Free Murder on the Old Road by Amy Myers Page B

the office, when she returned from Chillingham to see Peter, she feared the worst. Her father was calling in the heavy brigade far too soon. And Mike Gilroy was definitely heavy. Mild he might seem, a gentle ambling giant of a man in height, and patient. Up to a point. Peter didn’t believe in keeping forces in reserve, however, and so far Georgia did not feel their investigation into Hugh Wayncroft’s murder had progressed to the stage where Mike’s help should be invoked.
    â€˜No surprise to me.’ Mike greeted her with a kiss. ‘The minute I heard Peter’s voice on the phone, I knew I could abandon such unimportant matters as crime figures, terrorists and world emergencies.’
    â€˜Why not?’ Peter returned, apparently astonished. ‘Hugh Wayncroft’s murder remains unsolved.’
    â€˜In 1967 I was one year old so I can’t help you from personal experience.’
    â€˜Of course not. I’m not unreasonable. However, you do still keep files somewhere, don’t you?’
    â€˜We do. Tucked away according to age, carefully tied up with red tape.’
    â€˜Very well. What did the Wayncroft case tell you?’ Peter cut through any Gordian knots that might be presuming to threaten his path.
    Mike capitulated. ‘Not enough for you to set the hounds of hell loose, Peter. I do admit it looks weird on the surface. It took some working out just why it had been abandoned.’
    â€˜Because they knew the answer but couldn’t prove it?’
    â€˜Probably. It was an interesting case, in fact. He’d definitely been strangled. The hyoid bone was broken, but there were no signs of a ligature being used, or anything definable as prints. What you might call a quick clean job.’
    â€˜Any signs of struggle?’
    â€˜Apparently not.’
    â€˜Taken from behind?’
    â€˜Unlikely. There seem to have been three lines of enquiry. One was a travelling fruit picker, who was traced but nothing could be proved. The second was a young man in the group called Valentine Harper.’
    â€˜Wayncroft’s stepson,’ Peter said. ‘And the last?’
    â€˜A local carpenter, Clive Moon. Also in the group.’
    â€˜He’s no longer alive. Evidence?’
    â€˜No DNA then, of course. Precious little trace evidence, and those most closely involved weren’t talkative. As most of the village seems to have been closely involved that didn’t help. There was heavy emphasis on the fact that odd-looking characters had been seen in them there woods around that time. Possibly true enough, but apart from the fruit picker they’d vanished like ghosts in daylight come the investigation.’
    â€˜What did they have on Harper and Moon?’
    â€˜Motive: Clive Moon had organized a village petition and march to the manor about some project to do with Thomas Becket, which didn’t please Wayncroft. Valentine Harper marched with him – and was known to have it in for his stepfather.’
    â€˜Alibis?’
    â€˜I’m beginning to feel like your sergeant again,’ Mike said good-humouredly. ‘Unbreakable is the answer to that. Hugh Wayncroft had been dead an hour or two before he was found, during which time Harper claimed to have been firstly in the pub with his mother, and then to have walked back to Chillingham Place with her to see if his stepfather was there. Clive Moon was with his wife the whole time.’
    â€˜What about the last stages of the pilgrimage?’ Georgia put in. ‘I met Jessica Wayncroft, Hugh’s widow, this afternoon and she told me Hugh often stayed at the rear of the column. He could have been killed, therefore, before anyone even reached the pub.’
    Mike flicked through his notes. ‘Harper said he was at the front of the column with his mother. Everyone testified to that; Lisa Moon swore her husband Clive was walking behind her with someone called Fred Miller towards the rear