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Another Tuesday morning, another body. Why, James Hathaway wondered, did people insist on getting killed on a Monday night when he’d taken a long weekend and didn’t really want to be dragged back into reality quite so firmly as soon as he returned.
He’d known as soon as he’d heard his phone ringing that it meant trouble. He’d been getting ready for work, but slowly, enjoying his shower and looking forward to trying the new honey they’d bought on some toast. No-one would ring him before eight o’clock if it wasn’t important.
He’d picked up his phone and said, “Hathaway.”
“Good morning, inspector,” the duty sergeant said. Hathaway thought he sounded far too cheerful for someone who was about to impart bad news to him. “Uniform have reported a body being found out past Appleton towards the Thames.”
“Right,” James replied. “I’ll go straight there. Notify the pathologist and SOCO if you haven’t already done so.”
“Yes, sir. One other thing, sir. Phone reception out there is dodgy, so I’d like to send a couple of extra PCs so we can keep someone on the road and provide an officer to relay messages. Will you authorise that?”
“Yes, we’d better do so. But only as a temporary measure.”
“Thank you, sir. Of course.”
James mentally discarded the light grey suit he had been planning to wear for his charcoal grey one. He knew the area, which was part of the Thames flood plain, and even though they’d had good weather recently, there was certain to be some mud around as well as a variety of plants which would take great delight in leaving marks on pale grey trousers.
“Robbie,” James yelled. “I’m not going to have time to stop for breakfast now.”
“I guessed as much,” Robbie called back. “I’ve poured the coffee into your thermos mug and sandwiched two slices of toast and honey together for when you can grab a break.”
James thundered downstairs, accepted the coffee and toast from Robbie, kissed him and said, “Thank you. You’re a marvel.” He then grabbed his briefcase and his keys and headed outside.
As James pulled out into the main road, he saw the traffic was heavier than usual, even for a Tuesday morning. He groaned and switched the radio to the local station. The traffic reporter announced there was a broken-down lorry in the middle of one of the major crossroads, and traffic delays were therefore longer than normal.
James did a rapid calculation. Had he been simply going straight to the police headquarters he would have had to sit in the traffic. As it was, he was driving across town, which meant he could make a detour. It would add a few miles to his journey but, in the current circumstances, would probably prove quicker.
So, when he came to the next junction instead of turning right, he went left. In years gone by, he would have tried to drive faster to make up for the lost time; now he accepted he would arrive whenever he could.
There were already a number of vehicles parked by the roadside when James finally arrived. The constable on duty saluted him and indicated the way to go. James followed the track to find Laura Hobson examining the body.
While he waited for her to finish, James looked around, taking in everything he could. When she finally stood up, he said, “It is rather lovely here.”
“Wonderful,” Laura replied. “A corpse liberally sprinkled in blossom.”
“But there’s one thing I don’t understand. If the body was here long enough to be covered, why did no-one find it earlier?”
“It’s clear you’re no gardener, James. If you were, you’d know the petals on the body didn’t fall from this tree.”
“But surely …”
“I’m not saying none of them did, but the majority came from somewhere else.”
“So, we need to find out where our victim was when he met his death. What sort of tree are we looking for?”
“That I don’t know. Robbie might well be able to tell you. I am, to paraphrase a fictional doctor, a pathologist, not a botanist.”
James chuckled. “Fair enough. I don’t suppose it would hurt to give Robbie a call.” James took his phone out and swore. “Damn. I’d forgotten there was no signal along here.”
Laura laughed sympathetically. “I’ve finished here, so I will be heading back. Would you like me to call Robbie once I’m in signal and tell him the problem? I can let your constable know his reply and he can relay it to you.”
“Yes please, that would be helpful.”
While he waited to hear from Robbie, James tried to work out how the body had been brought to where it had been found. He was careful to avoid treading on any of the area around the body, leaving that for SOCO to photograph. He had little hope of any decent footprints, the ground was too dry for that, but it was always possible the murderer had left some clues behind.
There was no evidence of the body having been dragged; there was a certain amount of broken plant life, but nothing which wouldn’t have occurred anyway given that the area was a popular spot for weekend walkers. Some of the grass did look freshly trampled, but James suspected that was caused by the man who had found the body.
He had finished the night shift at a local warehouse and was taking his dog out for a walk before getting some sleep. They would need to interview him fully, but so long as the warehouse confirmed he had been present for the hours he claimed, he would be out of the picture.
The victim was quite a small man, and James could imagine it would have been possible for someone bigger to have carried the body for a short way. If they could find heavier indentations in the ground, it would indicate the direction the murderer had come from. However, if he had kept to the main tracks there would be nothing of any use.
James was raised from his reverie by the voice of the constable saying, “This way, sir,” and Robbie replying, “Thank you.”
“Hello, James,” Robbie added. “Laura said you had a problem I might be able to assist with.”
“Yes, I need your gardening knowledge again,” James replied.
“Fire away. I’ll see what I can do.”
“As you can see, our corpse has blossom all over his clothing, but Laura says it hasn’t come from these trees. What I’d like you to do, if possible, is identify which tree it has come from.”
“She’s right. The blossom hasn’t come off these trees. The petals are the wrong shape. However, I doubt I can tell you exactly which tree they are from. I can think of a few possibilities, but I can’t give you a name straight off. I’m willing to have a look around for you if you’d like, but you’re going to want to examine the ground first.”
James looked at the SOCO, who was finishing his photographs.
“There’s very little chance of any impressions,” the SOCO said. “Obviously, we’d be looking for broken plants, but I’m quite sure Mr Lewis knows to stick to the paths, and if he can identify the tree, it will reduce the area that needs to be searched.”
“In which case, I’ll be happy to go for a wander and see what I can find. Do you want to send a constable with me?”
“No, I’ll come with you myself. I can do no more until the preliminaries are finished, and if nothing else, it will give me a chance to take a look round.”
“Fair enough. Which way would you like to go first?”
“You’re the tree expert. You decide.”
Robbie chuckled and selected one of the paths. “This way looks as good as any other. It’ll take us closer to the river, which is where I think we’re most likely to find our tree.”
