Page 43 (1/2)
CHAPTER 1
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His feet, one slippered and one covered in a grey sock, swayed pendular in the icy January wind that whipped mercilessly around the old three-walled stone barn
The le and every detail of the corpse hanging from the ancient pitch-pine beam
The body
The stepladder kicked flat below it
The black rope tied efficiently with a knot, which would later be identified as a double running bowline
“Any idea on time of death?”
The medical examiner turned to face the detective
“He’s stiffened up If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he died twelve, thirteen hours ago But don’t quote me”
Detective Ellis Roberts edged hi rain, but keeping out of the way of forensics That would ht
“Anything else?”
“Ligature marks Probably a fractured hyoid and thyroid I’ll need to confiret him on the slab”
Ellis could see inside the building now The daylight lit up the shadowy corners that lay beyond the weak halo of the naked light bulb, hanging like the body from the beam
In a couple ofewes and new-born lah, there was only death here E man
The face was reddened and bloated The eyes bulged fro of the neck
“Definitely suicide, then?”
The medical examiner pointed with his caside which the other slipper lay
“Looks that way”
Ellis studied the rocking body This was the third farmer suicide he’d seen in as many years At least this one hadn’t decided to splatter his brains across the shed Those were the worst
“You talked to the Missus yet?”
Ellis snapped back to attention
“Uh… briefly Diane from Family Liaison’s with her”
The wife had raised the alarm at around six am
“Thought he’d be downstairs sleeping it off on the sofa after co back from The Cross Keys Instead, she found him in here Looks like he never made it there, after all”
“If he was off to the pub, as he in his slippers?”
The medic raised an eyebrow
“And why check the outbuildings in the dark? Did she suspect that he ht’ve topped himself?”
He paused, and Ellis chewed his lip thoughtfully
“Hey, you’re the detective, I just cut ‘em open Is there a note?”
“No Nothing so far”
???
Inside the farmhouse, Ellis and Diane sat across the kitchen table from Maureen, wife of Glyn Evans, the deceased
She looked drawn, the detective thought There wasn’t much of her, and her face had a pearl-like translucence, no doubt from the shock
Sat alongside her was a male, who Ellis estimated to be around thirty, and who he quickly established wasn’t Maureen’s son Six foot, lean and muscular He looked like he could handle himself
“I called Jac after phoning you”
She stuffed the cruan
“He’s hbour”
“I’ the farm,” he added by way of introduction
The detective jotted it down Jac Jones lived in the white cottage, around a half a mile away in the direction of the pub
“Where were you last night?”
“In The Cross Keys”
“All evening?”
“Pretty much Played pool with a couple of the boys”
He’d check that later
“Was Glyn there?”
“No”
“You sure?”
Ellis studied Jac steadily
“Certain”
“Do you still need e to put out for the sheep in the top fields”
“If we need you, we’ll be in touch Got a mobile?”
“Yes, but you’re best calling the landline There’s no signal around here If I’et back to you”
He gave the detective both of his numbers, then touched Maureen’s hand
“I’ll be back ‘round in a bit See how things are”
“He’s a good lad,” she mouthed to Diane, the family liaison officer after he’d disappeared to the porch to put on his boots
She fished out the tissue from her cuff and dabbed away another tear
The detective’s eyes strayed towards the porch
“‘Scuse me a sec”
Thankfully, the rain had stopped, but the bitter winter wind still sliced into his cheeks as he raced onto the yard
“Hold up!”
Jac turned around as Ellis jogged over to him
“Detective?”
Ellis shivered In his rush, he’d left his coat on the chair
“Glyn?” he asked, catching his breath
“D’you think he was depressed?”
“You ns he’d do this?”
“Pretty much, yeah”
“Everyone knows he’s gotta…,” Jac corrected himself, “He had a problem with the drink”
Ellis noted the slight emotional crack in his voice
“That’s why I’otten too much for him… But, yeah, I’d say he had his ups and downs Maureen can tell you more She was a nurse”
Ellis scribbled it down He’d check out Glyn’s medical records later
“Anything else? Money worries? Marriage issues?”
Jac coughed
“I dunno”
“And Glyn definitely wasn’t in The Cross Keys last night?”
“No I told you”
“D’you think it’s odd that he w
as wearing his slippers to go to the shed?”
“It’s bloody odd, if ya askoff a beam”
“They’ve taken him do”
Jac nodded grimly
“Any other next of kin, apart from his wife?”
Jac looked down at the concrete
“There’s a daughter Annie”
Ellis got out his notepad and scrawled down her name
“Where’s she?”
“London”
???
“Stace, tella total fool”
We’ve slipped out to a popular Italian coffee shop near the office for a ue-in-cheek, I call it our weekly one-to-one, as I’et in the way of us being mates
She’s been there for ot back fro or out for drinks, the usual stuff
She conte the top off her cappuccino
“The best bit,” she grins, savouring the chocolate-sprinkled froth “You were a fool, Annie, but honestly, hun, you’re doing the right thing now”
“Hht”
“Definitely Remember last week, yeah?”
Thinking about that again e
I was convinced that everyone in the restaurant was pitying me as I played with my phone for a whole hour, until he finally answered
“But, what about New York? It was so much fun at the start”
Stacey rolls her eyes at me
“Don’t givein Central Park, listening to jazz, eating creaels, bollocks”
She yawns
“It was exciting ‘cos Seb breezed in from the London office for a couple of days, took you out and banged you senseless… Honey, he was on a e, and you were his New York office fling”
“Sounds kinda sleazy when you put it like that But it wasn’t, Stace, honest”
The company ork for has a strict ‘no relationships’ policy, and there is no doubt that this has added to our affair The thrill of forbidden fruit
“Sorry if I’ a bit brutal”
She setically
“D’you love him, Annie?”
That was quite a question
“No”
The answer flies out of my mouth without hesitation or consideration The truth