‘And just to be certain,’ Harry asked, ‘you’re absolutely sure it’s this John bloke? It’s not like you can recognise him, is it?’
‘Yeah, it’s John alright,’ Jim said, then pointed as he spoke: ‘His field, his tractor, his trailer.’ Finally, he nodded at the dead man’s trousers and some muddy orange twine threaded through the belt loops. ‘And there aren’t many folk left in the world who are happy to keep their trousers up with bailer bind. Not any more.’
Harry rose back up onto his feet then walked over to Matt and Jim. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think it’s an absolute bloody mess,’ Matt said. ‘Poor bastard. And he was a bastard, for sure. But what a way to go.’
‘Not exactly helpful, but a fair observation,’ Harry said, then he turned to Jim, but it was clear that Jim had nothing else to offer just yet. He looked thoughtful, so Harry let him alone for a moment.
From what Harry could see it looked like a tragic and pretty gruesome accident. Shit happens, and that was a sad fact of life.
‘I’m still not getting why you think there’s any foul play here,’ Harry said. ‘I mean, this is farming, right? You work with animals, with huge pieces of machinery, with chemicals, I’m surprised there aren’t more accidents like this.’
‘You’re forgetting the high stress, shit pay and crippling debt,’ Matt said. ‘Not a surprise the suicide rate is so high.’
‘Could it be that, then?’ Harry asked.
‘Like this? No,’ Matt said. ‘Farmers usually go out with a double-barrel under the chin. This? This is way too creative.’
Matt then mimed placing a gun under his own chin and pulling the trigger.
‘Unnecessary,’ Harry said. ‘But thanks for the re-enactment.’
Harry turned to Jim. ‘Well?’
Jim didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he stepped back from the body and moved a little way up and above it. Harry and Matt followed. From where they were then stood, they could see clearly now the course taken by the tractor and trailer, how it had started to swerve as it gained speed, before slamming hard enough into the wall to break it.
‘For a start,’ Jim said, ‘and like I said when you got here, none of this looks right.’
‘Explain,’ Harry said.
‘Well, there’s nowt to suggest that John was thrown from the tractor is there? From what I can see, it was parked up here, right where he’s lying, and then it just rolled off down the hill.’
‘You mean he got in the way of it?’
Jim shook his head. ‘No, I mean it was parked right where John’s body is, rolled over him, then headed off down the hill.’
‘So, he wasn’t in the tractor cab?’ Harry said.
‘Can’t see how,’ said Jim. ‘But that’s not the problem. He could have parked up to check on the trailer before going around to collect the bales.’
‘And he’d do that by hand?’ Harry asked.
Jim shook his head. ‘Front loader,’ he said. ‘You probably didn’t notice it, because it snapped off the front of the tractor when it hit the wall. It’s there though. He’d park up, uncouple the trailer, then drive around picking up bales. Well, that’s what I’d do, anyway, if I was out doing a field on my own.’
‘I’m still not seeing what you’re getting at,’ Harry said. ‘If we’re calling this in as a Category One . . .’
Harry watched as Jim took a moment to compose himself. It was as though he could see him sorting things out in his head before saying them.
‘Look at the body,’ Jim said, nodding at the thing on the ground which had been, just a few days ago, a living, breathing human being. ‘Why’s he lying on the ground? What the hell was he doing down there in the first place? It doesn’t make any bloody sense!’
‘Like you said, checking the trailer,’ Harry suggested.
‘He wouldn’t need to do it on his back!’ Jim exclaimed. ‘It would be a walk around, that’s all. Probably kick a tyre or two, nowt else. And this is John we’re talking about. He wasn’t the kind of bloke who checked his equipment.’
Matt let out the faintest of sniggers.
Harry turned to him.
‘Really?’
Matt stifled his laughter. ‘Sorry, Boss,’ he said. ‘It’s just, you know, checking his equipment . . .’
Harry stared hard enough at Matt to burn a hole through his skull. He went to speak but the sound of a car racing along the road back down at the bottom of the field drew his attention. He stared down at it, unable to see it clearly beyond the walls, just a flash of some non-descript colour, the sound of the revving engine fading into the distance as quickly as it had arrived.
‘He’s in a hurry,’ Matt said.
‘What about the tractor?’ Harry asked, keen to keep things moving. ‘Could he have been checking that?’
Again, Jim shook his head. ‘Ignoring the fact that it’s a miracle that it’s survived as long as it has, there’s still no need for him to be on the ground like that. Doesn’t make sense.’
Matt said, ‘Perhaps he was knocked down and that’s just where he fell.’
‘And then he just lay there and let the trailer roll over him?’ Jim said. ‘Look at him! It’s like he didn’t fight or couldn’t even! I don’t know, it just doesn’t look right! It isn’t right! And
