A Full Churchyard Read online

  ‘One must respect the occasion, Mrs Plumpton, and if I wish to make myself inconspicuous at Mrs Langneb’s funeral, then my appearance must allow me to mingle unnoticed among the mourners. Seasoned detectives with my long experience are able to merge into almost any background on such occasions, almost to the extent of becoming invisible to the casual observer. However, before going to the funeral, have we any urgent matters to deal with before I continue yesterday’s research?’

  ‘Just the routine mail, I will bring it in a moment but I can say there is nothing to concern us. It means we can concentrate upon your research this morning. In fact, Detective Sergeant Wain and myself arrived early so as to get a good start on those files before the funeral – I felt I owed you something as you are allowing me time off this afternoon.’

  ‘That was not what I intended, Mrs Plumpton, I wanted to reward you in some small way for your continued attention to my needs.’

  ‘Oh, what a lovely thought, Mr Pluke,’ and she fluttered away to bring in the mail and a few acknowledgement letters she had already typed for his signature. When she returned, she brought in a list of names from the files she had already examined.

  ‘These are some of the names we have already uncovered but we haven’t finished yet.’

  ‘You have been busy!’

  ‘I feel it is such a worthwhile task, Mr Pluke. All the people mentioned in these files suffered a sudden or unexpected death and their cases were handled by officers based at this station. All these deaths resulted in a post mortem examination but a high percentage was determined as “natural causes” so there were no further police enquiries or inquests.’

  ‘There seem to be a lot of names on this list.’

  ‘Twenty-seven so far, Mr Pluke. And Detective Sergeant Wain has found more, he will bring them to you shortly.’

  ‘And over what period of time are we talking about?’

  ‘Twenty-five in the last four years, Mr Pluke. Not counting the current nine. As we are going back over ten years we’ll surely discover more.’

  ‘That’s more than six a year not counting the current nine . . . that must be an unusually high figure for Crickledale?’

  ‘It is, but remember these are not the total number of deaths for Crickledale; they are merely those reported to the police because they were originally classed as sudden and unexplained. In all cases, post mortems followed but, as I said earlier, all were found to have died from natural causes so no further enquiries were made. Their files were closed.’

  ‘I’m surprised there were no wild rumours and speculative talk in the town about all this? I must confess I had no idea that we had lost such a high number of Crickledale residents and the newspapers didn’t highlight the inexplicable rise in funerals and neither did the town police or anyone else.’

  ‘It’s a delicate topic, Mr Pluke, people don’t like reading newspaper reports that suggest their beloved died mysteriously. And all the deceased were old people, by the way, most of them in their eighties. Men and women. Many lived alone too.’

  ‘It is a well-known fact that people are living longer in modern times so do we know whether any of these people were attended by carers?’

  ‘No, these files don’t say so but we can check that. But surely this is merely a natural phenomenon, Mr Pluke, a blip in the statistics? And not at all suspicious.’

  ‘You are looking at this as a non-police citizen in spite of your work with us, Mrs Plumpton, whilst I am seeing things through the official eyes of Her Majesty’s Constabulary as the officer in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department in Crickledale, no less.’

  ‘Maybe so, Mr Pluke but we’ve had no complaints about these deaths, have we? No requests for investigations. And no information other than they were from natural causes? From the files we have examined already, not one family questioned the doctors’ diagnoses as natural causes, nor the outcome of the post mortems or the pathologists’ decisions. That suggests there has never been the slightest concern about any of the deaths. However, Detective Sergeant Wain said he would speak to you before we go to the funeral, to explain some important information he has discovered.’

  ‘And exactly what is that?’ asked Pluke.

  Chapter 8

  ‘Some interesting facts have come to light,’ Wayne announced. ‘I’ve not had time to read the files in great detail but there are brief summaries on the outer covers. These files are past “Sudden Death” records stored in our loft. As agreed, I’ve checked back over the past ten years.’

  ‘We can’t rely on summaries, Wayne. We must read the entire file wherever there’s suspicion, however slight,’ Pluke pointed out. ‘We must be very precise in this cold-case review. The data we uncover has to be reliable and truthful. Remember we could be seeking a team of clever killers, but if such a team is at work, a pattern should reveal itself as we delve deeper. Serial killers tend to repeat their successes. So what have you learned so far?’

  ‘The total number of “natural” deaths reported to the police over the last ten years is sixty – far more than first thought. That’s approximately a third of all deaths in the town. All were Crickledale residents, male and female, and in all cases the deaths were reported to the police because they were sudden and unexplained, even though the deceased were elderly. In all cases, the doctors, including Dr Simpson, certified the cause of death – natural causes in all cases. It meant there were no post mortems, no inquests, no police enquiries, no detailed investigations and no scientific examinations of the bodies or the scenes. In short, the police had no responsibility for investigating those deaths apart from responding to the initial report.’

  ‘That’s quite normal,’ commented Pluke. ‘That’s the way that most sudden deaths are dealt with.’

  ‘I realize that but in some cases I have noticed recurring aspects that might be important. For example, all were elderly, many were widows or unmarried women, some were bachelors or widowers. And all lived alone.’

