Superstitious Death by Nicholas Rhea Page B

underwear was not missing.’
    ‘Quite. I am aware of that.’
    ‘You did not find anything that might have caused her injury or which could have been used to dig the grave?’ 
    ‘No, Mr Pluke. Nothing, in spite of the meticulous fingertip search.’
    ‘All right. Proceed, Mr Newton.’
    ‘We found the remains of several camp fires, some with evidence of cooking, but we believe none was lit after Saturday. The fires were from different dates, some very old, but the ashes in all cases were wet, they’ve not dried out since Saturday’s rain. We found no dry ashes – there was no rain on Sunday.’
    ‘And what time was the last rainfall on Saturday?’ asked Pluke.
    ‘Six fifteen in the evening, sir,’ Sergeant Tabler chipped in.
    ‘Before the grave was dug?’
    ‘I think so. The soil in the grave was very dry, the rain hadn’t penetrated the grass covering. A short, sharp shower, sir,’ said Tabler. ‘The bottom of the grave had not been exposed to rain either.’
    ‘Thank you, sergeant. Now, Mr Newton. Campers? Apart from the fires, is there any other evidence of campers?’
    ‘Yes, Mr Pluke. Our fingertip search found several sites. The holes from tent pegs and tent poles made them easily identifiable, but in most cases, the sides of the peg holes and the base were damp, suggesting they were made before Saturday’s showers. We did find evidence of one small tent which was on the site on Saturday. The rectangular outline was dry, the tent peg holes were dry too, so we think it was in position during Saturday’s thunderstorm, being removed sometime after the rain had stopped. Unfortunately, there is nothing to indicate the identity of the camper or campers – it was a two-person size tent, Mr Pluke.’
    ‘And was there any evidence of tent peg holes near the grave?’
    ‘There was. The grave was in the centre of where a tent had earlier been pitched, although evidence of its presence had been largely obliterated by activity around the grave, much of it our activity.’
    ‘I wonder if the tent had been erected as the grave was being dug, Mr Newton? In other words, did a tent conceal the body as it lay there, and then conceal the work of grave-digging?’
    ‘It’s a possibility, Mr Pluke. Most certainly.’ 
    ‘Good. So, if the campers, i.e. the persons who erected those tents, arrived on foot, there would be no tyre marks from a car, motor cycle or pedal cycle nearby. Yet Mr Burholme did say he heard a car in this vicinity late on Saturday night,’ Pluke reminded Newton.
    ‘It did not enter the quarry, Mr Pluke. There would have been tyre marks in the covering of earth, the rain would have softened the ground which forms the thin covering of the quarry floor. There was sufficient rain to cause softness which would retain those marks. There were none.’
    ‘Burholme did say the car might have been on the road outside the quarry, sir, along Barughdale lane,’ Wayne Wain reminded Pluke.
    ‘Yes, that’s true,’ nodded Pluke. ‘So, Inspector Newton, anything else?’
    ‘No, nothing. My conclusion is that there is a very noticeable lack of material evidence with absolutely no sign of a likely murder weapon or any grave-digging tools.’
    ‘OK, thanks for that. Now it’s your turn, Sergeant Tabler.’
    The sergeant began. ‘We commenced our examination of the scene at the graveside, once the body had been removed, sir. Bearing in mind the careful activity by our own officers in and around the grave, there were indications of other footprints in the soft earth but it was clear that an attempt had been made to eradicate them. They’d been raked over, sir. Some of the surplus earth had been raked over too, then spread around quite widely so that it merged with the grass. Marks had been made in the vicinity of the grave during the digging, during the lifting of the victim into the grave, during the re-covering of the grave with earth and grass – but all those marks had been quite deliberately