the tomb, until they were able to lift it up enough to be able to move it slightly to one side so that they could look down into its interior,’ said Ravenscroft, removing his spectacles and cleaning the lenses on his