Murder At The Manor - Part 2

….Continued

Murder  At The Manor

By
Paul McCann

Part 2

 

Mr Greaves replied .
She said .
“Oh well I wouldn’t know about that . You see I have a few different energy
sources . As well a wind assisted turbine I have solar and a gas supply . “

“You do have a nice set up here at Barnstone Manor. “
He replied .

“Winifred my daughter planned it all you know . She’s a very clever girl .“

Winifred arrived with a tray and on it a teapot with a cover , a milk jug with
a sugar bowl , two teacups and saucers and two buttered scones with jam and
cream. Then as she placed the tray before them on the table she said ,

“ Well , good morning Mr Greaves . Isn’t it amazing the things that are left
when a storm has been through . Its been like Murphys house here this morning .
Here you are . Some tea and scones .”

“Are you not going to join us ?”
Mr Greaves asked as he lifted the teapot and started to pour .

“Not just yet , I’m just doing a few calculations and making some enquires on
the phone . Did I ever tell you I was a banker Mr Greaves ?“

It was noticeable he started shaking and put the teapot down . Then he started
coughing . Ruth patted him between the shoulder blades and said ,

“Are you ok Mr Greaves ?”
“Yes , its just a bit of bronchitis . Too many hours behind a desk and not
enough fresh air I think .“

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door and in walked Michael .
Winifred rushed to greet him with a kiss and said .

“Hello my darling . How are things at the office ? “

“Just thought I’d take escape for a while . A special moment everyday with my
future wife is a glimpse of the happiness that is to come for us both .“

“ Remember we have a meeting with the marriage celebrant at seven .”
Winifred said .

”Oh no . Do we really have to go through all that again .?”

“This is the last one before the big day . Have you had morning tea yet ?”

“I have , my love . Can we just have a walk outside around the garden . I want
to breath with you and talk with you , just for a half hour .“

Winifred turned around to Mr Greaves and her Mother and said .

“Please excuse us but as you see I’ve got a date .“

The two sweethearts walked off into the garden and shortly returned arguing
about something . Michael stormed out the door and Winifred started crying .

“What ever happened ?”
Said Ruth .
Winifred tried to composed herself , she sat down beside her Mother and said

“Everything was going fine and then I told Michael about the photographer .
As it turns out ,Joan is the sister of his ex-wife and now Michael doesn’t want
her to take the photos but I’ve already paid and signed a contract for her to
do the job .“

Ruth Replied ,

“Well don’t worry dear , I’m sure things will settle down . There are always
little things to test you before and after you get married . Mr Greaves can you
come back later in the week . I think my daughter and I need some space this
morning ”

He replied
“No problem Mrs Barnstone , I’ll speak with you later then .“

He anxiously got to his feet and headed for the door .

In a short time Michael returned and he walked straight over to Winifred and
put his arms around her and said .

“I am so sorry my angel for hurting you and I never meant any of the things
that I said . The relationship with my ex-wife and her family is over . They
are no longed part of my life . So I want you to know that I’m very happy with
the choice you made to have Joan as the photographer on our wedding day . .“

“ Really . Oh thank you darling . That means a lot to me .“

:”Listen my love I’m taking the rest of the day off . How about we go out for a
drive and have lunch by the sea .“

“That would be great . I just have to organize someone from the nursing service
to be here with Mother while we’re out . Give me a minute to make a phone call
.”

After Peta returned Michael and Winifred went to have lunch .

Not long after they had gone Ted walked up from the garden with a wheelbarrow .
He had seen Michael and Winifred drive off and wondered who was in the house .
He knocked on the door but no one answered .
He waited and knocked again . The third time when no one came to open the door
he went inside .
There at the foot of the staircase he found Ruth .
She lay there motionless . Ted checked for a pulse then noticed she wasn’t
breathing . He went into the parlour and rang the emergency phone number .