They set off together, both looking around as they walked. Robbie was looking upwards, comparing the different blossoms with the petal SOCO had given to him. James, for whom one tree in blossom looked similar to another, barring the difference between white and pink flowers, was looking at the ground, seeing if he could see any signs which would indicate someone carrying a body had passed that way. Although there were some crushed plants, nothing looked particularly recent, and the damage could well have been caused by a careless hiker or their equally careless dog.
By now the wind was getting up, and some of the trees and bushes were beginning to move. In particular, the branches of a willow on the riverbank were swaying considerably. They both watched as the tree appeared to be engaged in a dance with the wind.
Suddenly, Robbie said, “What’s that? Look, caught on the branch.”
They went over to the willow, being careful where they placed their feet, conscious of the possibility of obscuring evidence. James reached up and grabbed the edge of a piece of cloth. He pulled at it, but whatever it was had been caught in a tangle of small branches on the other side of the tree trunk.
James tugged harder, and there was the sound of material ripping before whatever had been caught was freed. He looked at the object he now held; it was a blood-stained t-shirt.
Whilst James had been trying to retrieve the cloth, Robbie had continued to look around at the trees and bushes, so, at the moment James realised what he was holding, Robbie exclaimed, “See, over there! That’s the blossom we’ve been looking for.”
James was about to join Robbie to have a better look when Robbie said, “Don’t come any closer. I can see what look like blood stains close to the tree trunk.”
He pointed towards them, and James nodded. “Right, we’ll need to get this area cordoned off as soon as possible and then get forensics back out to look at it.” He took out his phone and added, “And the good news is there’s a better signal here than where the body was found. I’m afraid I’ll have to wait for uniform, but there’s no need for you to stay.”
“Well, unless you’d rather I left, I’m happy to hang on. I didn’t have anything planned that can’t be done this afternoon or tomorrow. The weeds won’t complain at staying in the garden for another day.”
“I have no objection.”
James made a couple of phone calls. The signal still wasn’t very strong, so he decided to delay most of the calls until he was clear of the woods, but he was able to pass on the need for officers to come and erect a cordon.
While they were waiting for uniform to arrive, James looked again at the area Robbie had indicated. “Unless forensics tell us otherwise,” James said, “I think we can conclude this was where our man was killed. And then for some reason the body was carried down the path to be left elsewhere, which doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe the reason will become clearer later. Did you manage to pull the material out of the tree?”
“Yes. I was about to show you when you pointed out the blossom. It’s a t-shirt.” James held the garment up for Robbie to look at. “The logo looks familiar, but I just can’t place it.”
Robbie peered at it. “I know when we saw it. Do you remember that dreadful maypole dancing we watched a couple of weeks ago? Weren’t the organisers wearing similar t-shirts?”
James thought back. “You’re right, they were. I thought I recognised the logo. Well, this should be easy to trace. There can’t be many of them around.” He took out his phone and glared at the screen. “No signal again. Once we get back towards civilisation, I shall phone Tomlinson and tell her to visit Dr Beverley Rutherford.”
“Who’s she?”
“He was the lead maypole dancer.”
Shortly afterwards two uniformed officers arrived, and James left them to secure the area while he and Robbie walked back to their cars. As soon as they were back within mobile signal, James’ phone began pinging with messages and missed calls. He scrolled through them rapidly and then called Laura.
When she answered, he said, “You rang me but didn’t leave a message.”
He listened while she told him what she had discovered and thanked her before ringing off. He turned to Robbie and said, “Laura tells me they’ve got a name for the body.”
Robbie looked at him. “And? There’s more, isn’t there?”
“How can you tell?”
“It’s the way your brow furrows when you’re making a connection between two different facts and you make a small nod, as if you’re pleased with the conclusion.”
James chuckled. “I can tell you were once a detective. Yes, he was Dr Josiah Hepburn, erstwhile colleague of Dr Rutherford and, if I remember the list of names on the leaflet that they gave us, maypole dancer.” He paused. “And in which case, I think I will tell Tomlinson to wait until I get back and we’ll go over to see Dr Rutherford together.”
“You don’t think he’ll have made a run for it?”
“Oxford dons do not run anywhere. And just because he dances round a maypole, and not very well at that, I don’t think he will have made a rapid exit. And if that was his plan, he’d have gone by now. What are you grinning at?”
“The idea of any of that particular dance team moving quickly. They couldn’t even keep up with the music.”
James laughed. “Too true. I’m off to the station. I’ll give you a ring sometime this afternoon but expect me to be late tonight.”
“Of course. I’ll make something which can be reheated if necessary.”
***
When James returned to the station, he was greeted by DS Tomlinson, who told him CS Innocent had asked to be brought up to date as soon as he returned.
“Right, as soon as I’m back from seeing Innocent, I want us to visit Dr Rutherford. I’d like to catch him before he goes for lunch. You can fill me in on anything else you’ve discovered on our way over there.”
James wasn’t gone long, and Tomlinson looked up in surprise at his return. “Sorry, sir. I wasn’t expecting you back yet.”
“There wasn’t much I could tell Innocent apart from the identity of the victim. As you can imagine she was delighted to hear it involves another don. Are you ready to leave?”
“Yes, sir!”
While James drove, Tomlinson brought him up to date. “Dr Hepburn was divorced eight years ago and has lived alone ever since. His wife subsequently remarried and has moved away. Do you want me to contact the local force and ask them to visit her?”
“Not immediately. She’ll need to be notified, but I think it’s unlikely she was directly involved. Anything else?”
“Jackson & Knight, William Ellis’ employers, confirm the time he left work, which was exactly as he said.”
James grunted. “I didn’t really expect otherwise. Any other sightings of Hepburn, either dead or alive?”
“Not so far. We’ll send some officers down later to interview any late evening dog walkers. A number of them will be regulars, so someone may have seen something.”
“Yes. And tell whoever goes down there to establish the times as many walkers as possible were there. If nothing else, it will help to narrow our timescale down.”
James parked in the college car park, and he and Tomlinson walked into the college. James explained to the porter why they were there. He nodded and led the way to Dr Rutherford’s rooms, knocking on the door when they reached them.
“Come in!” Rutherford called.
The porter nodded, and James and Tomlinson went in.
“Good morning, Dr Rutherford,” James said. “I’m DI Hathaway, and this is DS Tomlinson. I’m afraid we have some bad news for you about Dr Hepburn.”
