The press were all over it and Gina had spotted the first mention of a body on their social media before leaving for the café. ‘Yes. A body was found in the woods last night and we’re currently investigating, which is why we’re here. Have you seen anything unusual recently, maybe over the past day or two?’
Sally let out a small huff. ‘Only one thing, but it’s Halloween. I don’t know if what I saw was unusual for Halloween, which is why I didn’t bother anyone. I normally get kids hanging around; sometimes I listen to them playing but only because it’s quite funny. They tell stories about the dead coming out of the graves – one of them recites some stupid words or sits alone in the graveyard while the others look on from afar, usually laughing.’ Sally smiled. ‘These things either end with the poor kid who’s undergoing the dare running away screaming or they sit it out and get a cheer. Once they all realise nothing is going to happen, they leave. The only thing they get is cold. It’s Halloween tomorrow, so I’m expecting this to all happen again. I know it sounds cruel, but I sometimes turn my lights off and make ghost noises out of the downstairs toilet window to scare them. I have a weird sense of humour. It’s all part of the fun and nothing bad is meant by it. It’s theatre, that’s all.’
‘What did you see?’ Gina was more interested in the unusual rather than the expected.
The young vicar scrunched her brow. The dog started to bark again. ‘A figure in a long dark coat with a hood that covered their face.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Come with me.’
Gina glanced at Jacob as they followed the vicar upstairs. Each step creaked in the old house. As they reached the landing, Gina spotted that one door was open, the door to the master bedroom. She followed the woman past the wooden four-poster bed and stopped at the window. As she stepped closer the floorboards felt spongy and the wardrobe rattled.
‘It was from here. This is where I was when I saw the figure, just at the back of the graveyard. The dog woke me with his barking. It was about three in the morning on Wednesday. Jerry doesn’t normally bark in the night so it had me concerned. We’ve had a few burglaries at the church in the past and I know I’m set back a little from the main building, but I do try to stay alert. Whoever was hidden under the hood looked up at me. Nearly scared me to death. I ducked behind the curtain and waited a few minutes before looking back out, then they were gone. I ran around the house in the dark, checking out of every window, but I didn’t see the figure again. No one had tried to break into the vicarage as the alarm would have gone off. It was then I checked the CCTV. Whoever was out there had avoided the two cameras that we have. The one facing the front of the church that also catches the road and the one that covers the back of the church and the vicarage. There are no CCTV cameras on the graveyard, so I have nothing I can give you. It’s a big area for two cameras but that’s all the budget stretches to, I’m afraid.’
Jacob pulled his notebook from his pocket.
‘Can you tell us any more about this person?’ Gina leaned on the window ledge and tried to imagine how scary it would have been for Sally Stevens when she saw the figure. Living alone in this big house with its creaky floorboards would have heightened the fear.
She shook her head. ‘No. From here, I couldn’t really get much of an idea of the person’s height and, well, the figure was covered in the huge coat so I couldn’t even estimate their build. I don’t know whether it was a man or a woman and I couldn’t see their face, not even when they looked up. There are no lights out there at all and I recall it being cloudy, so the moon didn’t even give off much light. Had it not been for the long coat material moving a little with the breeze, this person probably would have blended right into the night.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I don’t want to hurry you but if I don’t get down there, I’ll have a load of parents and children getting cold outside the church.’
‘Before we go, do you know a man called Al who often hangs around the street. He has a crew cut and is approximately six feet?’
She shook her head, her curls bouncing as she moved. ‘No. That description isn’t ringing a bell for me.’
An image of the bell with no clapper inside sent a shiver through Gina. ‘You’ve been really helpful. If you remember anything else or you see any strange people in the graveyard, would you please call me straight away?’ Gina passed the vicar her card. ‘Call me anytime, day or night.’ If hanging around a graveyard in the early hours wasn’t suspicious, then she didn’t know what was. If it was kids playing around, there would have been more than one of them and three in the morning was late.
‘I definitely will do. It’ll be my pleasure.’ The vicar paused and looked intently. ‘“Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Peter, chapter five, verse eight. I’m always on my guard and I’ll call you if I see or hear anything else.’
Gina allowed that little speech to sink in and smiled. ‘If it’s okay, I’d like an officer to come by later when you have more time, to collect all the CCTV recordings for the past few days. You never know, we might just spot this person on another day at another time.’
‘I have already looked but you’re welcome to everything I’ve got.’
Jacob stepped out of the bedroom as Sally began to move towards the door. Gina trailed behind, having one last glance out of the window before reaching the landing.
‘Jerry, shut up. I won’t be long.’ She glanced back. ‘That dog hates me going out and leaving him. Separation anxiety.’ They hurried downstairs and out of the heavy wooden door, back into the drizzle.
‘Thank you. We’ll be in touch.’ Gina rubbed her hands together as the cold air hit them.
‘You know where to find me.’ Sally Stevens ran towards the back of the church, disappearing through the door ready to open up out the front.
‘Shall we take a look around the back?’ Jacob began walking around the house.
‘Yes. I know the team are up to their elbows in it, but I’d like the graveyard to be secured as a potential scene. The night before we find a body buried alive in the woods, a suspicious individual was spotted at one of the potential entry routes at approximately three in the morning. It doesn’t get any more suspicious. I’m going to call it in. Given the adverse weather, I’m not holding out for any evidence, but you never know. All it takes is that one little thing to be dropped and trodden into the earth.’
They reached the graveyard and Gina spotted a robin bobbing on a mossy bench. The tree’s bare branches reached out, like bony fingers trying to nudge the robin as a gust of wind caught them. Gina shivered and wiped the misty raindrops from her forehead.
‘It’s creepy, isn’t it, guv?’
She stared at the grave that Sally Stevens had pointed to. It was large enough to conceal a person should they duck behind it, but it was nothing unusual compared to the others. She held out her phone and zoomed in, taking a photo. ‘Elsie Peterson, beloved wife and mother.’ Gina did a quick calculation. ‘Died at seventy-three, twenty-one years ago.’ Something for Wyre to research, along with local undertakers and coffin makers.
Gina shivered. For a second, in her mind’s eye, she saw a figure standing behind the grave in the early hours of a miserable night. ‘I’m calling this in and we’re getting back to the station. Graveyards give me the creeps.’
‘I didn’t have you down as the superstitious type, guv.’
‘I’m not. It’s just a graveyard, isn’t that enough? It’s full of dead bodies.’ She turned and stomped away as she made the call. Death left a sour taste at the back of her throat. With each case, everything led back to one thing. The image of Terry taking his last breath as she watched him die at the bottom of their stairs all those years ago, seconds after she nudged him from the top. She paused as she waited for Jacob to catch up. Did some people deserve to die? Terry had been a cruel, hateful person. Her mind flitted back to their victim. Had he done something so terrible that made him deserve his end? She gulped. Should she say something about the letter? Maybe she should tell Briggs.
‘Hold on, guv.’ Jacob caught up with her.
‘I just want to get this memory stick back so that we can get our victim’s image out there.’
Someone had to know who he was. Someone had to be missing him.