  ‘So already we can identify several common factors in addition to Thursdays,’ smiled Pluke. ‘But living alone could prove significant. And do we know how many were under the care of Crickledale Volunteer Carers? And how many were examined by Dr Simpson? We need to check those areas but I feel that already we are progressing positively, Wayne. It does seem we could be investigating serial killers.’

  ‘My feelings too. I wondered if the same undertaker had dealt with all the funerals so I checked. The answer is no. Several were involved, some from outside Crickledale, those being selected by relatives living away from here. In fact, some funerals were not held in Crickledale. Some of the deceased were buried in the towns and villages where they had been born or close to relatives who had moved away.’

  ‘Again, all absolutely normal. So what relevance can we place upon the undertakers?’

  ‘I was looking for a motive. In these tough times due to Government cuts and so forth, I wondered if someone was making money from those deaths – either illicit money or a higher personal income. I thought that a particular undertaker might have a way of hastening deaths simply to earn more fees. After checking these files, I think not. The deceased were not wealthy people either, just ordinary Crickledale citizens. I think we can eliminate the undertakers from our enquiries.’

  ‘We’ll bear that in mind but it’s a valid point, Wayne, and quite feasible. So do you think there’s a strong link between the deaths? Perhaps money that could be made from funeral extras? Teas, memorials, floral tributes, tombstones?’

  ‘It’s always possible and we can’t ignore such possibilities, but I think we should end speculation until we have more facts at our disposal. If someone is hastening deaths on a large scale, there has to be a powerful motive. I can’t see they’re all done out of love or compassion.’

  ‘So are you ruling out actions that are triggered by friends and relatives through kindness or some other
powerful emotion? Assisting a loved one to die in peace and without pain is not a new idea, Wayne. Love is a powerful emotion but one person, or a team would not kill lots of people for that reason. If we prove there are multiple suspicious deaths here, we’re talking commercial killers, not love. Just reflect for a moment on Miss Croucher – she could never have got downstairs alone and it would take more than one person to carry her down. It suggests a team at work, Wayne. And that alone indicates very sinister motives.’

  ‘Money, you mean? Valuable objects? Antiques? Greed?’

  ‘That’s the direction of my current thinking, Wayne.’

  ‘I can understand that. So does this lead us to any particular suspect or suspects? Is there anyone within our sights who has a desperate need for money, strong enough to commit murder and steal from the dead? Then there’s jealousy, anger, frustration with old folks and their ways – and lots of other reasons.’

  ‘Some people can be very brutal with the elderly, Wayne, especially within their own family.’

  ‘I realize that, but I’ve not uncovered any evidence that makes me believe that money or vindictiveness were motives – not that we know a great deal about any of the cases at this stage.’

  ‘I think this realization at such an early stage of our cold-case review heralds a need to delve much deeper, Wayne. If we can prove that just one of those deaths was suspicious, then we need to seek suspects and that could lead us to other deaths and other suspects. So is there anything else we need to know at this stage, apart from the fact that several died on a Thursday?’

  ‘Do you still think Thursday is significant?’

  ‘It can’t be dismissed or overlooked but we do need to be more precise about the exact times of all deaths. Calculating the time of death is never an exact science. Do we know whether they were found dead on a Thursday? Did they die the previous night, Wednesday? Or in the very early hours of a Thursday morning? I hardly need point out that the time of being found dead is not necessarily the same as the actual time of death. That distinction is important to our investigation.’

  ‘The simple fact is that many of the deaths were discovered on a Thursday and reported to the police the same day as sudden and unexplained.’

  ‘You mean all sixty or so?’

  ‘More like half of them.’

  ‘So those figures include deaths not reported to us in those ten years?’

  ‘Yes, I’ve included all Crickledale deaths. I got details from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. We can rely on those figures.’

  ‘They make disturbing reading, Wayne. It’s an average of about one death every two months, half of them suspicious. That is very ominous indeed.’

  ‘It’s important we don’t forget we’re talking about elderly people who are ill and perhaps on the point of death anyway. Despite the large number, I’ve never heard rumours or whispers that a multiple killer is at large in Crickledale. If there were worries, I’m sure rumours would have reached us before now.’

  ‘I am keenly aware of that, Wayne, but I believe we’re already in possession of sufficient data to confirm that some deaths were criminally assisted even if they were not reported to the police.’

  ‘Mercy killings, you mean?’

  ‘Not mercy, Wayne. I doubt if mercy enters into this.’

  ‘You really think these are cold-blooded murders?’

  ‘The short answer is yes. I’m coming to believe that you and I are on the threshold of identifying multiple murders in Crickledale! There is much work to be done, Wayne. We need to determine a single motive that might have been present in all the deaths. We need to determine if all or most occurred on a Thursday. We need to find out if anyone had access on Thursdays to homes of elderly folk living alone – and then killed them without raising any suspicion. Killing them not out of compassion or love, but to acquire something valuable.’

  ‘Like a house?’

  ‘Probably something smaller and less valuable than a house, Wayne. He, she or they could strike at any moment, so we must maintain a close watch on all local deaths especially those not reported to the police. In dealing with such clever, secret killers, Wayne, I fear we must set a trap to catch them in the act. That is the only way we shall get the necessary evidence. It means we must work out where they will strike next. And next Thursday isn’t far away!’