“Oh, really, what has he done this time?” Rutherford drawled, still looking at papers he was marking.
“I’m sorry to tell you he died last night.”
Rutherford looked up at this. He blinked twice. “Oh! Oh dear! How? An accident? I wasn’t aware he was ill.”
“He was murdered.”
“What?”
Rutherford looked completely stunned, so Tomlinson poured some water into a glass for him and passed it over. He drank half of it and then put the glass on his desk. “I’m sorry. It was just such a shock.”
“We understand,” James said. “Are you able to answer a few questions for us?”
“Yes, of course. I’m okay now.” Rutherford blinked again. “Please go ahead.”
“When did you last see Dr Hepburn?”
“It must have been yesterday lunch-time. We both ate in hall. After which, I came back here for my afternoon tutorials, and I didn’t see him after that. I imagine someone else will have seen him that afternoon.”
“We shall be making enquiries. And for the sake of formalities, could you let us know what you did after your tutorials?”
“Well, I was here for a while after the tutorials and then went to a recital in Trinity. After which I went home.”
“Can anyone confirm this?”
“Oh, really. I imagine if you ask around someone will remember seeing me at the recital. I can’t honestly recall who was there, but I cannot prove that I went home.”
“You live alone?”
“I live with my wife. However, yesterday she went up to town to meet a friend. They were seeing a play, and rather than rushing home afterwards, she had decided to stay over.”
“Thank you very much, sir. That will be all for now. I trust if we have further questions you won’t object to my coming to see you again.”
“Of course not.” Rutherford stood up. “And now, if that is all, it’s time for lunch.”
James and Tomlinson left Rutherford and walked back outside.
“There’s no point trying to find anyone else to answer our questions until after lunch,” James said. “Let’s go and grab a sandwich and then I want to look round Hepburn’s rooms.”
Once they had eaten their lunch, they found a cleaner who let them into Hepburn’s room. The room had papers strewn all over the desk, and some had fallen on the floor.
“Was Hepburn very untidy,” Tomlinson said, “or has someone been looking for something in a hurry?”
“Hard to tell.”
“Go and ask the cleaner. They’d know what state the room was normally in.”
Tomlinson found the cleaner and asked her to come back. “Do you clean the rooms every day?”
“No, I do the rooms Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
“So you would have cleaned Dr Hepburn’s room yesterday? Could you tell us whether it looked like this when you were in here?”
The cleaner entered the room and shook her head. “Oh no. He always made a bit of an effort to tidy up when I was coming in. Occasionally he’d forget or be distracted, and it was untidy, but nothing like this. How could you hold a tutorial with a room like that?”
“That’s what we thought,” James said. “Thank you for having a look for us.”
The cleaner had just departed when they heard running footsteps on the corridor, and a young woman called out, “Jake, Jake, haven’t you heard? Hepburn’s not doing a tutorial this afternoon. He’s … He’s dead!”
“What!” The youth’s voice was loud. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not.”
“Oh well, might as well make use of the sunshine then.”
“Quick,” James said to Tomlinson. “Go and catch them.”
Tomlinson hurried out of the room and called, “Excuse me.” The pair stopped and she said, “Can we ask you a few questions about Dr Hepburn? Nothing difficult.”
She indicated they come into Hepburn’s room. The young woman hesitated, so Tomlinson said, “It’s okay, there’s nothing untoward to be seen in here.”
“Do you want to speak to us separately?” the youth asked.
“No, together will be fine.”
“Okay, then.”
The youth entered the room brazenly, the young woman rather more hesitantly.
“Oh, wow!” she said.
“Not what you expected, Miss…?” James asked.
“I’m Melanie Wheeler, and, no, Dr Hepburn would never have held a tutorial with his room looking like this.”
“Did he keep it very tidy?”
“Not tidy, no. But organised. Sometimes, if he’d been running a bit late and we’d arrived for a tutorial before he was quite ready, he’d still be moving things. But you always had a sense he knew exactly where everything was. This is just completely disorganised.”
“Yes, I agree. I’m Jake Truebody, by the way. Sometimes he’d say something like, ‘Pass me those notes, the pile on the second shelf up,’ and they’d always be the ones he wanted.” Jake looked round. “The only time he would rifle through papers was the pile in the square section of the bookcase just to the right of his chair. I think he used that as a convenient dumping space until he got round to sorting them out.”
“Was it normally that full?” James asked.
“No,” Melanie replied. “I think he made a point of clearing it every day. I’ve never seen it more than a third full.”
“Thank you, both of you,” James said. “Obviously, you were due to have a tutorial today. Did either of you see Dr Hepburn yesterday?”
The two looked at each other, and both shook their heads.
Jake said, “I might have seen him walking around the college, but I couldn’t tell you for sure.”
“And if you had done, this would have been during the day?”
“Yes,” Jake nodded. “Definitely.”
Once the two students had left, James said to Tomlinson, “Clearly someone came in here looking for something.”
“Do you think they found it?” Tomlinson asked.
James took a look round. “Yes, I think they probably did. Either that or they were disturbed in the process, and if that had been the case, I suspect it would have been mentioned to us. Whoever came in here knew that Hepburn was organised, and they worked their way through the papers until they found what they were looking for.”
“When would they have come in? Hepburn wasn’t murdered until late evening at the earliest, so no-one could have come in until this morning.”
“Yes, but we didn’t identify the body until mid-morning, so they could have come in first thing. At which point it’s unlikely they’d have been noticed.”
“What would you like me to do now?” Tomlinson asked.
“Find out what Hepburn’s timetable was for yesterday and see if anyone remembers seeing him when he left the college. I’ll have a further look round here while you do that and then we’ll need to go to Hepburn’s house.”
While Tomlinson was gone, James prowled round Hepburn’s room, looking at the books on his shelves. In one corner of the room was a pile of leaflets, showing the same logo which had been on the bloody t-shirt, which were advertising a talk on the place of Morris men in the history of the English countryside. It was clear Hepburn’s interest in such matters went further than dancing round a maypole.
