Superstitious Death (8 page)

Pluke waited and then, after a lull of some two minutes, the voice returned. ‘Your Eric Burholme, Mr Pluke. He’s not in our records. We’ve checked on the computer among the names of suspected criminals too – but nothing’s known. He’s as clean as a whistle. There are no Burholmes of any age, old or young, male or female, in our local criminal or traffic offence records and I have checked the alternative spellings. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.’

‘Can you do likewise in the national records? I appreciate it will take longer.’

‘No problem, Mr Pluke. I’ll call you the moment I have news.’

Meanwhile, in spite of the fellow’s philanthropic behaviour and his particular gift of the shoggling sticks to the community of Crickledale, Pluke knew he must carefully research the background of Eric Burholme. His lonely life did lend an air of mystery to him, but Pluke and his teams should be able to unearth a good deal about his background. Pluke then returned to the incident room and saw that both Detective Sergeant Tabler, the officer in charge of the Scenes of Crime department, and Inspector Newton in charge of the Task Force had arrived with the results of their searches at the burial scene.

‘Well done,’ Pluke greeted both. ‘Let’s start with you, Inspector Newton. You’d better each hear what the other has to say, and I would like Sergeant Wain to be present.’

He called to a secretary and asked her to send Wain into his office; when he arrived, Pluke asked Inspector Newton to proceed.

‘It’s a case of many negatives, Mr Pluke.’ Newton checked from a pad in his hands. ‘We examined all the combine harvesters and other machines in the quarry. They’ve not been used for months, not since last autumn in fact. The dust and cobwebs confirm no one has moved them or interfered with them recently. One of our officers is experienced in agricultural machinery and he found no reason to think any component part had been removed or in any way involved in the woman’s death. That applies only to the machines in the quarry, however. We have not yet examined those within the farm buildings, but spiked components of the kind we are seeking are rarely, if ever, used.’

‘Spiders’ webs are very good for stemming bleeding in an emergency, gentlemen,’ Pluke reminded them, having heard the reference to spiders’ webs. ‘Not that I think one was used in the case of our victim. But go on, Inspector Newton.’

‘We examined the plastic covering of the bales along the edge of the quarry. These plastic wrappers are fitted precisely by machine, Mr Pluke, rather like those plastic-covered joints of meat you get from supermarkets, and none had been opened or cut in any way. They were fitted prior to the woman’s death. I wondered if either the murder weapon or the grave-digging tools might have been concealed there. But the answer is no in both cases.’

‘Good, so we can eliminate that possibility.’

‘Yes. Next, my team of eight officers, men and women, searched the ground area of the quarry, a fingertip search. We did find various objects which may or may not be relevant – I have handed these to Sergeant Tabler for scientific examination but my gut feeling is none can be linked to the death. There are used condoms, a man’s black plastic comb, a pair of sun-glasses, a pair of women’s knickers and a bra, both black, one or two coins, several empty beer and lager cans, and three bottles of cheap German plonk – empty.’

‘Nothing can be ruled out at this stage so have the items examined,’ cautioned Pluke. ‘Although our victim’s underwear was not missing.’

‘Quite. I am aware of that.’

‘You did not find anything that might have caused her injury or which could have been used to dig the grave?’ 

‘No, Mr Pluke. Nothing, in spite of the meticulous fingertip search.’

‘All right. Proceed, Mr Newton.’

‘We found the remains of several camp fires, some with evidence of cooking, but we believe none was lit after Saturday. The fires were from different dates, some very old, but the ashes in all cases were wet, they’ve not dried out since Saturday’s rain. We found no dry ashes – there was no rain on Sunday.’

‘And what time was the last rainfall on Saturday?’ asked Pluke.

‘Six fifteen in the evening, sir,’ Sergeant Tabler chipped in.

‘Before the grave was dug?’

‘I think so. The soil in the grave was very dry, the rain hadn’t penetrated the grass covering. A short, sharp shower, sir,’ said Tabler. ‘The bottom of the grave had not been exposed to rain either.’

