Free The Funeral Owl by Jim Kelly Page A

floor. The Scot was clean, almost fanatically so, and he washed his clothes in the laundrette at Friday Bridge once a month. He didn’t claim benefit, but he did have a debit card, which he used in the hole-in-the-wall in Wisbech. The coroner’s officer had been able to get his bank records and they showed McLeish had a current account credit of £13,800 – the remainder of the estate of his father, a solicitor, who had died when he was just sixteen. His mother had remarried and did not wish to attend the inquest. Ryder’s lip curled slightly, perhaps indicating what he thought of the absentee mother. McLeish, he added, had no siblings.
    McLeish’s and Russell’s bodies were found together in the flooded culvert with two empty vodka bottles and some food wrappers from the corner shop: pork pies, pasties, and apples. McLeish had three twenty-pound notes in his pocket; Russell thirty-eight pence in coppers.
    â€˜This is a very unusual case,’ said Ryder, with a hint of the intellectual curiosity that he so often concealed.
    â€˜The cause of death in both cases was drowning. McLeish had sustained a head wound before he died. It was late evening when the cloudburst struck the area. Witnesses had seen them both out on the fen, drinking, apparently in good humour. This was on the Wisbech Road, near the bus stop. They were sitting on the grass verge. What happened when the rain fell and the ditches filled with water? It is easy to speculate, but we will almost certainly never know the truth.
    â€˜It is not difficult to imagine the scene. When I say that the ditch was full of water, I mean – of course – the Brim. Hardly a ditch. A river, running in a deep culvert, and on this day probably churning with water. I think that the most likely scenario is that McLeish fell into the floodwater, possibly sustaining the head injury, and that Russell tried to save his friend. There is a chance that they argued, possibly blows were exchanged, but none of the evidence supports that view and there is not a single recorded instance of either man using violence. So, I am happy to speculate that they were both the victims of an accident. But it is speculation. Once they fell in the water they had very little chance of survival due to their general physical condition, which is the real point of calling this inquest at this time, and in this place.’
    Ryder tidied his notes. ‘Each day of our lives we all move closer to our deaths,’ he said. ‘But these young men were moving very quickly towards an early death when they had their accident. I doubt either would have lived for more than a few months longer. Both were being poisoned by drinking contaminated illicit alcohol. “Moonshine” is a euphemism – especially in this case.’
    DS Cherry came forward and put three vodka bottles on the table. Two were empty, one full of a golden liquid. They had yellow labels, with a picture of what looked like wheat or reeds on the front. The brand name was
Zabrowka
.
    Dryden was pleased by the thought that the national newspapers had quit the court and missed the story. A much better story than anyone could have predicted from the bare details of the case.
    â€˜Zabrowka is a type of vodka made widely in Eastern Europe,’ said Ryder. ‘Usually at eighty per cent proof. The key, distinguishing ingredient is Buffalo Grass. This contains coumarin, and that’s the secret, because it gives it an extraordinary scent and taste. These two empty bottles were found in the ditch with the victims. This third bottle has been obtained by Trading Standards officials.’
    Dryden raised a hand and asked the coroner to spell the ‘secret’ ingredient.
    He spelt out COUMARIN letter by letter.
    â€˜It flavours the vodka, as I say, so you get this amazing …’ Ryder unscrewed the cap on the full bottle and flourished his fingers under his nose. ‘Coumarin is what makes