Read Online The Corpse's Tale (Trevor Joseph Detective series) by Katherine John - Free Book Online Page A

anyone that I heard. Anna was busy studying. She lived for the moment and her ambition to be an actress. I used to see her sometimes being driven home from parties in various boys’ cars. There are a lot of wealthy people around here, and not just the landowners. The sort of people who give their sons a top of the range sports car and a Rolex for their eighteenth birthday. Anna was on everyone’s party list. She was a popular girl.’
    ‘So I gather.’ Trevor abandoned his glass of beer on the floor.
    ‘To go back to your earlier question, Anna was the sort of girl women loved as much as men. I don’t mean she was a lesbian. She was in the Angel that night with the women from the Dramatic Society. They’d had a girls only night to rehearse the dances and that should tell you something about her. She had a knack of turning everyone, no matter who or what they were, into a friend. In my opinion that’s what killed her. She never treated Dai Helpful any differently from anyone else. He put more store by her friendship than he should have. It’s my guess that he saw her with someone in the churchyard that night, spied on them, waited until her lover left and then axed her to death.’
    ‘So you admit she was with her lover in the churchyard that night?’
    ‘I admit nothing. I couldn’t prove it but I suspected there might have been someone with her before Dai Helpful turned up. If there was, I never found out who he was.’
    ‘Did you even try?’
    ‘It didn’t seem relevant at the time. Not with Dai Helpful’s fingerprints on the axe and Anna’s blood on his face. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Inspector. I have work to do.’
     
    Trevor walked down the High Street wondering whether to return to Stephen George’s farm and ask him outright if he’d had an affair with Anna Harris. Then he saw the barmaid from the Angel, Lily Jenkins, leave the General Store with a box of fruit and vegetables. He ran and caught up with her.
    ‘If you’re going to the pub, could I carry that for you?’ he offered.
    ‘It’s not that heavy, Inspector,’ she said shyly.
    ‘It’s not that light, either, Lily.’ He took it from her. ‘What you said today in the bar about Dai Helpful, did you mean it?’
    ‘That he might not have killed Anna Harris? Yes, I meant it, Inspector.’
    ‘Any reason?’
    ‘The judge wouldn’t have set Dai Helpful free if he didn’t think there was a chance that he hadn’t killed Anna.’
    ‘No, he wouldn’t have.’ Trevor was disappointed that she hadn’t come up with something more concrete. ‘Do you remember Anna being murdered?’
    ‘I’ll never forget it, Inspector.’
    ‘But you were only ten at the time.’
    ‘My sister, Poppy, was the same age as Anna. They used to go everywhere together. Poppy’s a teacher now. She lives in London.’
    ‘Did she think that Dai Helpful killed Anna?’ Trevor persisted.
    ‘The police said he did. None of us questioned it at the time.’
    He recalled what Stephen said about everyone in the village loving Anna. ‘You liked Anna?’
    ‘Everyone liked Anna, she was so full of life. But when it came to men…’ she fell silent.
    ‘What about Anna and men?’ he prompted.
    Lily looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was close enough to hear what she was about to say. ‘Anna had lots of them. Any one she wanted. She even took Poppy’s boyfriend from her. My sister was furious. I was there when they quarrelled about it in our house. Anna refused to take Poppy seriously, she laughed. Then she said, “It’s all right, Poppy, I only borrowed him. You can have him back.” Of course my sister wouldn’t have him back. They were going to get engaged but they never did after that. Poppy still isn’t married.’
    ‘So Anna had lots of boyfriends?’
    ‘Dozens, Inspector Joseph. She used to meet one of them in the churchyard. That’s why Poppy and I weren’t surprised that she’d been found there.’
    ‘How do you know she used to meet