Tomlinson returned, carrying a sheet of paper. “The last tutorial finished at four, after which no-one I spoke to can recall whether or not they saw him. He was, apparently, ‘Not one of them people you really notice, slipped in and out, quiet-like, unlike some I could mention, Dr Rutherford, for one.’ I asked if they’d seen Rutherford leave and was told five o’clock.”
“I had the impression he was later than that.”
“So did I, but when I queried it I was told he left just when the clock was striking five.”
“I wonder what he did between five and whenever the recital began. Well, I think we’ve done all we can here. You said you knew where there was a spare key to Hepburn’s house?”
“Yes. I collected it when I was in the office. Apparently, he kept a spare key here as he had a tendency to lock himself out.”
James grimaced. “A fact which was no doubt well known, which means anyone could have made a copy of it. Never mind, let’s go and see what we can discover at his home.”
James drove to the house and pulled into the drive.
As she got out of the car, Tomlinson said, “What an uninteresting garden. No flowers, just bushes and grass. It looks tidy enough, but still.”
“No character to it,” James agreed. “Probably maintained by a jobbing gardener. Let’s see what it looks like inside.” They went in, and he added, “The first thing I want to find out is when he was last here, it might help narrow our timeframe.”
“His car’s not here, but that doesn’t really help.”
“No, if it had been, we could have assumed he’d had a lift from his killer.”
“Or been abducted.”
“Is that really likely?”
“No, sir. But you do say we should consider every possibility.”
James sighed. “Just look round and see what you can find.”
James walked into the lounge, leaving Tomlinson to try the kitchen. He noticed a few books lying about, but once again there was nothing which gave any indication into Hepburn’s life. He went to join Tomlinson in the kitchen and found her scrutinising a cork noticeboard.
“Everything’s very clean and tidy,” James said. “Do you think he’s had a cleaner in today?”
Tomlinson sniffed. “No smell of cleaning products. Someone might have been in yesterday morning though. And I may have found the recital Rutherford went to. Look!”
She pointed to a leaflet pinned to the noticeboard.
“Early English Music Society,” James read. “Do you think Hepburn went as well?”
“No. Looking at the list of concerts, there are some he’s ticked, and some with a question mark, presumably maybes, but yesterday’s isn’t marked, so I’d say he didn’t.”
“Either that or he changed his mind at the last minute.” He looked more closely at the leaflet. “Oh, that’s a long shot, but it would be worth trying.”
He took out his phone and dialled a number and waited for it to be answered. “Hi Chris, just on the off chance, I don’t suppose you happened to see either Dr Rutherford or Dr Hepburn at the recital last night?” He listened to the reply, and then said, “Thank you very much. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this call. Cheers, mate.”
“You look pleased,” Tomlinson said.
“Apparently, both Rutherford and Hepburn attend quite a number of the concerts and, like a lot of the regular attendees, they book the same seat every time. Hepburn wasn’t there last night, as you surmised, and neither was Rutherford, but there was a vacant space where he normally sat.”
“So, do you want to go back to speak to Rutherford again?”
“Not yet. We know where to find him, and he seems to think he’s in the clear for the moment, so I think we’ll wait for now.” He was going to say something else, when his phone rang, so he answered it. “Hathaway. Hello, Laura, what have you got for me?”
When she had finished, James turned to Tomlinson. “The PM confirms death was caused by a blow to the back of the head, probably from a heavy branch.”
“Could it have been due to a fall?” Tomlinson asked.
“Unlikely. Laura said the angle of impact implies a deliberate blow rather than an accidental fall. We can look for the branch, but I suspect it was thrown into the river, so we’ll never find it.” James took another look around the kitchen and continued, “I don’t think we’re going to find anything more here. We can always come back if necessary. It’s time we went back to the station.”
As James drove, Tomlinson said, “What about the t-shirt you found? Was it Hepburn’s, do you think?”
“It looked too big for Hepburn, more Rutherford’s size. I’ve been thinking about that. I have a feeling it was supposed to end up in the river as well, but somehow got caught up in one of the tree branches, and whoever moved Hepburn’s body failed to notice.”
“But why move the body?”
“That I don’t know. I can only surmise there’s something else where Hepburn was killed that the murderer doesn’t want us to find.”
They had reached the station, so James parked, and they returned to the office. James then went to make a report to Innocent whilst Tomlinson started to organise further enquiries.
###
As James had told Robbie, he hadn’t made it home until late that evening, so all he had done was eaten, played his guitar for a while to help clear his head and then gone to bed.
The following morning, he had got up early, ignoring Robbie’s muttered complaints about being disturbed. He’d grabbed some breakfast and then took a mug of tea up to his still mostly somnambulant partner.
“Here’s some tea for you,” James said. “Monty has been fed, so don’t believe him when he tells you he hasn’t had any breakfast.”
The grunt he received in reply left him in little doubt the cat would once again contrive to be fed twice.
James was the first into the office, which didn’t surprise him, but when Tomlinson still hadn’t appeared half an hour later, he was beginning to wonder what had happened. He looked up when she entered the office.
“Sorry, sir,” she said. “A woman had been knocked off her bike, and I waited with her until the ambulance arrived. Had I known I was going to be so long I’d have called you.”
“That’s okay. Is the woman going to be all right?”
“Yes. The paramedics thought so. The thing is, she works at the same college as Rutherford and Hepburn, and she doesn’t know how she came to be knocked off. Do you think it’s a coincidence?”
“Maybe, maybe not. Do you want to follow it up?”
“Have we got time for a possible accident involving a cyclist?”
“No, but if this does pertain to the case, then yes.”
“Thank you, sir. Also, I’m really trying to get a handle on the case, so would it be possible for me to visit the scene of the crime?”
“Good idea. Why don’t you go to the college first? You can check up on how our enquiries are going and then go down to the river. You know where to look?”
“Yes, I’ve got a copy of the map.”
“Excellent. I’ll carry on here and we can be in touch if anything of importance occurs.”
***
James spent the greater part of the morning going round in circles. He might have his suspicions about Rutherford, but a blood-stained t-shirt and not sitting in his regular seat at a recital were hardly sufficient details to bring him in for questioning. It didn’t help that the other members of the Society for the Preservation of Rural Pursuits, or, as James remembered Robbie calling them at the time, the Society for Pratting Round a Pole, who were also part of the college were all fairly vague about their movements the previous day. So, in theory, any of them could have been involved with Hepburn’s death.
