| |
*
This novel used British English language and spelling, so if there are any words or phrases with which you are unfamiliar, there is a handy list in the back of the book.
*
IT WAS 10.00 P M, AND Inspector Joe Rafferty was thankful to finally be going home. The week before Christmas was not the best time of year from a policeman's point of view; Essex, in common with the rest of England’s densely-populated southern counties, had too many criminals with shopping lists of luxury items, and a matching reluctance to pay for them. The combination had made his day long and tiring.
So he was inclined to snap when Constable Timothy Smales burst into his office, crashing the door back against the wall just as he was putting his coat on, and melodramatically exclaimed, 'It's gone, sir. Vanished. Lilley says—'
'Can't you open a door without smashing it off its hinges, man?' Rafferty demanded. 'What's the matter with you?'
Crestfallen, Smales said, 'Sorry, sir.'
'What's gone, anyway?' Rafferty asked.
'I thought you'd have heard by now, sir.' Smales's fallen crest was now on the rise again, and he came forward excitedly. 'A body was reported hanging in Dedman Wood. Only, as I said, when Lilley got there, it had vanished, so—'
Rafferty was dismissive. 'Is that all?' Timothy Smales's schoolboy enthusiasm for corpses killed his small stock of common sense, and he made a mental note to put the young constable down for a few more post-mortems as a cure for the condition. 'Hardly reason to take the paint off my wall. It's another hoax, man. Have you forgotten it's the school holidays? Last week it was armed robberies—this week it's corpses. With a bit of luck, by next week, the bored local teenagers will be tormenting the fire brigade instead of us.'
Smales flushed but continued doggedly. 'It wasn't a kid that reported it, sir. It was a woman. According to Beard, a posh-sounding woman. Very adamant, she was. And she was there, waiting for Lilley. Said she almost burned his ears off when he finally got to the scene. And another thing—Lilley said there were definite indications that a body had been hanging where she said.'
Rafferty, still keen to get home and put his feet up, wasn't easily moved from his opinion that the call had been a hoax. The world was full of attention-seekers who had forgotten to take their medication; a posh voice and a bossy manner didn't make his conclusions any less likely. Still, he reminded himself, uneasily, callers intent on wasting police time didn't usually hang around for the police to arrive.
'Lilley said there were what looked like rope marks on one of the sturdier boughs,' Smales went on. 'And the grass was flattened directly underneath it. A small tuft of rope was still clinging to the bough itself.'
'Could have been made by children with a tyre swing.' Rafferty still felt their witness would turn out to be less impressive in the flesh. But maybe he ought to look into it a little more deeply. Resignedly, he removed his coat, and indicated that Smales should continue.
'Constable Beard said the woman who reported it told him she was a magistrate from Burleigh.' Burleigh was in the north of the county, while Elmhurst was in the south, near the coast. 'A Mrs ffinch-Robinson. I can believe the magistrate bit and all, because Lilley said that when he got there, and the body had gone, she didn't half give him a ticking off. Seemed to think he should have got there sooner. Anyway, she said she'd be in to make a formal statement. She hadn't been drinking, either,' Smales added. 'Lilley made sure to smell her breath.'
Rafferty frowned. ffinch-Robinson. The name rang a bell. And from what Smales said, she sounded both sane and sober. But if so, and she was telling the truth, what the devil had become of the body? If the cadaver was a suicide, as seemed likely, what reason would a third party have for removing it?
Having come up with no answers, he said, 'I want to see Lilley the second he gets back. And warn him he'd better make sure he can read his writing, because I shall want to know exactly what this Mrs ffinch-Robinson said to him. I'll need chapter and verse, because, by the sound of her, nothing but another corpse will satisfy her.' Pity we can't provide her with one, he muttered to himself.
***
MRS FFINCH-ROBINSON arrived at Elmhurst police station ten minutes later and was shown into Rafferty's office. She proved not only entirely sober and respectable, but less than understanding of the slow police response.
Rafferty did his best to soothe her ruffled magistrate's feathers. 'It's nearly Christmas, Mrs ffinch-Robinson. A very busy time for us and—'
'I understand that, Inspector. But I would have thought a report of a man's body hanging in the woods would take precedence over public house brawls.'
