CONSTABLE OVER THE HILL a perfect feel-good read from one of Britain’s best-loved authors by NICHOLAS RHEA

Author:NICHOLAS RHEA [RHEA, NICHOLAS]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and cozy mystery suspense
Published: 2022-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

During my years at Aidensfield, I had witnessed the change from bicycle as a means of transport for rural bobbies to radio-equipped mini-vans along with massive developments in the scientific investigation of crime. Specialised computers were currently undergoing tests while personal radio sets were being assessed for possible operational use. It was these developments along with the ever-present pressure to spend less money that meant I had to leave my police house in its spectacular hilltop setting at Aidensfield; I was part of those changes.

Much of my final work involved the notification of individuals and businesses of my impending departure along with advice on how and where to contact the police after I had left. With my faithful typewriter and a photocopier, I printed leaflets to leave at strategic places so that the information was readily available. One part of my duties—the inspection of livestock registers on farms—was to be taken over by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food and this development did not appeal to many farmers. As one of them said, ‘I don’t want strangers in suits wandering all over my land—when t’bobby comes in uniform I know who he is.’ Before leaving, however, I would ensure that all the livestock registers on my beat had been checked.

Perhaps the greatest challenge was to claim that every reported crime had been thoroughly investigated and that the perpetrator(s) had been identified and dealt with. But a 100% clear-up rate was impossible. Many minor crimes would never be detected, quite often because they were committed by criminals who might be miles away before their actions were discovered and many did not leave a trace of evidence.

Happily, however, the crime rate on Aidensfield beat (which included eight other small villages) had always been very low and I was satisfied I had done all that was possible to detect any outstanding crimes, however minor they might be.

I was confident I would not be leaving any major crimes undetected—with one exception. On my beat there was one very mysterious murder that had never been solved and whose perpetrator had never been identified or brought to justice. It was locally known as the Murkmire Murder or sometimes the Murkmire Mystery, but I doubt if anyone living outside a rather small area of bleak moorland around Aidensfield had ever heard of it. Certainly the case had never appeared in any collected accounts of unsolved murders, local or otherwise, and there were times when I wondered if it was nothing more than a legend or myth because so little was known about it. In spite of that uncertainty, the name of the crime continued to be repeated by local people, almost as if it had happened very recently or within the collective memory of their ancestors. It had become part of local folklore.

Even I, as a comparative newcomer to Aidensfield, knew that local parents warned their children not to venture over Murkmire in the darkness in case something nasty happened to them. The tale was

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.