He was therefore delighted to be disturbed from his frustrating thoughts when Robbie phoned.
“Hi,” Robbie said. “If you’re able to get away, do you think you could meet me in the village where Laura’s friend Julie lives?”
“Yes, I’ll be glad of a break. It’ll clear my head if nothing else.”
He sent a message to Tomlinson, telling her he would be out of the office for a couple of hours but to contact him at once if anything important happened. She didn’t reply, but James wasn’t surprised, having remembered there was limited signal in the woods.
He drove out to the village and parked by the village green where he found Robbie sitting on a bench, already eating his lunch. James walked over to join him, and Robbie passed the bag across.
James took a sandwich and said, “I presume you didn’t invite me out here just for the change of scenery.”
“No,” Robbie replied. “I thought I’d take a trip out here, see if anything struck me. This was where we saw the maypole dancing.”
James looked across to the area where they’d watched the dancing. There’d been a couple of stalls dotted around the field as well. He nodded. “Yes, although I don’t remember the sheep and lambs being so close.”
“I think the farmer’s only recently let them into that field. Anyway, I called you because I’ve found something very interesting where the maypole stood.”
Robbie got up and led the way across the green to the field.
“At least the weather’s better today than when we were here last,” James said.
“Yes, it was pretty miserable, grey and drizzling if I remember rightly.”
“And just as we were leaving, the heavens opened, and everyone got soaked as they ran for their cars.”
Robbie gave a half shake at the memory. “As I said, it’s nice the sun has finally made an appearance.” He stopped by the hole where the maypole had been planted and pointed towards it. “What do you think is in there?”
James knelt down and pushed his hand into the hole, reaching with his fingers for whatever was at the bottom. After a bit of an effort, he managed to capture a small metal object which he carefully pulled out. He wiped the object on his handkerchief and started to examine it. “It looks like a silver coin. I’d hazard a guess it might be Viking. And I’d hazard a further guess it wasn’t there two weeks ago.”
Robbie nodded. “That’s what I thought. How many coins do you think are in there?”
“Probably a couple of dozen. I’ll call SOCO and get them to come and take some photos. And then we can get a formal identification from an expert.”
“Aren’t you going to bring an archaeologist in to examine the site?”
James snorted. “That would be appropriate if I believed they had been lying there undiscovered for centuries but being hidden in a maypole hole for under a fortnight doesn’t justify the need for a specialist.” He put a call in to the station to make the request and then added, “They’re sending a constable over to guard the hoard, as the sergeant insisted on calling it. It’s a pain because I shall have to wait, and I could do with getting back.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” Robbie said. “I know it’s not strictly protocol, but I think you can trust me.”
“If you’re happy to do so, I’d appreciate it. And if, by chance, someone else turns up to retrieve the coins phone me, and don’t try to intervene.”
“What do you take me for?”
“An ex-copper who still likes to see justice being done.”
Robbie chuckled. “Go on with you. I’ll be fine. And I’ll see you at home later.”
James walked back to the car and then waved to Robbie before heading back to the station.
He was on his way when his phone rang. He answered using his hands’ free device. “Hathaway.”
“Sergeant Rosser here, sir. You did say you wanted SOCO at that village with the unpronounceable name, didn’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right. Why?”
“Sergeant Tomlinson’s just called to request them down by the river. She says she’s found something.”
“Did she say what?”
“The signal’s rubbish out there, but it sounded like she said it was silver.”
“Okay. In which case, get another constable out to her, and I’ll divert and go as well. Alert SOCO they may well be needed by the river after they’ve finished in the village, but I will confirm that to them. By the way, I’ve left Mr Lewis in the village to wait for them.”
“Certainly, sir. I’ll inform SOCO. And they all know Mr Lewis so that won’t be a problem.”
As James approached the spot where he’d parked the previous morning, he recognised Tomlinson’s car and drew up behind it. He got out of his car and went over to the police constable who was standing by the track.
“Good afternoon, sir,” she said. “Sergeant Tomlinson is at section two. She said she was expecting a second officer, plus SOCO, but didn’t mention you would be coming.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll make my way through.”
Since there were no easy ways to identify the parts of the wood, other than by map co-ordinates, section one had been designated as the area where the body had been found, and section two was where they believed Hepburn had been killed and where James had found the t-shirt. It sounded as though Tomlinson had now found something else there.
James followed the police tape through the wood until he came to the spot where Tomlinson was waiting.
“Hello, sir, I wasn’t expecting you,” Tomlinson said.
“I got the call while I was on my way back, so thought I’d come round. Just to warn you, I’ve already called SOCO out to something Robbie found, so they’ll be a while before they reach you.”
“I presume I can leave once the constable arrives. I’m not even really sure of its significance.”
“What have you found?”
Tomlinson took James to one of the other trees, which stood about four foot away from the one which had shed its blossom on the corpse. Partway up was a natural hole in the trunk, and Tomlinson shone her torch inside it. James could just make out something glittering.
“Do you know what it is?” he asked.
She put her hand in her pocket and produced a small item inside an evidence bag. “It feels as if there are some more similar to this, but I wanted SOCO to take some photos first.”
James took the bag and handled it carefully. “It could be a buckle or a brooch. It’s a bit hard to tell. But it definitely looks like another Viking find.”
“Another one?”
“Yes, Robbie found some Viking coins secreted in a hole which was used for a maypole. That’s where SOCO have gone.”
“I thought the Vikings were only in the north, in York and places like that.”
“Oh no, Vikings were in this area too. They even razed Oxford to the ground in 979AD.”
“Do you think that’s when the buckle dates from?”
“I’ve no idea, it could be a hundred years earlier. It’ll all need to be examined by an expert before the date can be confirmed. How did you come to find it?”
Tomlinson laughed. “When my sister and I were little we used to believe fairies left messages in these sort of holes, so I’ve always had a fascination for them since then. I was just looking around, trying to get an idea of what had happened, when I saw the hole and by force of habit peered inside.”
“I think we can assume they weren’t left by fairies,” James said with a grin.