‘Thank you, sergeant. Now, Mr Newton. Campers? Apart from the fires, is there any other evidence of campers?’

‘Yes, Mr Pluke. Our fingertip search found several sites. The holes from tent pegs and tent poles made them easily identifiable, but in most cases, the sides of the peg holes and the base were damp, suggesting they were made before Saturday’s showers. We did find evidence of one small tent which was on the site on Saturday. The rectangular outline was dry, the tent peg holes were dry too, so we think it was in position during Saturday’s thunderstorm, being removed sometime after the rain had stopped. Unfortunately, there is nothing to indicate the identity of the camper or campers – it was a two-person size tent, Mr Pluke.’

‘And was there any evidence of tent peg holes near the grave?’

‘There was. The grave was in the centre of where a tent had earlier been pitched, although evidence of its presence had been largely obliterated by activity around the grave, much of it our activity.’

‘I wonder if the tent had been erected as the grave was being dug, Mr Newton? In other words, did a tent conceal the body as it lay there, and then conceal the work of grave-digging?’

‘It’s a possibility, Mr Pluke. Most certainly.’ 

‘Good. So, if the campers, i.e. the persons who erected those tents, arrived on foot, there would be no tyre marks from a car, motor cycle or pedal cycle nearby. Yet Mr Burholme did say he heard a car in this vicinity late on Saturday night,’ Pluke reminded Newton.

‘It did not enter the quarry, Mr Pluke. There would have been tyre marks in the covering of earth, the rain would have softened the ground which forms the thin covering of the quarry floor. There was sufficient rain to cause softness which would retain those marks. There were none.’

‘Burholme did say the car might have been on the road outside the quarry, sir, along Barughdale lane,’ Wayne Wain reminded Pluke.

‘Yes, that’s true,’ nodded Pluke. ‘So, Inspector Newton, anything else?’

‘No, nothing. My conclusion is that there is a very noticeable lack of material evidence with absolutely no sign of a likely murder weapon or any grave-digging tools.’

‘OK, thanks for that. Now it’s your turn, Sergeant Tabler.’

The sergeant began. ‘We commenced our examination of the scene at the graveside, once the body had been removed, sir. Bearing in mind the careful activity by our own officers in and around the grave, there were indications of other footprints in the soft earth but it was clear that an attempt had been made to eradicate them. They’d been raked over, sir. Some of the surplus earth had been raked over too, then spread around quite widely so that it merged with the grass. Marks had been made in the vicinity of the grave during the digging, during the lifting of the victim into the grave, during the re-covering of the grave with earth and grass – but all those marks had been quite deliberately removed or obliterated to such an extent that we could not photograph any of the prints or marks, nor could we take plaster casts. If there had been any tyre marks close to the grave, they’d have been obliterated too.’

‘Tyre marks?’

‘Well, sir, if she’d been killed away from the quarry, a vehicle of some kind would have been needed to convey the body there for burial.’ 

‘Thanks for that, sergeant. Go on.’

‘We did note small holes in the ground made by tent pegs and tent poles, these providing indications that a tent had been on the same site as the grave, although we could not state that it had been there at the very time the grave was being dug. It’s a possibility, sir, that’s all. But any other evidence of its presence had been obliterated by the actions I mentioned earlier.’

‘In all, a deliberate attempt to conceal the evidence, you think?’

‘Undoubtedly, sir, this burial was not done in a great hurry, sir, great care was taken, along with considerable thought, and I agree the work of burial might have been concealed within a tent which covered the site.’

‘Most interesting. Now, you have photographs of the attempts to cover the grave-digger’s tracks or wheel marks or the presence of the tent?’

‘Yes, we have, sir.’

‘So, in spite of these attempts to conceal evidence, the holes made by the tent pegs or tent poles had not been filled in?’

‘No, sir. Perhaps they got overlooked?’

