The Tewkesbury Tomb by Kerry Tombs Read Free Book Online

forehead.
    ‘Yes, Doctor, who suggested that you should visit the abbey?’
    ‘I cannot be sure.’
    ‘Try and remember, Doctor,’ urged Ravenscroft.
    ‘Ah yes, it was Herr Jenkins. Yes, Mr Jenkins who proposed that we should visit the abbey. I believe that to be the case.’
    ‘Would it not have been better to have waited until the morning, sir?’ asked Crabb.
    ‘I suppose you are correct, Constable, it would have been better to have gone in the morning, but one or two people said that they had to leave very early, and we all thought it would be an excellent opportunity to go then.’
    ‘But surely the abbey would have been locked up at that hour of the night?’ suggested Ravenscroft.
    ‘I do not know. In Baden we do not lock up our religious buildings for the evening. They are open all the time.’
    ‘And how did you find the abbey when you arrived?’
    ‘Sorry, “find the abbey”. I do not understand.’
    ‘Did you find the abbey open or closed? Did someone have a key?’
    ‘Ah yes, I understand. The abbey was not locked.’
    ‘I see. Thank you, Doctor, for answering all my questions.’
    ‘I am glad that I was of assistance, Inspector. May I go now?’
    ‘I would be obliged if you would wait with the others. I’m afraid I cannot allow any of you to leave the town until after we have completed our inquiries.’
    ‘I quite understand,’ said Hollinger rising from his seat, as Crabb walked over to open the door.
    ‘Oh one last question, Dr Hollinger – when you were in the abbey, who first noticed the opened tomb?’ asked Ravenscroft.
    ‘I believe it was myself, Inspector.’
    ‘And how did you know the tomb belonged to the Templar Knight?’
    ‘I did not, until I leaned down and saw the name on the side.’
    Ravenscroft nodded as Hollinger left the room. ‘Close the door, Crabb. Well, what do you make of our foreign gentleman?’
    ‘I think he knows more than he wanted to tell us,’ replied Crabb.
    ‘My thoughts exactly. He was not very forthcoming with the name of his fellow doctor in Cheltenham. We will need to confirm his story. Doctor Meadows I think he said. Also I do not quite believe that he would have stopped the night in Tewkesbury on the way back to London, when he could have taken a more direct route from Cheltenham. Tewkesbury would have been out of his way.’
    ‘Perhaps he wanted to see the abbey and the town before hisreturn to London,’ suggested Crabb.
    ‘Maybe. Then he seemed to have some difficulty in recalling the details of last night’s conversation, and what was actually said. When I pressed him all he could think about was that they discussed the weather.’
    ‘He also said that it was Jenkins who proposed the visit to the abbey, whereas Anstruther claimed that it was Hollinger who came up with the idea.’
    ‘Yes, you picked that up as well. So we now have two different accounts as to whose idea it was to visit the abbey. I have the distinct impression that we are not being told the truth.’
    ‘Shall I ask Jenkins to come in next?’
    ‘No, I think we will leave Ganniford and Jenkins until later. Let us see whether Miss Eames can enlighten us further.’
    Crabb left the room and returned a few moments later with his charge.
    ‘My dear Miss Eames,’ said Ravenscroft rising from his chair. ‘I am sorry that you have been caught up in this affair. I appreciate you must find all this rather distressing, but I am afraid I must ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.’
    ‘I quite understand,’ replied the lady, accepting the seat which Crabb had indicated.
    ‘Thank you, Miss Eames. I wonder whether we might begin with the reason for your visit to Tewkesbury.’
    ‘The reason for my visit?’
    ‘If you would be so kind,’ smiled Ravenscroft.
    ‘For the past few years I have nursed my father, who has been very ill. We live in Ludlow in Shropshire. Recently my father passed away and I found myself quite alone in the world,’ replied the lady, in a