When he returned from the parlour he saw Peta kneeling there on the floor
beside Ruth . She tried in vain to give some breath and to restore a heart beat
into Ruth’s body but the fact was Ruth was dead and could not be revived
The ambulance arrived and then the police . At first it was assumed she had
fallen down the stairs and broken her neck but on a further examination and due
to colouration of the lips and face it was now clear that Ruth had died from
being poisoned . A crime scene was established and people were now being
questioned .

When Winifred and Michael returned , they were greeted by the police with the
terrible news of the tragedy that had taken place . An old detective by the
name of Gregory Williams was put in charge of the case and he started his
investigations unobtrusively speaking to everyone who had been in the home on
the morning of Ruth Barnstones death .

When Ruth was buried in a grave that held her husband , people had said how sad
it was that Ruth wasn’t going to be there for her daughters wedding.
Although Winifred was deeply in shock , plans were made and life had to go on .
There was no postponing the wedding day .
Winifred and Michael had decided they were going to restore some love and
happiness back to Barnstone Manor . They had worked very hard to decorate and
renovate the main hall where the reception would take place .

The garden where the ceremony was to take place had been transformed into a
setting with a archway of colourful flowers that led to a platform where some
seats where placed before a gazebo .

Joan took plenty of photographs of family and friends who had gathered for this
wonderful occasion .
Michael was really agitated because of Joan the sister of his ex-wife who
walked around with a camera , enviously looking at him when ever she passed by
. He almost said something to her but declined as he didn’t want to ruin
Winifred’s big day .

Behind the scenes the investigations were continuing and Detective Williams had
asked Michael about how much wealth was left by Ruth to his wife to be .
Michael was getting upset by what that insinuated .

Patrice the chef was not very happy after he had been spoken to abruptly by
Michael , who had noticed him drinking in the kitchen . Patrice would have
walked away and really left the proceedings if it had not been for the
intervention of Peta the community nurse who explained how important it was for
Winifred that the reception would be successful .

Detective Williams had asked Peta about a number of recent complaints made
about the care she had given to Ruth before her death .
These complains were made by Winifred and Ruth but Peta said she was not aware
of those complaints .

Mr Greaves was there and had presented a letter to Winifred before the wedding
. She put it aside and said she would open it after the reception .

Ted the Gardener presented a little gift to Winifred that he said Ruth had
bought for her . That really upset Winifred and she went to pieces just before
the ceremony was about to start .

Patrice the Chef had prepared some special treats for the guests and canvas
food was being brought around before the ceremony started by waiters and
waitresses . A few drinks were handed out to lighten the tone as you could
sense something was not right .

Soon wedding bells rang out to tell the guests it was time to take their seats .
An organ sat inside the gazebo and started to play the wedding march as
Winifred made her way to stand beside Michael.
Toni the celebrant welcomed everyone for this happy occasion .

After the wedding Winifred went to change into some comfortable clothes for the
reception . Everyone made their way into the main hall where the reception was
to be held . There were a number of small tables set with glasses and napkins .
Six name cards were placed on each table .
On the ceiling white and black balloons were hanging with streamers .

A band played on a small stage that was set up in the corner .
Everyone took their seat waiting for the bride and groom .

When one of the kitchen staff came out screaming detective Williams rushed to
investigate . There he found Michael the groom . He was found in the cool room
hanging by the neck on a rope tied to a hook that was once used to suspend
large sides of beef .

While all this was going on Winifred’s body had been found . She had been
stabbed a few times with a knife and was dead her Mothers bedroom .
On her finger the wedding ring was removed .

The whole household was placed under arrest . No one was permitted to leave .

The letter that was presented to Winifred by Mr Greaves was opened and it was
discovered that a large sum of money was enclosed . After interrogation and a
search of his home some blackmail letters were discovered . They were send by
Winifred to Mr Greaves stating she had proof that he was withdrawing money from
her Mothers account and traced a number of large deposits made by him into off
shore accounts in a business name that separated him from the transactions .

