Read Online Who Saw Him Die? by Sheila Radley - Free Book Online Page B

Mr Bell; he had summoned his son to his study in the tower, demanding to know the identity of the culprit; and Cuthbert, terrified by his father’s threat to beat him, had revealed that Jack was to blame.
    â€˜And what was the incident?’ asked Sergeant Lloyd. ‘What had been done to enrage your father?’
    â€˜The subject was never discussed with me,’ said Eunice Bell. ‘All Cuthbert would tell me was what had happened to his friend. My father was a magistrate, but that hadn’t stopped him from taking the law into his own hands and thrashing Jack Goodrum. We none of us ever saw the boy again.
    â€˜And this is my point: my late father was a quick-tempered, violent man. A thrashing from him would be something that any culprit would remember for the rest of his life. It is my belief that Jack Goodrum has remembered it, and that when Cuthbert crossed his path he quite deliberately ran him down.’
    Both detectives sat back in their chairs. They looked sceptical.
    â€˜It’s a very interesting story, Miss Bell,’ said Sergeant Lloyd, ‘but –’
    â€˜But where’s your evidence?’ said Chief Inspector Quantrill.
    Eunice Bell looked stiffly from one to the other. ‘I beg your pardon?’
    â€˜Evidence,’ repeated the Chief Inspector patiently. ‘You’ve put forward a theory that sounds plausible, Miss Bell. But what we must have, if we’re to pursue it, is good hard evidence that will stand up in a court of law. There’s already been an investigation into your brother’s death, and all the available evidence points to an accident. So if you want the case reopened, you’ll have to provide us with more than a theory to work on.’
    Eunice Bell stood up, looking – for the first time – disconcerted. ‘I have no “hard evidence”, as you call it, to give you. I had imagined that you would search for evidence, once you had grounds for suspicion. I thought that was how detectives worked. Am I mistaken?’
    Quantrill too got to his feet. ‘Well, no,’ he said apologetically. ‘You’re not mistaken, Miss Bell – but that applies only when an unexplained or a suspicious death has occurred. In this case there’s no mystery at all. And there are three eye-witnesses who say that the driver of the vehicle had no chance of avoiding your brother.’
    â€˜Yes – these eye-witnesses!’ Eunice Bell turned abruptly towards Sergeant Lloyd and her notebook. ‘I thought they were suspicious, when I read about them. Three seems too many. And they were looking in exactly the same direction far too conveniently for my liking. How can you be sure that Goodrum didn’t bribe them to give evidence in his favour?’
    â€˜Three old-established residents of Breckham Market?’ said Hilary Lloyd reproachfully, getting up in her turn. ‘Two of them pensioners, all of them thoroughly respectable …?’
    Miss Bell hesitated for a moment, then ducked her head in acknowledgement. ‘Had I realised that,’ she said stiffly, ‘I would never have made such an allegation. I withdraw it, of course.’
    Quantrill gave a ruminative nod. ‘It seems to me,’ he said, practising kindness, ‘that you’d have done better to attend the inquest, Miss Bell. You’re upset by your brother’s death, of course. But if you’d gone to the inquest and seen how thoroughly the matter was dealt with, I’m sure it would have set your mind at rest. As it is, you’re probably imagining –’
    She snapped straight back at him, proudly. ‘Please don’t try to humour me, Mr Quantrill. I know quite well what you think. My brother was a figure of fun in Breckham Market: poor old Clanger – yes, I know what you all called him – poor old Clanger Bell, the town drunk. None of you took him seriously in life, and you’re not prepared to