Read Online Old Bones by J.J. Campbell - Free Book Online Page B

activities with an attractive woman. It was only a shame, he felt, that her brisk, practical manner didn’t seem to hint at the possibility of any more personal contact between them. Despite that, simply admiring her figure was a pleasure in itself, especially as he appreciated her taste in figure-hugging jeans and sweaters, which made the most of her gentle curves without being in any way brash.
    â€˜That puts me in a difficult situation,’ he finally remarked, ‘but perhaps not an impossible one. Presumably I won’t be able to examine the skeleton that was found?’
    â€˜No, but that’s with the Hertfordshire police anyway.’
    â€˜But you’ve seen it?’
    â€˜There’s not a great deal to see, just some very old bones, and not a great deal to learn either. It’s obviously not the remains of Andy Sixsmith.’
    â€˜But it was found where Fellowes claimed to have buried the body. The probability of that being mere coincidence is extremely low.’
    â€˜Not all that low. Apparently it was common practise to bury murderers and so on away from consecrated ground.’
    â€˜Which suggests to me the eighteenth century, or even earlier.’
    â€˜Maybe, but forensics are definite that the man died by hanging, and probably during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The second and third cervical vertebrae are both fractured. Apparently that suggests a long drop, which would be unusual before the 1870s. Radio isotope dating suggests the same period or rather earlier.’
    â€˜Curious.’
    â€˜Yes, but irrelevant to the case. We need the skeleton of Andy Sixsmith.’
    â€˜And what does the bumptious Inspector Morden make of all this?’
    â€˜He thinks Fellowes was deliberately misleading us, either to have a last dig at the police or for some more sinister reason.’
    â€˜Which would mean the discovery of the older skeleton was pure chance? Was the grave near a crossroads?’
    â€˜About a quarter of a mile. The grave was deep too, about six feet, which is unusual with murder victims.’
    â€˜I see. And what does Victor Hodges have to say for himself?’
    â€˜He denies having anything to do with it, not surprisingly.’
    â€˜So it looks as if you’re back to square one, but I take it you don’t agree with Inspector Morden?’
    â€˜I think there’s more to it than that. Why would Fellowes pick that particular spot? What are the chances of digging up an old grave, right out in the countryside?’
    â€˜Low, but not negligible, unless you happen to be near the site of an old church, or a crossroads, in which case they’re quite high. Tell me more about Fellowes.’
    â€˜He was an odd case. Wealthy background, good connections, a good brain too, the sort of man you’d expect to have a successful legitimate career.’
    â€˜And this would have been back in the fifties, when the old school tie really counted for something?’
    â€˜Yes, and Fellowes did use his contacts. He was expelled from school at sixteen and just three years later he was setting his old mates up with strippers in Soho. We don’t know how he got in with the Whadcoats, but by ’sixty-two he was running The Stag Lounge, a club in the Essex Road, just a bar on the face of it but apparently a centre for drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling. He had the reputation as a safe man to know, making sure his wealthy, respectable friends could get their kicks without risk of exposure. Any trouble and the Whadcoats would look after it, but Fellowes wasn’t above getting his hands dirty. He was a big man too, and had some pretty nasty habits, particularly with women.’
    â€˜A charming character, I think not, and yet at his funeral procession people were throwing flowers at the hearse. I even saw one wreath making out the word “respect”, when you’d have supposed he deserved nothing but