'Normally it would, of course. Unfortunately, all the uniformed officers were out or otherwise engaged when your call came through. All I can say is that an officer was despatched in response to your call as soon as possible.'
Thankfully, Mrs ffinch-Robinson didn't pursue the complaint. But she had another that was equally sensitive. 'I suggest you speak to the young officer who finally arrived in response to my call, Inspector. I found his manner offensive. He not only had the effrontery to smell my breath as though he believed me to be drunk.' Briefly, Rafferty closed his eyes, surprised at Lilley's clumsiness; it was more the behaviour he had come to expect from young Smales. 'But he also warned me of the penalties for wasting police time—hardly conducive to good police-public relations, you must agree.'
As he gazed at Mrs ffinch-Robinson, perched, with all her ruffled magisterial dignity in his visitor's chair, Rafferty wished he hadn't sent Sergeant Dafyd Llewellyn out to soothe the latest victim of Elmhurst's Christmas-shopping criminal fraternity. He could do with his diplomatic skills here. He marvelled at Lilley's nerve. Pity his judgement wasn't so hot, because, from the top of her rather stylish Lincoln green, deerstalker hat, to her no-time-to-waste French-pleated hair, through to her firmly corseted figure and practically shod feet in their brilliantly burnished tan boots, Mrs ffinch-Robinson proclaimed authority, sobriety and a total lack of hysteria. Her voice, as crisp as a Cox's Orange Pippin, was clear, precise, and as demanding of a policeman's respect as the rest of her. Hardly surprising, of course. As she had been at pains to explain, she was a magistrate.
Rafferty, earlier inclined to scoff at tales of vanishing cadavers, didn't doubt that she was telling the truth about the missing body. Apart from anything else, her statement hadn't varied by as much as a word from that taken down by Lilley. She had told them she was staying with her daughter and had taken the daughter's dog for a walk. It had been the dog who had led her to the corpse. All that was simple enough. But what she had to tell him next was more worrying and did little to reassure him that the next few days would be anything but difficult.
'I didn't say anything to that young officer,' she told Rafferty, 'as he didn't exactly inspire confidence that one would be believed, but I'm certain the corpse was that of a chap called Maurice Smith.'
Rafferty frowned as another bell rang. Now why did he recognise the name?
Mrs ffinch-Robinson's intelligent grey gaze noted his dilemma. 'His was something of a cause-célèbre about ten years ago. Maurice Smith was charged with raping four young girls. The case was dismissed on a legal technicality on the first day of the trial.' Her firmly chiselled nostrils quivered her disdain for such legal bumbling. 'One of his victims killed herself when Smith was released. As you can imagine, the victims' families were outraged, and made various threats against Smith.'
Rafferty nodded. Details of the case were slowly coming back. He seemed to remember that, of the families that Mrs ffinch-Robinson mentioned, one had done more than threaten. The father had waylaid Smith, and given him one hell of a beating, receiving a prison sentence for his pains. 'Excuse me, Mrs ffinch-Robinson, but how did you recognise him? After all, it's ten years since he—'
Mrs ffinch-Robinson interrupted him. 'Smith used to live in Burleigh which is where I sit on the bench, and he had come up before me in the Magistrates' Court on several occasions in his teens. His front teeth protruded quite dreadfully. Extraordinary the parents didn't get them seen to, though, of course, the mother was one of those spiritless women you could advise till you were blue in the face. Anyway, the teeth of the corpse were exactly the same. That's why I recognised him. He'd changed very little in other respects, too. There is no doubt in my mind that it was Smith. None at all.'
Reluctant to seem to doubt her, Rafferty had, nevertheless, to question her further. 'Pardon me, but I thought you said he had a hood over his head when you found him, Mrs ffinch-Robinson?'
Although her nostrils flared when he pointed out the flaw in her statement, she answered promptly enough. 'So he did. I didn't touch anything, if that's what you're implying. I didn't have to, as the wind must have got under the hood, and it was half off. Naturally, I shone my torch on his face. You should be grateful I did, Inspector.' The Cox's Orange Pippin in her voice became crisper than ever. 'At least you know the body's identity, even if it has gone missing.' She gave him a stern, magisterial, smile. 'Now all you have to do is find it.' She paused before adding, 'And his murderer, of course.'
