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.’They reached the crypt entrance and greeted the constable, who looked relieved to have company.Hardly surprising, Diane thought.The place was spooky enough, without thinking about what lay beyond the crypt door.He had set up an exclusion zone by stringing incident tape between the trunks of three ancient yews, and securing the last part round the headstone of the nearest grave.‘We’re going to take a quick look inside,’ Benson told him as she ducked under the tape, holding it up for her colleague.‘You wait there.The fewer people who go inside the less chance of contaminating any evidence there might be.’‘Shouldn’t we be wearing overshoes?’ Diane asked.‘I’m not proposing to go right down into the body of the crypt.’ Benson smiled grimly at her terrible pun.‘We should be able to see all we need from the steps.’They stood side by side on the narrow stairs; the musty smell of death was all around them.Benson used her torch to illuminate the stone sarcophagus directly opposite them; then she moved the beam to a second one.It was when she lit up the third that they saw the victim’s body.Diane caught her breath.‘Oh dear God,’ she muttered.It was no wonder the young lovers had been unable to identify the victim, Carol thought.The man could have been anything from thirty to sixty years old.When the patrol officer had said he had been beaten beyond recognition, she had wondered if he was exaggerating.Now, his comment seemed more like an understatement.Carol inspected the victim for a few seconds, before moving the beam away from the grim spectacle.She moved it slowly around the chamber of death, taking care to examine everything inside, which wasn’t a lot.She noticed the blankets draped over one of the tombs and wondered if they had been brought by the lovers for a little comfort.When her torch beam reached the far corner she stopped.An item leaning against the wall caught and held her attention.She blinked in disbelief.If she had to select an item from a list of those most unlikely to find in a crypt, this would have possibly been her first choice.She nudged DC Hall and gestured towards the incongruous sight.‘What do you make of that, Diane? The murder weapon, perhaps?’‘I don’t know, you can’t really tell from here, but I can’t think of any other reason to bring a cricket bat into a crypt, can you? One thing for certain, one way or another, I’ve seen more bats tonight than I ever want to again.’They were still staring at the bat when a voice from behind them made Diane jump.‘I thought you’d want to know that the pathologist has arrived, together with the forensic people.’A moment later, Austin, clad in his plastic over-suit, bustled past the detectives.‘Lights?’ he demanded.Carol looked round at the constable.‘Any word on where the vicar is?’‘My colleague managed to get hold of his wife.She’d been at a Wild Indians meeting in the village hall.Apparently, her husband is at one of the outlying farms, over towards Black Fell.He’s ministering to a parishioner who is dying and might not be back until morning.’Carol smiled at the constable’s use of the Women’s Institute nickname.‘Forensics will love that, working by torchlight.’‘That won’t be necessary.They’ve brought a generator and arc lights.They’re planning to floodlight the crypt and the surrounding area.’‘Some good news at last.We’ll hand over the crime scene to them and then go and interview our witnesses.We’ll need one of you along with us.’‘I’ll go.I’ve had enough of churchyards for one night.’Benson turned to the pathologist.‘Sorry to disturb your snooker night, Dr Austin.We thought up something far more exciting for you.’Austin sniffed disdainfully.‘The one chance I get for a relaxing night without the wife nagging at me and you go and spoil it.What’s the situation?’Benson told him what little they knew, which wasn’t much.Austin looked surprised when they mentioned the cricket bat.‘You think that was the murder weapon?’‘We do,’ Hall interrupted.‘We thought perhaps the victim had a stroke.’Austin groaned.‘I didn’t think tonight could get any worse, but it just has.’‘Anyway, we’ll be in the pub if you need us.’‘Some people have all the luck.No wonder they call it a bobby’s job.’‘We’re going to interview witnesses,’ Carol informed him severely.This time, Austin’s sniff was one of disbelief.‘If the dead man was the sexton,’ Diane said as they walked across to the Cross Keys, ‘what were his duties? I mean, what does a sexton do?’‘Basically, they look after the church, tend the graveyard, in some cases dig the graves, and ring the bell for services.’Diane giggled, surprising both Benson and the constable.‘That would make him a dead ringer, then?’Her pun was met with synchronised groans from her audience.Desperate to get off the subject and away from Diane’s dire jokes, Carol asked, ‘How old are these lovers?’‘Both sixteen,’ the constable told her.‘They’re pupils at Thorsby High School.’‘I’m surprised they needed to sneak off to somewhere as uncomfortable as that crypt,’ Diane said.‘Ah, but this is Lingtoft, not some big town.Most of the inhabitants are from families that have lived here for generations.There are a few newcomers, but not many.It’s too far off the beaten track to attract commuters.’‘The other thing that surprises me is that these two haven’t been at it for years.Going from what I know about the pupils at Thorsby High, I’d have thought they would have been bonking one another since they were in year seven,’ Diane commented.‘Oi, do you mind,’ Carol objected.‘I went to Thorsby High.Only in my day it was a grammar school.And we certainly weren’t at it from the age of twelve.’‘Really? How long did you leave it before you got started?’There was a long, cold silence before Carol asked, ‘Does your uniform still fit you? Because another crack like that, and you’ll find yourself directing traffic on the High Street.’Diane grinned unrepentantly, and opened the pub door for them to enter.The lounge bar, which occupied all the front of the building, had been decked out for Halloween.The room was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from candles inserted into hollowed-out pumpkins which lined the L-shaped bar, plus more candles inside a motley collection of decorated jam jars.Here and there, black cotton threads fastened to the ceiling supported bats that had been cut out of black paper.‘More bloody bats,’ Diane muttered.Interspersed with these were paper spiders suspended on elastic.These jumped up and down when touched.Almost directly in front of the door, a life-size skeleton picked out in fluorescent white paint stood to greet new arrivals.Diane brushed against it as she passed, provoking an outburst of ghoulish laughter, presumably activated by some form of sensor.Elsewhere, they could see broomsticks placed at odd angles against walls, on window ledges and propped against the ends of the long, padded settle that traversed two of the walls [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]