Then, Stephen goes and contaminates the crime scene by removing a vital piece of evidence from the victim’s pocket. Despite his recent retirement from the force, his training and discipline still kick in from time to time. He’s not sworn to uphold the rules of the police force anymore, not like he used to be (not that he followed the rules every time, even then), but he doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardise the safety of a young woman. It’s highly likely they won’t find her alive, but there is hope of finding out what happened to her, maybe even finding her body.
Stephen has found a grid reference.
And Graham has a map inside his cottage somewhere.
Stephen is right though, about the police force not being trustworthy around here. If Frank Hammel took his own life, then there was a reason. They could be closer than everto finding out what happened to Sophia. Frank left the paper in his pocket for them to find. He’s sure of it. Clearly, the man was done hiding secrets and didn’t see any other way out. Perhaps he was the one who left the sketch and the poster inside the jacket pocket of the scarecrow in the first place, kick-starting this whole thing. Had Frank Hammel been trying to tell them the truth from the start?
Graham starts his walk down the hill towards the cottage. Stephen is urging him to get a move on, needing to find a map, but Graham is knackered after running up the hill only moments before. He’s out of puff, but going downhill is always harder on his knees and he’s more likely to take a tumble. That’s the last thing he needs.
He’s going to be speaking with the police for a long time, so he needs another cup of coffee before the whole process starts. He’ll have to leave Stephen to find where the grid reference leads to. He can’t be in two places at once. Frank’s body needs to be dealt with. He knows only too well how many questions the officers are likely to ask him, especially when he explains about the scarecrow and the pig heart, still currently laying in the garage. He wonders whether word has already got around, though. It seems the village residents are notorious for spreading rumours and the most recent gossip.
Graham heads straight through the door and into the lounge where there’s a coffee table in front of the sofa. Hepulls out the drawer underneath the low table and rummages around until he finds the local map of the surrounding area. He always buys one when he travels to a new location, preferring to explore the area with a physical map rather than using his phone. Most of the kids nowadays wouldn’t know how to read a proper map or find a grid reference to save their lives, depending solely on Google maps to get them out of trouble and to their destinations. Call him old-school, but learning to read a map is a necessity in his mind.
He hands the map to Stephen who’s standing right behind him. Graham can practically feel the nervous energy radiating from the man. He’s glad he’s feeling better, more himself, more focused.
Stephen grabs the map and, without heading back to the kitchen first, bends down level with the coffee table and spreads the map open across it. It seems Stephen also prefers physical maps.
Graham watches silently, keeping an ear out for the crunching of gravel outside, indicating the police have arrived. There isn’t a police station in the village, so they’ll be coming from several miles away at least. Perhaps they won’t be corrupt if the officers don’t work in Bethgelert, but they may live here, for all Graham knows. He has to be vigilant.
Stephen scans the numbers, using his fingers to trace across the map, eventually stopping at a single point. He stops and stares up at Graham.
‘What is it?’ Graham asks. He knows it’s bad.
‘This grid reference. It shows the location of …’
The sound of gravel crunching makes them both stop and turn, looking towards the back door leading out to the yard.
Graham sighs. ‘I need to go and handle this, Stephen.’
Stephen nods, turning his gaze back to the map. ‘And I have to go and check this place out again. More thoroughly, this time.’
Graham heads out the door, meeting two officers as they get out of their police car. One is a middle-aged man with a head of thick, black hair and the other is a younger woman with cropped blonde hair.
‘I’m DC Tanner and this is PC Franks,’ says the male officer.
After confirming Graham’s name and that he is the owner of the property, the officers turn to look up the hill towards the tree, which is now highlighted by the rising sun.
‘Did you say the body was hanging in the tree?’ asks DC Tanner, shielding his eyes against the glare.
‘Yes,’ replies Graham, mimicking his action.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Quite sure.’
‘Because from what I can see, there’s no body hanging from that tree.’
Chapter 44
STEPHEN
Stephen watches while Graham takes the two officers up the hill. He stays in the yard, unwilling to climb that damn hill again in his still weakened state. He knows what he saw. Both he and Graham had seen, touched, the body of Frank Hammel, so he knows it’s nothing to do with his delusions, or whatever is going on in his head with regards to his grief and brain tumour.
Frank was very much dead. There’s no doubt about that. He couldn’t have faked his own hanging. Stephen had seen straight through his deceit when he’d spoken with him in the pub. The man couldn’t lie to save his life, let alone stage a fake suicide.
Something else, much more sinister, is at play here.
Therehadbeen a body hanging from that tree. He could still smell the musty aroma coming from the corpse, still see the glassy look in Frank’s eyes, even in death, as he hung there, gently swinging in the breeze.
