The Tewkesbury Tomb Read Online Free

perhaps even Westminster Abbey. We need only be away for one night, if we caught the morning train?’ said Lucy, excitedly, placing a hand on her husband’s arm.
    ‘And when were you thinking that we might undertake this excursion, my dear?’ asked Ravenscroft.
    ‘Well, we could go next week – or even this week. You do not seem to be particularly busy at the moment, and I am sure you must be eligible for a few days’ relief. Oh do say yes, Samuel! I’m sure you would enjoy returning to London, even if only for a day or two, and I know you would so like to show me all your old familiar places,’ continued Lucy, looking deeply into her husband’s eyes.
    ‘How can I, let alone any man, resist that beautiful, enticing smile of yours? Of course we shall go to London – and yes, you will see The Gondoliers .’
    ‘Oh, Samuel, you are the most wonderful man in the world!’ cried Lucy leaning across the table and planting a kiss on her husband’s cheek.
    ‘Excuse me, miss – sorry, Mrs Ravenscroft, Constable Crabb has just arrived and requests that he speaks with the master on urgent business,’ interrupted the maid at the doorway.
    ‘I’m sorry, my dear—’ began Ravenscroft.
    ‘Will you show Constable Crabb in, Susan?’ said Lucy, leaning back in her chair and giving a slight sigh as she did so.
    ‘Constable Crabb, sir,’ announced the maid.
    ‘Ah, Tom, do take a seat,’ indicated Ravenscroft as the young, red-faced constable entered the room.
    ‘Thank you, sir. Good morning to you, Mrs Ravenscroft,’ replied Crabb accepting the seat.
    ‘How are you, Tom?’
    ‘Never better, ma’am.’
    ‘And how is your wife Jennie and your adorable son?’ enquired Lucy.
    ‘Both very well, thank you, Mrs Ravenscroft.’
    ‘Perhaps you would care to join us for breakfast?’
    ‘No, thank you, ma’am, Jennie cooked me a fine repast before I left.’
    ‘What can we do for you then, Tom?’ asked Ravenscroft. ‘You look a little out of breath.’
    ‘I am sorry to intrude on your breakfast, sir, and Mrs Ravenscroft. I came as quickly as I could. The truth of the matter is, sir, that there appears to have been a terrible murder at Tewkesbury,’ began the constable.
    ‘Go on,’ instructed Ravenscroft, laying his newspaper to one side and leaning forward.
    ‘Apparently, last night, just after twelve, Constable Reynolds, the local town policeman, was going about his rounds when he happened to see a light flickering from inside the abbey. Upon further investigation he saw that the door to the building had been left slightly ajar and, as he slipped into the abbey, he could make out some voices inside. As he drew nearer, he saw what looked like a group of people all gathered round one of the tombs and upon closer investigation he found that the lid of the tomb had been forced open.’
    ‘Interesting, tell me more,’ said Ravenscroft, his curiosity aroused.
    ‘Well, sir, it appears that there was a body inside the tomb.’
    ‘I thought that’s where they usually buried people, inside tombs’ said Lucy.
    ‘Ah yes, Mrs Ravenscroft, but this wasn’t your usual collection of old bones, or decaying flesh, it was a freshly laid-out corpse, probably been killed that same day.’
    ‘And someone, probably the killer, had deposited the body inside the tomb, with the object of concealment. How very strange. Do we know how this person died?’ asked Ravenscroft.
    ‘He had suffered a nasty blow to the back of his head.’
    ‘You mentioned that Constable Reynolds had entered the abbey because he had first seen a light, and that there was a group of people standing around the tomb.’
    ‘Yes, sir. There were five of them, four gents and a lady.’
    ‘Did they offer any explanation as to their presence in the abbey at such a late hour?’
    ‘Said they had been talking together at the Hop Pole and that one of them had suggested that they should go and visit the abbey to see the tombs.’
    ‘But it was after twelve