Free Village Affairs by Miss Read Page B

was carried into Court by six sweating policemen.
    A plan was handed up to the Bench, and the magistrates were invited to compare the shape of the roof displayed on the paper before them, with that of the lead, now being unrolled and stamped into place beneath large feet, on the floor below.
    After old Miss Dewbury's plan had been put the right way up for her by a kindly fellow-justice, the magistrates gave their attention to the matter with more than usual liveliness.
    Amazing how they come to life, thought Mr Lovejoy, when a few pictures or objects to play with are handed up! Glazing eyes sparkled, sagging shoulders were braced. Could it be that addresses given by prosecution and defence sometimes bored the Bench? Not, thought Mr Lovejoy seriously, when he himself addressed them. He had a turn of phrase, he fancied, which commanded respect as well as attention to his cause, but possibly some of his learned colleagues were less fortunate in their powers. (Mr Lovejoy, it will be noted, was without humour.)
    Certainly, there was a surprising likeness between the plan and the cumbersome evidence on the floor. The lead undoubtedly came from a small building with an octagonal roof like Mr Mawne's. It had been found, the magistrates were told, hidden under a pile of sacks in the Bryant brothers' outhouse. They looked suitably impressed.
    Mr Lovejoy, on the other hand, looked calm and faintly disdainful. His eye fixed on the pitch-pine ceiling of the Victorian court house, he was clearly rehearsing his speech which would show that a person or persons unknown had humped the lead, from a source equally unknown, and dumped it upon the Bryants' premises with the intention of getting them into their present unfortunate position.
    The case ground on for the rest of the morning, and continued after the lunch break. Witnesses were called, by the indefatigable Mr Lovejoy, who testified to the fact that the accused had been in their company, regularly each evening, whilst imbibing, in a modest fashion, as befitted their unemployed state, at local hostelries.
    At four o'clock Miss Dewbury was nudged into wakefulness, the accused men were told that the charge against them
had been proved, and the prosecutor handed up long lists of previous convictions for the Bench to study.
    The Chairman, Colonel Austin, after a brief word with his colleagues, then committed them in custody to the Crown Court for sentence, just as Mr Willet had prophesied, and they left the Court escorted by two policemen.
    Mr Lovejoy shuffled his papers together, bowed politely, and hurried after his clients.
    'That is the business of the Court,' announced the clerk, 'and the business of the day is over.'
    'And only just in time,' observed old Miss Dewbury as she departed. 'I put a beef casserole in the oven at lunch time, and it must be nearly dry by now.'
    'Never like sending chaps to prison,' grunted Colonel Austin to his male colleague, as they reached for their hats. 'But what can you do with four like that? How many times have we seen 'em, John?'
    'Too many,' replied his friend, 'and we'll see them again the minute they're out!'

    In Fairacre, reaction to the Court's decision was mixed. Most agreed that Arthur Coggs was only getting his just deserts, and speculated upon how long the Judge would give all four when the time came. But more were concerned about the effect of Arthur's absence on his wife and family.
    'She'll be a dam' sight better off without him around,' said Mr Willet. 'What good's he to her, poor soul? She'll get the social security money to herself now, instead of watching Arthur swilling it down his throat at The Beetle. Besides, she won't get knocked about. Make a nice change for her, I'd say, to have a peaceful house for a time.'
    To my surprise, Mrs Pringle took another view.
    'She'll miss him, I'll be bound, bad lot though he is. A woman needs a man's company about the house.'
    'I can't say I've missed it,' I observed. 'And I could well do without