This excerpt is from the book entitled The Goat Parva Murders an English Murder Mystery book set in the countryside, starring two policemen who have been working together for a few years and get along really well. There’s lots of dialogue and banter with some humour thrown in amongst the murders and suspects.
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“I didn’t know he was doing that – it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t a deliberate attempt to pervert the course of justice.”
“Where are the shoes now?”
“Carly must still have them.”
Barnes chimed in. “At what point did you suspect that there was something amiss?”
“When Bingo brought the belt for us.”
“At what point did Bingo take off Clem’s outer garments?”
“What? Bingo isn’t that strong – he couldn’t have done that – Clem was wearing a jacket when I saw the body.”
“Did Carly come with you to see the body?”
“Yes, she did.”
“Perhaps she took the jacket for some unknown reason?”
“I didn’t see her do anything to the body although I did leave her behind with it when I went to call you, the police that is.”
“We shall have to go and visit Carly. Just one final thing, Mrs Hills… Adelaide, did Bingo exhibit any other unusual behaviour during his walk?”
“He didn’t really – he was distracted a few times but that’s normal for him. If I think of anything I will let you know.”
As they left Mrs Hills’ home, Knowles sought Barnes’ opinion.
Barnes stroked his slight goatee beard.
“She’s not telling us the whole truth but I am not sure why as she didn’t do anything suspicious.”
“Too right,” said Knowles, “she’s fine, but that dog, it’s weird, it was staring at my shoes all the time, and I wonder whether something else is missing apart from the shoes, belt, and jacket. Like a stool or chair or something. That dog couldn’t have pulled shoes off a body, so they must have been untied beforehand, which suggests our Clem was in it for the duration and had either taken off his shoes or loosened them – but you wouldn’t do that if you were standing up. He would also have loosened the belt if he was going to spank one out while watching Danica and his hand was in the appropriate place to do that when he was smacked on the head.”
Julian Worker Fiction Writing 