Thornton Under Vale Mystery – Part 11

(Read from Start)

The snow had stopped falling, but the air was still chill, and the white woodland crunched under Sidney’s wellington boots. His heart was still thumping wildly, and his mind was flipping between worries. Should he run and call out for Inspector Viper, or remain quiet as a mouse and tread cautiously the paths made by forest deer? He decided the latter would be better, as that meant he should be able to hear the approach of an assassin.

As he got close to the brow of the natural hollow, known locally as The Vale, he slowed. He saw the familiar form of his ex-boss, DS Hawk, leaning against a thick pine tree. The yellow Police tape in the grey, trampled, hollow still remained visible, marking the location of Robin Cock’s corpse. The fresh snow had blocked out the usual aroma of natural pine. Unfortunately, it did not block the crunching sound of his approach.

DS Hawk, dressed as usual in his thick coat, wearing black leather gloves, was also wearing an incongruous rainbow coloured bobby hat. The influence of Dolly Dove, Sidney assumed.

Hawk moved away from the pine to face him. “Ah, Web! I should have known you and Viper were out to discredit me. Why did you want to meet me here? Police station not friendly enough for you? I suppose you’ve got Charlie Hen’s bow. It’s not in the pub cellar any more. I looked before I came here.”

Sidney sneered, “I suppose I should be grateful for that. I wouldn’t want there to be another archery accident in Thornton Under Vale. “

However, finding Charlie Hen’s bow missing form the Linnet’s cellar did worry him. The police had not found it, despite a detailed search, and Charlie Hen had been sticking to his solicitor’s advice to say nothing but ‘No comment’.

Sidney snapped, ‘Let’s cut to the chase, Hawk. Did you kill Robin Cock, and then Edwina Fly?”

Damian shouted back, “No, I bloody didn’t. I wish I had finished off Cock, but on that night, I got totally pissed at ‘The Linnet’ and stupidly I joined Charlie to go poaching in this wood. But I was too drunk and Charlie sent me back to sleep it off back at the pub.

“I came here direct from the pub as soon as I got the message about the corpse, and you noticed my muddy shoes. I could see the news headline; ‘Policeman Poacher Pissed in Murder Village Pub’. Swallow, Viper and you would have loved reading that.

“I had to provide Charlie and myself with alibi’s once we found out Robin Cock had been murdered with an arrow. Charlie’s bow had remained in the pub cellar, so it wasn’t us. Of course, I don’t have the evidence to prove that, so you’ll just have to believe me.”

Although the story sounded implausible, Sidney’s gut reaction was to believe his ex-boss. Yet, he still had another theory to resolve, “But you did fire the arrow into Robin Cock’s portrait to detract suspicions from Ivana Cock and Dolly Dove.”

Damian smiled, “Very clever, Detective. Yes, I did. And I borrowed Charlie Hen’s bow, which will account for my DNA on it. And you need a reason? The truth is that Ivana Cock has been so helpful to Dolly. Dolly’s too religious to have an abortion, but the kid would always remind her of her rape and Robin Cock getting away with it. She was seeing Reverend Castle for advice, and he spoke with Ivana Cock.

“As a result, Robin’s son, Adrian Cock, has agreed to take Dolly’s baby. His DNA would be practically the same, so parentage is unlikely to be questioned. Ivana gets a blood-line grandchild she would never have expected; Adrian gets the child he thought he would never have; James gets to spit in the eye of the adoption agencies that rejected their applications; and Dolly and I get to have a new life together.

“That’s why Ivana and Dolly were celebrating. Everyone would be happy. But I knew that could be seen as a motive to kill Robin Cock. I needed to circumvent that suspicion. Ivana suggested an arrow in Cock’s ghastly portrait seemed appropriate.”

Sidney Web could see the reasoning, “So why arrest Ivana twice?”

Hawk laughed, “Because that misdirection didn’t work. Finding the lead candlesticks under the stairs in Anbull Hall made the first arrest easy to justify. But they were clearly planted to incriminate. Even you thought that. Whoever wanted Cock dead, was still at work directing attention to Ivana Cock.