“At least not the sort in the books we read as children,” Tomlinson agreed. “But if they were deliberately hidden in the tree, that might account for why the body was moved. Whoever hid them wouldn’t have wanted to have nosy police officers looking too closely.” She stopped and called out, “Over here, Evans!”
The constable who had greeted James on his arrival came through the woods.
“Constable Davies has arrived and is on duty at the entrance to the path. He suggested I come into the woods as it was shaded here and it’s quite hot outside,” Evans said.
“Sensible move,” James agreed. “Tomlinson, can you show Evans where you found the pieces? And then we’ll go back to the station. Evans, once SOCO have finished taking their photos, tell them they’re to take all the items back to their office. They’ll know what to do with them.”
“Yes, sir!”
James and Tomlinson walked back through the woods to their cars together.
“What do we do next, sir?” Tomlinson asked.
“I go and give Innocent the good news that not only do we have a dead body, but we also have two, quite possibly linked, finds of Viking goods. I’m getting more and more curious about what the searcher in Hepburn’s rooms was hoping to find.”
“Do you want to go back there?”
James frowned. “I’m not sure. We’re working on the assumption that they did, in fact, find what they wanted, so there’s no point in us looking. On the other hand, I can’t get out of my mind that something felt very out of place, and I don’t mean the chaos caused by all the papers being dumped everywhere.”
“I don’t mind going back again. Between us, we may spot something.”
James nodded. They were now back on the main road. He held up his hand to stop Tomlinson leaving immediately. “That’s what we’ll do. When we get back, you go to our office and see what’s come in, and I’ll see Innocent. Then, if nothing more urgent has come up, we’ll take a further look.”
As James had suspected, CS Innocent was not particularly happy to hear there were Viking artefacts involved with the murder enquiry. “I presume you want a discrete examination initially,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am. Shall I arrange it?”
“I have a contact in one of the colleges, not the one Hepburn belonged to, so I’ll make the necessary arrangements. How much do you need to know?”
“If they are genuine Viking items or only replicas. The value may be relevant or equally the glory might come from simply having made the find. And any possible history.”
Innocent nodded. “A one-page report rather than a twenty-page dossier.”
“Exactly, ma’am.”
Leaving Innocent to arrange for her contact to inspect the artefacts, James returned to his office. Tomlinson greeted him and told him nothing significant had been reported.
“Right,” James said. “We’ll make our return trip to the college the last visit this afternoon, and then, unless we turn up anything of importance, we’ll call it a day.”
James had the key to the room, so, although most of the staff were preparing to go home by the time they arrived, there was no problem with access. They went in and took another look around.
“All I want is something, anything, which doesn’t quite belong,” James said.
“What about that?” Tomlinson asked, pointing to a ten-inch wooden reindeer, which had been pushed to the back of one of the shelves.
James laughed. “It looks more like a remnant of the Christmas decorations that got forgotten when everything was put away.”
Tomlinson picked the reindeer up to look at it more closely. It was wearing a plaited woollen scarf and had what looked like a saddle made of three separate layers of felt. She flicked the edge of the saddle and felt paper underneath. Curious, she cautiously lifted the corner up.
“Sir,” she called. “Look at this.”
James came over and peered at the cramped handwriting on the paper. “It looks like an inventory,” he said. “Much as I’d like to have a closer look, if it does relate to the Viking items, then we should probably give it to Innocent to pass on to her expert rather than risk obliterating anything.”
“Do you think there’s anything else?”
James took another look around. “I can’t see anything. I’ll lock the door so no-one else can get in, and if we do think there’s more, someone can come back tomorrow.”
Tomlinson drove them back to the station, and then, on James’ instructions, went home. James took the reindeer to Innocent, who confirmed she had arranged for her contact to do an initial appraisal of the items that evening and promised to ring him once she had any news.
James drove home and was greeted warmly by Robbie.
“Are you here for the evening,” he asked, “or is this a flying visit?”
“I am expecting to be here,” James replied. “Innocent will be calling me later with some information, but it shouldn’t mean me going out again.”
“Excellent. I’ll open some beers.”
As they ate their dinner, Robbie told James about SOCO’s reaction to the Viking coins. James nodded but didn’t venture any information of his own. Sometimes it felt strange, not telling Robbie about the cases he was working on, not that he ever asked. Fortunately, Robbie was aware of the fact, and having finished describing his part, he turned the conversation to other matters.
Once they had eaten, they moved into the lounge, where James stretched out on the sofa, and Robbie settled into one of the armchairs. James was dozing off when his phone rang. He answered it, made a few non-committal replies and then hung up.
“That was Innocent,” he said. “The expert she brought in is very excited about our finds and wants to know further details as soon as possible. She’s put him off for now, but it’s adding extra pressure to the case.”
“Finds?” Robbie queried. “Finds plural?”
“Yes. This is very confidential, but Tomlinson also found something this afternoon, which seems to tie in with everything.”
“So you’ve not only got to find a murderer but also track down the provenance of the coins.”
“Yes,” James said with a wry expression. “There’s been no report of any thefts, so it’s likely this is a new find, and the expert is very keen to know where it all comes from.”
“I wish you luck with that then!”
“Thank you. I shall need it. Of course, good police work will eventually provide the solution, but a clear clue in the right direction would certainly help.”
“In which case, can I suggest you go to bed rather than falling asleep on the sofa?”
James grumbled but stood up. “Yeah, probably a good idea.”
###
James was on his way to the station the next morning when his phone rang. He called out, “Yes, Tomlinson?”
“Alison Purbright, who was knocked off her bike yesterday, just phoned me. She sounded quite upset and said she’d remembered something from yesterday. She’s fairly sure it was a dark blue BMW which knocked her off, and she asked if I’d mind coming into the college to speak to her. It appears her sister was going to give her a lift in. I’ve told her to stay home and I’ll see her there and then I can drop her off at the college after I’ve spoken to her. Is that okay?”
“Yes, of course. Just make sure the front desk have a note of the address you’re going to.”
“Will do.”
James knew it could be something or nothing, but it sounded as if Alison Purbright thought or suspected she might have recognised the car, and it wouldn’t hurt to follow it up.
He was driving into the station car park when his phone rang again. “Go ahead!” he said.
“There’s a dark blue BMW parked outside Alison’s house, and it’s got scratches on it which look like they could be from the front brake and handlebars of a bike.”
