Dying Fall

I’m no white supremacist. I’m just interested in druids and the old religion. That’s not a crime, is it?’
    Sandy looks as if it may well be. Tim says, ‘We’ll need to look at your computer hard drive.’
    ‘I’ve got lots of confidential papers on there.’
    ‘I can come back with a warrant.’
    Sandy is looking at his mobile phone. Then he raises his head and smiles at Clayton. The professor seems to find this an unpleasant experience. He recoils.
    ‘Sorry not to have a chance to visit your house again,’ says Sandy. ‘It was quite some place.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    ‘Great idea, converting a windmill like that.’
    Clayton says nothing. He looks from one policeman to the other, as if trying to work out what is going on.
    ‘Must have taken a fair bit of brass,’ says Sandy.
    Clayton stiffens. ‘My wife has some money of her own.’
    ‘That’s handy.’
    ‘What are you getting at?’
    Sandy glances at Tim, who is also looking mystified. ‘So, if my sergeant examines your computer records, he’ll find all your financial affairs in order?’
    ‘Why? What do you … yes, of course.’
    ‘So you haven’t been dipping into departmental funds?’
    ‘Of course not. How dare you!’
    Sandy smiles again. ‘Must have been a shock for youwhen those bones vanished. I expect you thought you were on to a nice little earner.’
    ‘It was an important archaeological discovery,’ says Clayton stiffly.
    ‘Think it was King Arthur?’
    ‘We can’t be sure but, historically, it’s possible.’
    ‘Professor Henry,’ says Tim. ‘Before he died, did Dan Golding discuss the results of the DNA analysis with you?’
    ‘The DNA analysis? What do you mean?’
    ‘It’s a simple question,’ growls Sandy. ‘Did he mention any results to you?’
    ‘No,’ says Clayton. ‘I hadn’t seen him for a few weeks when he … when he died. Not to speak to anyway. It was a busy time, end of term and all that.’
    ‘Where were you on the night of Dan Golding’s death?’ asks Sandy. They already have this information from Pippa, thinks Tim. Sandy must want to give Clayton Henry a shock.
    And, it seems, he has succeeded. Clayton Henry stands up. He is shaking all over.
    ‘I had nothing to do with Dan’s death. Nothing. I was at home with my wife all evening. And I’ve got nothing to say about financial irregularities either. I’ve worked myself into the ground for that department. If I have to abdicate, the whole place will collapse.’
    Sandy leans back in his chair, looking delighted, but Tim says, quietly, ‘That’s an odd choice of word.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Abdicate. Kings abdicate, not university lecturers. Is that how you see yourself?’
    Clayton says nothing. Sandy is still grinning.
    ‘Do I need a lawyer?’ Clayton asks at last.
    *
    Thing is delighted to see them again. He runs up and down the stairs whimpering ecstatically.
    ‘He obviously thought we’d abandoned him too,’ says Cathbad, sitting down to make a fuss of the dog.
    ‘Well, he hasn’t chewed the place up,’ says Ruth. ‘Good boy, Thing.’
    Thing thumps his tail and looks smug.
    Ruth puts together a hasty lunch of French bread and cheese. Thing makes it clear that he likes both these foods. Kate sits in her high chair dropping mini Babybel wrappers on his head.
    ‘What do you want to do this afternoon?’ asks Ruth. ‘Go for a walk? Go to the beach?’
    ‘I know what I’d like to do,’ says Cathbad, spreading butter thickly on his bread. ‘I’d like to go to Ribchester. See where this whole thing started. Be a nice run for Thing as well.’
    *
    Before they leave the university, Sandy asks if they can look in Dan Golding’s office.
    ‘Of course,’ says Clayton, who is clearly dying to get rid of them. ‘He shared it with another lecturer, Sam Elliot, and it’s his now but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind …’
    ‘Why do you want to look in here?’ asks Tim. ‘I searched the place after the fire. Didn’t find anything of interest.’
    Sandy thinks that Tim sounds put out. He resents the idea that he could have missed anything. Sandy makes a noncommittal noise. He’s not sure himself why he wanted to come in here except that it might put the wind up Clayton Henry. But there’s no harm in Tim thinking that his boss might know something he doesn’t. He’s a good cop, Tim, but he doesn’t know everything yet.
    The office is small with two desks very close together, almost touching. You’d have to get on very