  ‘Could the killer or killers be someone pretending to be a CVC carer? Even a volunteer who has joined simply to seek opportunities to steal by easing the death of an elderly client?’

  ‘That is something to consider, but we must never presume that all CVC volunteers are killers, Wayne.’ Pluke was thinking of Millicent.

  ‘But we do know that many of the lately deceased were attended by CVC volunteers. I do find that very worrying.’

  ‘Yes, and some were attended by carers from their own family or friends.’

  ‘I appreciate that, but I do feel we should investigate all the CVC members. As a group, but also individually.’

  ‘Then we shall do that.’

  ‘We can begin by attending Mrs Langneb’s funeral to pick up gossip, listen to rumours, chat to mourners. So do we know anything about Mrs Langneb?’

  ‘Not officially, no, but Mrs Pluke has told me a little, although she feels bound by the laws of confidentiality. However, she did tell me Mrs Langneb had been found dead on the floor with her windows open. That is a key point.’

  ‘It must add considerable strength to your theories. It means we must find out more about the death of Mrs Langneb. Her death will not be in our files but we must be extremely discreet and must act quickly without halting or disrupting the funeral.’

  ‘I have no wish to resort to an exhumation, Wayne, or a late post mortem. So let’s take things carefully today, let’s not be stampeded into doing something rash.’

  ‘Mrs Plumpton should be a great help. She‘s a local person and well acquainted with the daily life of Crickledale. She knew the family and I’m sure she’s capable to gleaning valuable snippets of information from the mourners. She’s also well acquainted with our requirements. She could prove to be a good member of our team!’

  ‘I agree, Wayne. Let’s call her in.’

  Mrs Plumpton expressed her pleasure at the prospect of carrying out detective work during Mrs Langneb’s funeral. Even though the old lady had been almost ninety years old, Mrs Plumpton told them she had already heard, via gossip in the town, that some strange elements had been associated with her death. At the time she had not been sure what those elements could have been but, having knowledge of the reasons for Detective Inspector Pluke’s cold-case review, she felt she might be able to revive those moments and tease some useful information from the mourners. There was no finer place than a funeral for gossip!

  ‘You should attend as a family friend,’ advised Pluke. ‘If you appear to be too closely associated with me or Detective Sergeant Wain, people might not confide in you. So make your own way there, behave as you would normally at such a funeral and don’t appear to be asking pointed questions. Detective Sergeant Wain and I shall express our deepest sympathy in our own way but will not remain close to you.’

  ‘My neighbour will be attending, she was a good friend of Mrs Langneb so I shall accompany her. There will not be a problem I can assure you, even if it is rather like being a member of the Secret Service!’

  ‘Well, we wish you luck in your endeavours, Mrs Plumpton. I see rain is forecast although it is fair at the moment. There is an old saying Happy is the corpse that the rain falls on so it seems all will be well.’

  ‘Oh, we don’t want rain, Mr Pluke. Just imagine what it would do to our smart clothes and hair-dos, to say nothing of our hats and best black shoes!’

  ‘Then I shall cross my fingers and take a twig of rowan wood, just to ensure success in everything,’ smiled Pluke. ‘Now, Detective Sergeant Wain and I
will brief you about our specific requirements and the general direction of your enquiries.’

  Before leaving for the funeral, Pluke found time to telephone an old colleague, Doctor Derek Page who worked in the Pathology Department at York Hospital. He and Dr Page had worked together on cases that required the skills of a pathologist.

  ‘Ah, Derek, glad I caught you,’ he began. ‘It’s Pluke at Crickledale. Can you spare me a moment?’

  ‘Of course, Montague. How can I help?’

  Pluke related the details of some deaths of elderly people in Crickledale and followed with his knowledge of how deaths in the past were hastened or made easier.

  ‘Mine is a simple enquiry, Derek,’ Pluke continued. ‘If a weak, sick or elderly person was removed from a warm bed and laid with their back flat on a cold floor, concrete or wood, would the shock be enough to kill them? And make the death appear to be from natural causes?’

  ‘The effect of shock upon a human body is a huge topic, Montague, and it is open to lots of interpretations and opinions with many forms of shock. It’s not helped by there being so many different forms, some decidedly dangerous and lethal. I don’t think it would be possible to summarize the effects of all types of shock in a brief phone call.’

  ‘But I understand shock can kill a weak person?’ persisted Pluke.

  ‘Yes it can. That is not in doubt and I would suspect that if a frail person was placed suddenly upon a very cold floor, the shock would be enough to disrupt the functions of the heart and so lead to death. In short, such a shock could kill – but some people might survive that treatment. A fit person might not be affected. You have opened up many possibilities!’

  ‘And would a pathologist or doctor realize that shock was the cause of death in such a case?’

  ‘I doubt if a GP would be able to make such a diagnosis and I would even venture an opinion that a pathologist might decide that such a death was due to natural causes, unless there were other factors such as injury or bruising. I have to say, Montague, that a myriad of external factors could be involved if death followed. . . .’