***
AFTER MRS FFINCH-ROBINSON left, Rafferty checked Smith's history. A colleague at Burleigh, as long on the job as himself, was able to confirm all that Mrs ffinch-Robinson had said and more, and it was a pensive Rafferty who called Llewellyn in on his return and explained what had happened in his absence.
'You believe her?' Llewellyn asked.
With a wry smile, Rafferty nodded. 'I think we can take it that Mrs ffinch-Robinson wasn't hallucinating. She's a magistrate, no less, and the type to take Harrods trips, not LSD ones.'
'No chance it might be a suicide? After the shock of finding a body, even magistrates can get their facts wrong. It was dark, remember.'
'No chance at all I should think,' Rafferty told him. ‘And she had a torch.’ Of course, Llewellyn hadn't met Mrs ffinch-Robinson, he reminded himself. 'According to the witness, the body not only had that hood over his head, but his hands were also bound behind his back. No, unfortunately, I'm convinced she was telling the plain, unvarnished truth.'
He wished he could say otherwise. Mrs ffinch-Robinson would make a wonderful showing in the witness box—confident, firm, and not to be swayed by the defence counsel's tricks. But first, as she had mentioned, they had not only to find the body, they had also to catch the murderer—without him, their star turn would remain off-stage, probably giving the director hell from the wings.
After speaking to his Burleigh colleague, Rafferty had done some more digging, and now he filled Llewellyn in on the rest. 'Smith moved from Burleigh to Rawston after the aborted rape trial. From there, after a new neighbour recognised him, he moved here, where, I gather, he's lived for two years. If this missing cadaver does turn out to be Maurice Smith, I very much fear someone's been acting as judge, jury and Albert Pierrepoint, the old hangman.'
Was there anything more worrying to a policeman than the public taking the law into its own hands? Yet, at the same time, he was aware of a degree of sympathy with such action. Particularly in cases like Smith's, where justice was not only not done, but seen not to be done.
Becoming aware of Llewellyn's expectant gaze, he straightened his shoulders, firmed up his spine, and said, 'First, we'd better check that he is missing. Send Smales round to his home, Dafyd. Here's the address. And for God's sake, tell him to be discreet. Smith's living under the name of Martin Smithson. Tell Smales to make sure he asks for him under that name. When you've done that, I want you to contact Smith's family. Find out when they last saw him or heard from him. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to be discreet. As for me and Lilley, we're going to Dedman Wood to take a look at the scene.'
Llewellyn nodded and departed. Rafferty opened his door and shouted for Lilley, and when the young officer appeared, told him, 'We're going out to Dedman Woods. I want to have a look for myself.'
It was now getting on for 11 o'clock, and Rafferty, cheated of his early night, was in just the right mood for issuing Mrs ffinch-Robinson's advised rebuke. After he had shrugged into his coat for the second time that night, he said tersely, 'And next time an obviously sober citizen like Mrs ffinch-Robinson reports finding a body, please try not to get their back up. Apart from anything else, it offends against Superintendent Bradley's favourite pet project: “Politeness in Interaction with Members of the Public.”' Rafferty always made sure to mention it whenever one of the younger officers offended against the programme. He felt he had to do his bit to keep it alive, especially as the super had tried to smother it after finally sussing the PIMP acronym that Rafferty had gladly suggested for the programme. 'You know how fond of it he is. You wouldn't like him to get to hear of your doings, I'm sure.'
Lilley's blond complexion went a little paler, and he shook his head. It was well known that Bradley threw himself into a towering rage whenever anyone breached his Politeness Programme, though few realised the reason why.
As, by now, Lilley was staring at his boots, he didn't notice Rafferty's lips twitch. 'Sorry, sir. Won't happen again, sir.'
'See that it doesn't. Admittedly, you're not likely to have too many truly disappearing cadavers in your career. But if you treat important witnesses like Mrs ffinch-Robinson in such a cavalier fashion, your career's likely to be short. Remember that.'