“Right. Go into the house but take care. I’ll send back up for you.”
He parked the car close to the entrance to the police station and sprinted up the corridor.
“I need a car sent immediately to the address Sergeant Tomlinson gave you,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
The desk sergeant got on the radio while James waited, and when he’d finished giving instructions, he turned back to James and said, “They should be there within two minutes.”
“Right. I’ll be in my office. Notify me immediately if there are any developments.”
Ten minutes later, James’ phone rang. He picked it up and said, “Hathaway!”
“Hello, sir. Just to let you know they’re bringing in a Dr Rutherford, who’s been arrested for assaulting a police officer. Don’t worry, Sergeant Tomlinson is a bit bruised, but nothing serious. She’s driving herself in with a Miss Alison Purbright.”
“Thank you. I’ll arrange for someone to do the interviews. Is CS Innocent in this morning?”
“No, sir. She’s not due in until eleven.”
“What about Superintendent Garrett?”
“Walking in as we speak. Do you want to have a word with him?”
“Yes, please.”
James could hear the desk sergeant speaking to John Garrett, and then he said, “Yes, James, Garrett here. I hear you’d like a word with me?”
“If I could, please, sir.”
“Come up to my office!”
James walked up to Garrett’s office, to find the door left open for him. He knocked and walked in.
“Have a seat.”
“Thank you, sir. Has CS Innocent told you about my current case?”
“The one with the dead lecturer and Viking artefacts? She’s given me an outline, but I don’t have any particular details.”
“This morning Sergeant Tomlinson went to speak to a potential witness only to find Dr Rutherford, one of our suspects, already there. Rutherford assaulted Tomlinson, and uniform are bringing him in.”
Garrett nodded. “Which means you need someone to assist with the interviews, since Tomlinson can’t do it. Do you want to be in the interviews?”
“I’d like to interview Rutherford. He’ll need to be handled carefully, but someone else can speak to Alison Purbright. And I do need to talk to Tomlinson first.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll find someone to interview Ms Purbright – I assume it’s just a witness statement – and I’ll do the Rutherford interview with you. I don’t approve of people assaulting my officers.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll make sure the interviewer knows why Tomlinson had gone to see Ms Purbright.”
James returned to his office and was relieved when Tomlinson joined him.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “What happened?”
“Yes, I’m fine, although I’ll probably have some interesting bruises. Having spoken to you, I knocked on Alison’s front door. It was opened, and I saw Rutherford holding her arm. I went inside and closed the door before saying I’d come to speak to Alison and that I’d bring her into the college. He told me there was no need because he was giving her a lift. I repeated that I wanted to speak to her, and he said, ‘Sergeant Tomlinson, I said I would take Alison in.’ He then pushed me hard against the wall and tried to open the front door, so I’d be trapped behind it. Fortunately, PC Masood walked in through the open door, which rather stopped Rutherford in his tracks.”
“You’re sure he addressed you by name?”
“No question. He made it clear he knew exactly who I was.”
“Good.” James nodded. “I’ll get someone to bring you some coffee. While I’m out, can you start to summarise the forensics reports and make a list of what we need to look at next?”
“Yes, sir. Do you think someone will be able to take Alison Purbright to the college once she’s given her statement? I imagine she’s still quite shaken.”
“Of course.”
Having satisfied himself that Tomlinson would be all right, James returned to Garrett’s office to fill him in with the details of the case. They had just about finished when there was a knock on the door, and DC Bartlett came in.
“I’ve finished interviewing Alison Purbright,” she said. “We’ll send you the full statement once it’s been transcribed, but essentially she has identified the car that knocked her off her bike yesterday as being the same make and colour as Dr Rutherford’s although she didn’t see the number plate.”
“Not conclusive proof, but a good start,” James said. He listened as Bartlett told them Rutherford had called on Alison insisting that he take her to work, and she then confirmed what Tomlinson had told James.
“Thank you, Bartlett,” Garrett said. “Please see whether Ms Purbright still wishes to go to the college or would prefer to return home and take her to whichever she wants. Ensure she knows to contact us at any time if she needs to.”
“Yes, sir. She’s requested she go to work.”
Garrett stood up. “Right. Time for me to make my acquaintance with Dr Rutherford.”
James stood too, and they made their way to the interview room. On the way, they passed Bartlett and Alison Purbright as they were leaving.
Rutherford was already in the interview room when James and Garrett arrived. He gave Garrett a disinterested look as he introduced himself and glared at James.
Garrett began, “Could you tell me why you assaulted one of my officers?”
“I wasn’t aware that the woman in question was a police officer,” Rutherford said. “She didn’t tell me she was, simply started insisting that I was not to give a member of my college staff a lift to work.”
“You addressed Sergeant Tomlinson by name and rank,” Garrett replied. “It is therefore clear that you were aware of exactly who she was.”
Rutherford shrugged. “It will be her word against mine.”
“We also have a witness who confirms what you said.”
“You would tell her to say that.”
James joined in, saying, “And while you here, can you tell us anything about some Viking coins and jewellery which have been discovered lately?”
Rutherford raised his eyebrows. “Do you mean the Hope treasures? I’ve heard rumours that some more of that hoard had turned up.”
“Indeed,” Garrett said. “When we consulted an expert yesterday, they were completely surprised by what had been found. They certainly hadn’t heard any of the rumours.”
Rutherford shrugged again. “Rumours aren’t proof. I don’t doubt anyone consulted by the police would restrict themselves to hard facts.”
“Never mind,” Garrett said. “It was a long shot. One other thing. We noticed that your car has scratches along one side. How did that happen?”
“I don’t know for sure. It was fine when I parked it in the college car park yesterday morning; when I went home, it was scratched. I would imagine it was caused by a bicycle belonging to one of our students.”
“Only Ms Purbright was knocked off her bike yesterday morning by a car similar to the one you drive.”
“A sad co-incidence, I’m afraid.”
“Do you have any contact with Ms Purbright apart from her administrative role at the college?”
“Hardly.”
“Isn’t Ms Purbright one of your Morris dancers?” James said suddenly.
“Well, yes. She helps us out occasionally, but she’s not very good.”
“So you do have contact with her outside the college,” James persisted.
