The Bell House by Ruth Hamilton

Author:Ruth Hamilton [Ruth Hamilton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 2005-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

TEN

The meeting was held in St Faith’s school hall. The Reverend Brian Butler had been elected chairman and he stood at the front while people from Rivington Cross, Rivington itself, Horwich and other surrounding villages packed themselves into the body of the hall. A damped-down hysteria was the component which glued together the many participants. There had been two murders and the police seemed to be getting nowhere.

Brian banged on the edge of a small stage where children had been putting on shows for many years. This had been a happy school in a happy village, but there would be no pantomime or Nativity play tonight. The meeting was about staying safe.

The vicar cleared his throat. ‘Quiet, please,’ he began. He looked at all the faces in front of him and knew that any one of them could be a double murderer. ‘Sergeant Shawcross will be along shortly and he will talk to you about what the police need to know and how to keep your homes secure and yourselves safe. With regard to what the police want, remember that the smallest thing, something you would normally fail to notice, might be the key to finding this man. All summer, since late spring, we have had the moor-walkers here. They drift through, call at the post office and general store, buy something, leave again.’

‘We’ll never remember that lot – too many of ’em,’ shouted a man from the back. ‘One thing I do know is they cross farmland and leave gates open. They should be stopped. And now, one of them’s a killer.’

Brian waited until a buzz of conversation had died. ‘This is hard for me to say and would be difficult for any of us to say, but the murderer could well be a local man.’

A heavy silence was interrupted by just one ‘Never!’.

The vicar continued. ‘Or it might be a regular visitor, someone who walks the moors frequently, someone who has family here. Yes, that hurts. But the fact must be faced. We may know this man. He could be sitting in here tonight with the rest of us. He probably looks perfectly ordinary and he certainly will not have the word “murderer” tattooed across his forehead. The man is someone’s son, husband, father, brother. You may have spoken to him today and, nastiest of all, he could be in the chair next to yours.’

Mildred Cookson piped up. ‘Well, it won’t be my fellow. He couldn’t knock the skin off a rice pudding and anyway, he wouldn’t even stir himself to come.’

The whole room seemed to release some tension with a ripple of nervous laughter.

Brian smiled. ‘Yes, that’s another thing – try to keep up your spirits and to support one another. It’s a frightening time for all of us, but we must not allow ourselves to be influenced too greatly, as we have families, jobs and homes to care for. On the other hand, we do need to be aware.’

Alan Shawcross arrived and Brian beckoned him. ‘Sergeant Shawcross will now advise you with regard to safety measures.

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