Rebuke over, Rafferty shut his door behind them. And with Lilley’s back safely towards him, he allowed himself a full-scale grin. Even at the end of a long day that promised to wipe the smile off his face, the PIMP episode had the power to amuse. Several months ago, he had got away with supplying the apt acronym for "Long-Pockets" Bradley's latest attempt to enhance his status at Region with the immoral, penny-pinching, 'Politeness costs nothing' scam. When Bradley had finally woken up to it, Rafferty had succeeded in convincing him that, not only had his suggestion been made in all innocence, but that Region would be less than impressed if he dropped his wool-over-the-public's-eyes wheeze when he had spent so much time and money on its promotion. So Bradley had been stuck with it.
Warmed by the memory, Rafferty’s step, as he followed Lilley out to the car park, was jauntier than it had any right to be.
***
'MAURICE SMITH'S FAMILY say they haven't seen him since yesterday evening,' Llewellyn reported, when Rafferty got back to the station after examining the scene. It had been as Lilley had described, even down to the rope tuft. Rafferty nodded glumly, doubts and amusement both, already fading.
'And, as far as they know, he had no travel plans. From what they say, he's something of a loner, and rarely went out or socialised. He had no friends, as far as they're aware. They said they don't see much of him themselves, though I got the impression they don't exactly extend a hearty welcome when he does visit.'
'Understandable,' Rafferty commented. 'He must have put them through hell one way and another. Still,' he continued, worriedly, 'if Mrs ffinch-Robinson is right, and it was Maurice Smith's body she saw, then this case could have some very awkward connotations. If he's been killed by the family of one of his victims, then public sympathy for them will make our job extremely difficult. Nobody will co-operate. Nobody will answer our questions, and our chances of catching his killer could be zilch.'
Rafferty, his attitude towards the victim still ambivalent, wasn't sure that wouldn't be the best result. From his understanding of the case, Smith had ruined enough lives; dead, he wouldn't have the chance to ruin more. But aware that the high-moral ground Welshman would be unlikely to share his opinion, he kept it to himself. Llewellyn believed that, whatever the provocation, no one had the right to take the law into their own hands. Increasingly, these days, Rafferty found his own beliefs wavering. The man, rather than the policeman, thought that ultimately, every human being was responsible for their own survival, and that of their family. If parliament and the courts, who were supposed to protect the honest citizen, failed in their responsibility, what was the law-abiding citizen to do? Cower in a corner and let the barbarians do what they liked?
Society had been overwhelmed by crime in recent years; like a flood tide, it poured over their homes, their schools, their neighbourhoods, tainting every aspect of life. The courts issued what he and many other people considered to be futile punishments to the perpetrators, when they punished them at all. Young criminals, in particular, laughed at the law. Without majesty, dignity and a strong right arm, the law deserved to be laughed at for the joke it had become. Lately, he had often thought that the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court and the absolute embodiment of British justice, should be crowned with "Crime Rools OK" graffiti, rather than the bronze Justice statue.
With a tired sigh, he forced such thoughts to the back of his mind and asked how Smales had got on.
'He was unable to get a reply from either Smith or his landlady,' Llewellyn told him. 'And as he was anxious about your warning on discretion, he thought better of asking amongst the neighbours. I told him to return to the station. I hope that's all right?'
'Yes. It's getting late, too late for banging on doors and disturbing people. We'll go ourselves in the morning. For the moment, I want to keep this low-key. I know Mrs ffinch-Robinson was convinced the corpse was Smith's, but it's possible she made a mistake. Time enough to turn up the volume if Smith has vanished.'
In spite of his forced optimism, Rafferty wished he could get out of his mind the conviction that the Mrs ffinch-Robinsons of this world were pretty well infallible. Such thoughts were, he felt sure, guaranteed to give him a sleepless night.
******
IF YOU HAVE ENJOYED this excerpt of The Hanging Tree, the fourth novel in the Rafferty & Llewellyn Mysteries, you will find it available at the usual online retailers, along with the rest of the 18-strong series.
*
If you enjoyed this novel, here is a list of Geraldine Evans’s other works:
*