“Worse, unless she was proved innocent of killing her husband, then the gossip mill would have made their future lives Hell. The common phrase, ‘No smoke without fire.’ would have left a social stain that would ruin them all. I couldn’t have that for Ivana or Dolly, or Dolly’s child.

“So I needed to arrest her again. Suggesting a lovers pact between Ivana and Ivan, the dodgy chef, was perfect for the gossips, and once that proved false, then all suspicion was damped out. No fire, no smoke.“

The logic made sense. Sidney was even more convinced his ex-boss was not the killer, but there was still someone out there who killed Robin Cock and Edwina Fly. He felt he could share his thoughts with his ex-boss, who was, after all, an experienced Detective (unlike himself).

Resting against a pine tree, Sidney Web, said, “I suspected Reverend Castle planted the candlesticks, to shift suspicion from him. I think Cock caused trouble at St Genesius when Dolly was seeing Reverend Castle about the christening. Where you there?”

Damian Hawk, also relaxed, “No. But you are right about Reverend Castle and Robin Cock. Dolly told me afterwards. The bastard was almost delirious, acting wildly. I suppose that was the reaction to the St John Wort tea poison. I still think the poison was Russian.

“Anyway… when Cock went to strangle Dolly, the Reverend had no option but to use the altar candlesticks. Of course, being lead copies, they gave a heaver blow than he expected. But he’s not a strong man, and Cock escaped back to the village. Dolly was just far to upset to be be left on her own, so Castle didn’t follow. Mind you, the guy is so timid, I expect that’s his excuse for not going after Cock, the bastard. Dolly said that the Reverend phoned Ivana Cock, but she didn’t hear what was said.”

Sidney took that scene into his mind’s time-line of Robin Cock’s murder. “That accounts for the long phone call to Ivana Cock we confirmed during the time of Cock’s murder. So, Cock made his way back to village, not his home, with his head bashed in, and then met the garage guys at The Bull.”

His ex-boss, Hawk, smiled. “Nicely worked out, Detective. The garage boys were drunk at the Darts Match; he was manic. Tempers flared, and, as they had promised before, they tried to lynch him with the old Bell-ringers rope from ‘The Bull’ ornaments, but he ran back into the woods toward his home. The garage boys gave up chasing him and returned to their Darts match at ‘The Bull’. Hence their alibi for the killing. I suspect Cock was too far out of his mind to be able to take the noose off.I am convinced that the rope was used to drag him down into The Vale and out of sight.”

Sidney smiled, “Dr Fish envisaged that same scenario. The DNA from the rope made all the Garage boys suspects. However, whoever dragged him into this hollow must have been wearing gloves, but that still doesn’t explain the arrow, if it wasn’t you.”

Damian Hawk leaned against a pine trunk, folded his arms, and smiled, “Ah, so you don’t think I am the murderer now. Well, I suppose that’s something. I hope you’re going to convince your mate, Inspector Viper, of my innocence. By the way, where is Viper? He told me to meet him here. God knows why. ”

“Killers return to scene of their crime. Isn’t that what you always said in Court to the jury.”

Hawk kept his arms folded, “That only applies if they think that there is some evidence left at the location to incriminate them. I use that logic to convince my suspects that they had missed something. The guilty ones always did return. You and Viper think you have got something?”

Sidney paused to review the evidence in his mind. A chill breeze arose, and he heard a faint crunch of crisp snow. His heart thumped in his chest. Then his eyes caught the peripheral view of a fast Roe deer darting back into the wood. Something was not right. He replied, “Only that you returned here. I just overheard that Inspector Viper was meeting someone here. I just hoped it wasn’t you.”

Hawk moved from his tree, and looked towards the route of the Roe deer. He slowly replied, “I was invited here by Viper. You didn’t know?” Hawk was looking around, tense, like a rainbow hatted bear.

The electric tension increased between them. This would never have happened if he had remained a simple constable. Sidney’s breathing slowed, as he tried to control his natural panic. Was this a trap? Had he been set up by his Police colleagues? Were they both at risk of being the next victims of the Mystery Bowman of Thornton Under Vale?

Now Read Part 12

(Prompts Given: This would never have happened.. ; He was too drunk to…. ; On that night…. ; …..sent me back to sleep.; You’ll have to believe me…; Poaching in …. ; )