THE BODY IN THE RIVER -AN EXCERPT

The Body in the River by Austin Mitchell Fuzzy pushed Carlene’s body into the Keswick Mountain river. He had hit her in the back of the head with a hammer. He then dragged her body across the road. It was a pity that the river wasn’t flooded. In such a case it might be days before they found her. He had thought of burying her body, but couldn’t find any tools with which to dig a hole. This was a lonely place, but he didn’t expect that her body would stay long without being found. He had taken cash and other valuables such as chains and rings from the house. He had made sure to wear gloves as he didn’t want to leave any finger prints. *** Denzil Barned drove up to Carlene’s Royal’s house in the Keswick Mountains that night at around nine o’clock. He wanted to talk and probably have a few drinks with her. They had a two year old relationship going, but he didn’t plan to spend the night. He had always warned her about being alone in such a lonely place. She was a teacher at a school three miles away. She always took a taxi to and from school. Her nearest neighbors were half a mile away. She had always said that her dogs would protect her. Lights were on in her bedroom, which meant that she hadn’t gone to bed as yet. He got out of the car and went to knock on the gate and instantly the dogs were at the gate. He kept on knocking, but there was no answer. The dogs were used to him and they let him pass and go into the house. All the doors were opened as was the front grill, he noticed. He turned on the lights in the living room. He went to her bedroom door and knocked. It was open and he went inside. Everything seemed to be in order and her bed was still made up. He wondered where she was? She wouldn’t have gone out and left the doors and grills open. He went into the kitchen and turned on the lights. There were red spots on the floor. Blood! He knelt down on the floor. The spots led out of the house. He went and took his flashlight out of the car. He went out of the kitchen. He followed the spots down the road and there was Carlene’s body in the river! He knew that the river wasn’t powerful enough to carry her body downstream. But who could have done this to her he wondered? *** Detective Sergeant Peter Brown looked at Denzil. “You know what I think, Barned. You hit that girl in the back of her head because she refused your advances.” “You dragged her body down to the river and then you panicked and called us. I supposed if it wasn’t the dry season by the time we found her body, it would be just skeleton and bones.” “I didn’t kill her. I told you that she was my girlfriend. I came to look for her and found her dead.” “I’ve no choice but to hold you for questioning. When we get to the station you can call your lawyer or whoever, but you have the right to one phone call.” “What did you use to hit her in the back of her head, a hammer or a big stone?” “I’ve already told you that I didn’t do her anything.” Scores of persons had descended on the scene, including Carlene’s relatives. “You are going to make people believe that I killed her.” “I’m not arresting you, Barned, just holding you for questioning. If we find the evidence we’ll arrest you for murder.” *** Denzil got in touch with his lawyer but the man couldn’t make it to the station that night. In the lockup he had time to reflect. Miss Darla, Carlene’s foster mother, had returned to England after her husband’s death fifteen months ago. Carlene had made Fuzzy, the caretaker, redundant as she said there wasn’t enough work for him. That was six months ago. The next morning his lawyer, mother and father and his other relatives came to the police station to seek his release. Realizing that he didn’t have the evidence to charge him, Brown released him but promised to have him in cuffs before the week was out. *** “You said that the murdered young woman was your girlfriend. What kind of relationship did you have?” John Taylor, his lawyer, asked. “Intimate, we never had any major quarrels.” “I heard that her dogs would never allow anybody near her unless it was a person they knew,” Taylor commented. “Her family members usually visited her. Apart from them, I can’t think of anybody else.” He thought of Fuzzy, but dismissed the idea. He had gone back home to St. Mary, a parish in the northeast section of the island. “Brown wants to charge you. He’s a very ambitious young man. He doesn’t want any unsolved murders in his area. That might hurt his prospects for promotion. He thinks that you are a likely candidate for a murder charge.” “He’s going to try and pin it on you. I want you to tell me all that you know. Start with going to the house that night.” He gave the lawyer a description of what took place when he went to visit Carlene. The autopsy was held two weeks later. It was revealed that she died from a blow to the back of the head from a blunt instrument. It was also revealed that she had not been molested. It took another week for her body to be released to the family. The set-up was planned for the next Friday night and the funeral the next day. If you enjoyed this excerpt, why not go to the Austin Mitchell pages on Amazon and purchase one of my books.