Cooper shook his head, trying to shake off the irritation. ‘It might mean we don’t have to bring Dr Jamieson’s team in to look at the bones, if the records tally. So we’d save on the budget, too.’
‘And, hey presto, everyone’s happy,’ said Fry.
But Cooper looked at her thoughtfully. Happy was far from how she looked.
‘According to John Casey, those bones were found somewhere in the grounds of the hall,’ she said. ‘Do you think Mrs Chadwick would know where exactly?’
‘She might do.’
‘Ask her, then.’
‘Sure.’
He looked down at his desk. Work was waiting for him. If anything was really urgent - well, it was hard luck, unless he could snatch a few minutes. But Fry hadn’t finished yet.
‘Ben, you don’t believe the Alder Hall crypt is what he means by “the dead place”, do you?’ she said.
‘It’s just a feeling. You might not understand.’
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‘Try me.’
‘I felt… Well, when I was down there, it felt as though the place had been dead for too long. Does that make sense?’
Fry stared at him, as though she might actually be trying to understand him. ‘It’s no more than that?’
‘Sorry.’
Cooper put his jacket back on, and they headed out. He didn’t like to admit to Fry what he was actually thinking. It was something Freddy Robertson had said to him, when he’d been explaining the purpose of a sarcophagus and the charnel house, and the rituals that went with them.
The memory had come back to him as he stood in the crypt at Alder Hall. For a moment, Cooper had felt a hint of what his ancient ancestors had instinctively believed. The bones piled in that crypt had been perfectly clean and dry, free of the last shreds of flesh that had once clung to them. If it was the fragments of a physical structure that held a soul to its body, then the spirits that hovered around those bones had long since departed.
‘By the way,’ said Fry in the car, ‘I’ve started making enquiries into John Casey’s background.’
‘The property agent? Why?’
‘Well, those two sets of remains were found on Alder Hall estate land. Admittedly, they were much nearer to Mr Jarvis’s property than to the hall, but that’s only because of the size of the estate. Casey is the man immediately responsible for the site, and he has the opportunity for unrestricted access, too. Once you’re inside those gates, anything you do is entirely out of public view. That doesn’t apply to anyone approaching from the Ravensdale side, where there are residents in the cottages, and walkers on the footpath.’
‘Not to mention the Jarvises and their dogs.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Well, John Casey may not-be the most efficient property
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agent in the world. But he struck me as vaguely incompetent, rather than criminal.’
‘Didn’t you think he was a bit quick to draw our attention to Maurice Goodwin and his role at Alder Hall? That was too convenient, I thought.’
‘Did you?’
‘Look, Goodwin left the company three months ago. And Casey just happens not to have made arrangements for somebody else to check the hall regularly since then? And he just happens not to have found a replacement for Goodwin. Why not? What’s so special about the job that he wasn’t satisfied with any of the applicants?’
‘I don’t know. Diane, what are you suggesting?’
‘I’m wondering if Casey had Maurice Goodwin lined up as a scapegoat to take the blame if things went wrong. In any case, I’d like to know why Goodwin left the job in the first place.’
‘A personality clash, Mr Casey said.’
‘That usually means a blazing row with the boss. What if John Casey deliberately manoeuvred Goodwin into a position where he’d decide that he’d had enough and walk out?’
‘Leaving Casey himself with free run of the estate?’
‘Yes.’
‘But a free run to do what, Diane? Dump dead bodies in the undergrowth?’
‘Or provide the opportunity for somebody else to do it.’
Tt’d be a bit risky,’ said Cooper. ‘What if a buyer came along to inspect the property? He could have ended up with surveyors and builders swarming all over the estate.’
‘Not without plenty of warning. Casey is the man with the keys, remember. Besides, the hall has been on the market for two years. I’ll bet he exhausted the supply of potential buyers a long time ago.’
‘Two years, that’s right…’ Cooper worked the timings out in his head. ‘I bet whoever dumped Audrey Steele’s body was
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hoping the hall would never find a buyer, and the estate would stay neglected. He overlooked the fact that “right to roam” would give walkers free access.’
‘I wonder if Casey ever suggested bringing the price of the property down,’ said Fry.
‘Why?’
‘Well, that’s what an agent would normally do if he couldn’t find a buyer. He’d advise the seller to come down a bit. If you refuse to lower the price, it looks as though you’re not serious about selling.’