“I wouldn’t call it contact. I didn’t arrange for her to take part, that was Hepburn’s responsibility. There was no more contact than if we shopped in the same supermarket.”
James and Garrett exchanged a quick glance, before Garrett said, “You will be charged with assaulting a police officer. There are some routine matters which need to be completed and then you may go for now.”
Rutherford made no further response other than a slight curl of his lip.
As soon as James and Garrett had left the interview room, Garrett said, “You need to speak to Alison Purbright. We’ll take as long as we can over the formalities to give you some time.”
“Would it be okay if Tomlinson and I went to the college to speak to her?”
“By all means.”
James hurried back to his office and told Tomlinson they were going out. In the car, he explained they about the connection between Alison and Hepburn.
“She didn’t mention anything to me,” Tomlinson said.
“I think it’s more likely it’s something Rutherford believes she knows, rather than anything Alison is specifically aware of.”
They found Alison in the administration office. She looked alarmed when she saw them enter.
“I’m sorry, Alison,” Tomlinson said. “We’ve just got a couple more questions we’d like to ask. Is there somewhere we could go?”
“Yes, this way,” Alison replied.
They sat down in a quiet corner of the college and James said, “As you know we are investigating the death of Dr Hepburn. Did he give you anything to look after?”
“No.” She looked confused. “He lent me a book about ancient May Day customs. Obviously, I ought to give it back now, but I didn’t think of it.”
“Could we have a look at the book?”
“It’s at home. I can bring it in tomorrow for you.”
“Could we go and get it now?”
“Of course. I didn’t think it was important.”
“Probably not. But we would like to see it.”
They drove to Alison’s house. Rutherford’s car was no longer parked outside, so James assumed he’d retrieved it following his release.
Alison let them into the house and found the book, which she gave to Tomlinson. Inside were a few hand-written notes.
“That’s Dr Hepburn’s writing. I think he’d forgotten he’d left them in there. I haven’t touched them,” Alison said.
Tomlinson showed the notes to James, who nodded and said, “Thank you, Alison. We’ll hang onto the book. And we’ll drop you back at the college now.”
As soon as Alison had got out of the car, and James was pulling away, Tomlinson said, “Are those notes what I think they are?”
“A detailed record of where all the artefacts and coins were found, and, even more important, a note of where they were re-hidden.”
As they walked back into the police station, the desk sergeant called out, “Inspector Hathaway, CS Innocent has asked if you would go and see her as soon as you got back.”
“I’ll take these notes with me,” James said to Tomlinson. “We’ll go over all we know when I come back.”
Innocent told James to take a seat when he entered her office and said, “We’ve heard from Rutherford’s solicitor. Apparently, Dr Rutherford was still very upset at his colleague’s death and concerned about a member of the staff, and he didn’t realise quite what he was doing when he accidentally pushed Sergeant Tomlinson. I think we shall end up giving him a formal warning, but that will be all, I’m afraid.”
James shook his head. “Very well, ma’am. We think we’ve found Hepburn’s list of their finds.”
He passed it over. She was looking through it when someone knocked on the door.
“Come in!” she called.
DCI Garrett came in, smiling. “I’ve just heard from DC Wallace, who I’d asked to discreetly tail Rutherford when he left. Having collected his car, Rutherford went directly to the village with the maypole and pushed his hand into what Wallace assumed was the hole. When he didn’t find anything there, he ran back to his car and is now heading north on the Abingdon road.”
Innocent pushed the piece of paper towards Garrett and put her finger under a reference. “There, I suspect,” she said. “Tell Wallace to keep a close eye on him.”
“I’d like to go, too,” James said.
Innocent nodded and James left her office. He rang Tomlinson and said, “Meet me in the car park.”
James started his car and drove round the station entrance, where Tomlinson joined him.
“What’s up, sir?” she asked as she jumped in.
“We think Rutherford’s heading for the third hiding place. Wallace is tailing him, but I’d like to be there too.”
James put his foot down and they made good time, stopping close to where the OS co-ordinates had led them, which looked like a very run-down village hall. There were two cars already parked there, one of which was a dark blue BMW with a distinctive scratch.
“Round the back, I think,” James said.
As they made their way round to the back, they heard Rutherford say, “Get out of my way!”
Then there was a cry from Wallace, and James and Tomlinson ran to see what had happened.
James grabbed Rutherford and forced him to drop the knife he was holding while Tomlinson went to help Wallace, who was clutching his side. Rutherford attempted to release James’ grip, but James was too strong and managed to handcuff him. Tomlinson called for an ambulance for Wallace and then radioed to ask for assistance in taking Rutherford back to the police station.
***
It was another late evening by the time James finally made it home, but this time he felt satisfied with the progress that had been made. Rutherford had been charged with the attack on DC Wallace and detained while further enquiries were made. He had also attempted to claim he was intending to hand over the Viking coins he had just retrieved, but this had not been believed.
James showered and then joined Robbie in the kitchen.
“Are you able to tell me anything?” Robbie asked.
“Not in detail, but I can confirm we believe all the recent discoveries relating to the Hope treasures have been retrieved. From what we can gather, neither party trusted the other, which was why the treasure had been split into multiple hiding places.”
“And Hepburn was killed as the result of an argument between him and his assailant?”
“Yes, we’re hoping to find out more, but unless our suspect choses to reveal his motives, we may never know. Clearly, both knew they should have made an announcement as soon as they made their first find but were keeping quiet, which meant they were dependent on each other for their continuing silence. Maybe Hepburn was threatening to speak out.” James shrugged.
“Do you think there’s still more of the treasure to be found?” Robbie asked.
“It’s possible. Hepburn kept an accurate record of where they had found every item. As far as we can see, they hadn’t covered all the area.”
“It would be more difficult to search this time of year. There’d be much more likelihood of drawing attention to themselves.”
“Maybe one of them wanted to stop until next winter and the other said they should keep going.” James nodded to himself. “That would certainly be sufficient to cause a rift between them because neither would trust the other not to keep going on his own. Definitely a line worth pursuing. But for now, I am going to enjoy my dinner and a glass of the red wine I saw in the cupboard.”
“Certainly, sir. The waiter will bring it right away!” Robbie gave a mock bow and reached up for the bottle.