‘By someone as meticulous as our grave-digger? Yet, if he was as careful as we believe, why would he leave the holes in the ground? Now, the grave itself? Did you examine the soil in the bottom? It did occur to me that the murder weapon could have been concealed there, hidden beneath the body.’

‘Yes, sir, we thought so too, but only an inch or so below the level where the woman rested, there is solid rock. Nothing else was in the grave. We sieved the soil which remained in the grave as well as that which had been removed by the pathologist. We did so with great care but we found nothing.’

‘And the items referred to by Inspector Newton? They will be given a very careful examination?’

‘They will, sir, but none was close to the grave site and there is no discernible link with the burial or the body. Now, as you instructed, my officers examined the barbed wire along the fence which borders Harman’s Farm and the Barughdale road.’

‘Yes, that is important. If the body had been lifted over that fence, or if someone had climbed over instead of using the stile – I doubt if anyone carrying a corpse would use a stile – then there would be evidence on the barbs. Fibres in particular.’

‘In fact, there was nothing, sir, except a few cattle hairs. They came from the cows in that meadow, the red ones. We compared some from the barbs with samples from one of the animals. Then we checked with Mr Burholme. A cattle dealer called Cooper from Carston rents that field for his herd of Red Polls. We are satisfied the hairs came from those cows and not from a human being or an article of clothing.’

‘Good. Sergeant Wain, make a note to interview that cattle dealer called Cooper from Carston. Establish whether he was anywhere near the quarry during the weekend, and ask if he has ever seen the blonde girl, with or without a partner, during any of his visits.’

‘Very good, sir,’ said Wayne Wain.

Pluke was musing now, as he said, ‘Red cows are very important in some pagan cultures, gentlemen. They are the personification of the dawn, some are said to herald clouds and others to herald lightning…’

‘It did thunder on Saturday, sir,’ smiled Wayne Wain. ‘With rain.’

‘It rained around tea-time, sir, I remember one shower around six fifteen, I got caught in it,’ Sergeant Tabler said.

‘Yes, but was there lightning?’ asked Pluke.

No one knew whether there had been lightning during Saturday’s storm but such thoughts were relegated to the back of the detectives’ minds as Tabler continued.

‘We found nothing else, sir. The burial scene was amazingly clean, surprisingly devoid of evidence.’

‘So we all agree the burial was carried out by someone who took immense pains to cover his tracks?’

‘We do,’ said Tabler. ‘Although it was such a shallow grave, it was done with immense care.’

‘But it was close to that public footpath, don’t forget. Placing it there could hardly be regarded as the work of a very careful planner.’

‘If it was done at night, sir, under cover of darkness by a person unfamiliar with the surrounding area, he might not have been aware of that public footpath,’ Wayne Wain said.

‘A very good point, Wayne,’ Pluke had to concede. ‘Yes, a very good point indeed. Well, gentlemen, incorporate your findings in statements and have the details included in our records. Now, Sergeant Tabler, you are going to arrange fingerprints and photographs of the deceased?’

‘Yes, I’ve fixed a time with Mr Meredith. Tomorrow morning at eleven.’

‘Make sure there are plenty of copies available, I shall require some copies for my own use,’ said Pluke. ‘We need sufficient for circulation within our own channels, but in addition, we need some photographs for press purposes, provided she does not look too dead.’

‘I will do my best, sir.’

‘Well, gentlemen,’ smiled Pluke. ‘Thanks for your efforts. This is an interesting case.’

And with that, they left his office; Wayne Wain remained behind.

‘So, Wayne, what do you make of what you have heard?’

‘I am beginning to wonder if the girl camped in the quarry on Saturday night, accompanied by the man who killed her. I think the killer was a man due to the strength required to make the wound and to manhandle the dead body into the grave. The killer could have used a tent peg, hammering it in with a mallet…’

‘I doubt if she would lie still long enough for that to happen, Wayne!’ commented Pluke. ‘And besides, tent pegs are not usually covered with black paint.’

‘There’s always a first time, sir, like someone using one to stir a pot of paint and then taking it on a camping expedition…’