The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis Read Free Book Online

their hands on, made for the shore,
hoping for pickings from the wreck.
    We can only guess at the manner of
reception those Spanish sailors received. And of course those other men who
came from the sea - our American allies in 1944 - would have been received with
the same mixed feelings, as the people of Bereton were ordered to leave the
homes their ancestors had occupied for centuries.
     
    From A History of Bereton and Its People by June Mallindale
     
     
    Wesley Peterson watched as Colin
Bowman, smiling pleasantly and chatting away, made the long incision down the
front of the body and removed the vital organs in an alarmingly casual fashion.
Wesley looked away, feeling slightly sick.
    Gerry Heffernan, however, was oblivious
to the gruesome procedure and chatted away, asking questions which the
pathologist   answered in a jolly,
conversational way. It was a pity, Heffernan had often thought, that Dr Bowman's
patients were never in a position to appreciate his cheery bedside manner.
     
    Well ...' Colin Bowman stood back
and watched absentmindedly while his technician sewed the body of Norman Openheim
back up. 'I can't tell you much that you don't know already, Gerry.'
     
    When Colin had changed and they were
sitting in his office sipping a cup of Earl Grey, the pathologist decided to
enlighten them further.
    'I'll put it all in my report,
Gerry, but I can tell you that my initial diagnosis has proved to be correct.
He was killed by a single stab wound to the heart with a long thin blade.
Either an extremely lucky strike or someone who knew what they were doing.'
    'And the weapon?'
     
    'Long thin knife of some kind ...
anything been found?'
    'Not yet... still looking.'
     
    'He died pretty well instantly. He
wouldn't have known much about it. As for the time of death, we're lucky to
know exactly when he ate his last meal. From the state of the stomach contents I'd
say ten o'clock or thereabouts.'
     
    'Anything else?' asked Wesley.
     
    'He was a healthy man for his age
... bit overweight but generally in good shape apart from the hearing problem
we know about. As to the fatal wound ... I had a bit of a prod about and from
the angle of entry I should say you're looking for someone a bit
smaller than the victim.'
     
    'Could a woman have done it?'
     
    Bowman thought for a second.' As it
missed the ribs it wouldn't have needed that much force. A fit woman - or an
angry one — could have done it certainly.'
     
    Wesley looked at his boss. 'Maybe
the young man Farmer Ambrose saw running away was really a woman.'
     
    'Aye. From that distance and with
that many pints of best bitter inside him, he'd have been hard pushed to tell
the difference.'
     
    'And I've got another interesting
little snippet for you, gentlemen.' Bowman leaned forward. 'Do you remember
that rat you found by the body?'
     
    'How could we forget?' said Heffernan.
     
    'Well, I did as you asked and examined
it. You were right. It had been stabbed, and probably with the same weapon.'
     
    'Whoever did it must have been fast
to get a moving rat with a knife," said Wesley incredulously.
     
    'Oh no. Sergeant. The rat was dead
already ... been dead about a day when the deed was done, I should think.'
     
    'So it wasn't just a healthy young
rat going about its lawful business when the murderer struck?' said Heffernan
with a grin.
     
    "I think it might have been
poisoned. I could test for it if you like.'
     
    'Yeah... if you would, Colin.
Thanks.'
     
    'So where do you think this unfortunate
rodent comes into it, Gerry?'
     
    'Wish I knew. But it didn't get
there by accident and it's got something to do with why the poor sod was
murdered. I can feel it in my water. But why?'
     
    They drove in silence back to the
small incident room that had been set up in Bereton village hall, contemplating
this question. Why the rat?
     
     
    The room the police had been allocated
in the village hall had been hurriedly cleared to accommodate them. A pile of
play equipment