On further investigations , it showed that Mr Greaves had been paying Winifred
regular instalments to stop her revealing the well guarded secret money that he
had been taking from many different accounts without the customers permission
or knowledge .
Mr Greaves had a motive for the murder of Winifred and now Detective Williams
was looking at opportunity and where he was when the bodies were found .

When Ruth was found poisoned , Mr Greaves had visited her that morning in her
home .
Mr Greaves had admitted that he did have the opportunity to poison her but that
he wasn’t a killer and that he was at that time being blackmailed by Winifred .
It was stated that Mr Greaves also did have the opportunity to murder Michael
and the motive was that Winifred could have told her husband to be about the
money moving business that had been going on with the not so honest bank
manager . Mr Greaves was arrested and charged with the murders of Ruth ,
Winifred and Michael and was to going to stand trail for the accusations .

After he was arrested and taken away all the guests were allowed to leave
Barnstone Manor .

Detective Williams asked Ted if he could had the keys to lock up the home and
all the sheds and other buildings . Ted said he would do that as soon as
everyone left . When Detective Williams asked Ted if he lived nearby , Ted
explained he had been given a small caretakers cottage on the property .

When Detective Williams asked if he could have a look at it ,Ted got very
agitated and said .

“What’s the problem , haven’t you already got the murderer . Am I a suspect .
or something . Anyway you don’t have a search warrant . So come back when you
have one .“

Ted was in such a hurry when he walked away to his cottage that he tripped over
a small branch limb that lay on the ground and fell to the ground .
A bunch of keys fell out of his pockets but Ted never felt that and got to his
feet and ran off to his cottage . Detective Williams picked up the keys and had
checked each one . There were ten keys but the one in the middle intrigued him
. It was very old and cut on both edges . He made his way to the front door of
Barnstone Manor and placed it into the keyhole to find it opened the main door
of the house

In previous investigations there was one point that didn’t seem clear .
On the day Ruth was killed Peta had said she locked the front door when Michael
and Winifred left in their car , Yet Ted stated the door was opened when he
came .
On Teds keyring the key to the front door was in the middle of the ring which
would signify it had been there for many years .

Detective Williams began to have a look around the Manor and on the dresser in
Ruths bedroom he noticed some photo albums . As he went through each page he
saw many photos of Ted and Winifred . The something began to make sense .

He started to look around Winifred’s room and in some old tins in her wardrobe
he found items of jewellery with the inscription , To Win , my only love .
Forever yours Ted .

One by one other things became evident . Letters from Ted to Winifred and times
and dates for dinner at the cottage .
With this new evidence Detective Williams had a new motive to work with .
Jealousy and hatred for being jilted as Winifreds ex-lover and immediately he
went for a search warrant for the cottage .

When Detective Williams and the police got there with the warrant Ted was
looking everywhere for the keys to his cottage .

“Are these what you’re looking for . I found these on the ground Ted . You must
have dropped them when you fell .“

Ted grabbed the keys and as he did , Detective Williams produced the search
warrant .
Once inside the cottage the police found photos of Winifred where hung
everywhere . Photos of Michael were found in the fridge freezer with safety
pins pushed through his head . There were also photos of Ted and Winifred
together holding hands and kissing .
Letters were discovered from Ruth , that offered him money and a home to live
if he would not bother Winifred anymore .
Other letters from Winifred stating she didn’t love hima nd had met a man
called Michael .
Then they found Teds diary that described in detail how he was going to destroy
the three people who had destroyed him .

The poison that was used to kill Ruth was found in the greenhouse beside the
cottage . Rope similar to the one used to hang Michael in the cool room was
found in the tractor shed and the knife that killed Winifred was a hunting and
part of a set of knives found inside the cottage where Ted lived .

He was charged and convicted with three murders and sent down for life
With no possibility of parole . Due to the face their were no descendants left
Barnstone Manor was sold and all the money was placed into a government slush
fund that provided compensation payments for victims of crime .

Mr Greaves lost his job and spent a few years in prison for fraud He had to
repay all the monies he took and once he was released from prison he took up a
new job selling flowers on street corners .

The End

By Paul McCann

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