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“He takes this standing in for the vicar situation a bit too seriously, doesn’t he?” Luke sighed.
“I think that he is either living at the rectory, or has gone to live somewhere else,” Hugo said quietly. He stood in front of the window and studied the road outside for several moments.
“Why is he at the rectory so late?” Charlie sighed. “I mean, it has gone midnight. It’s a bit late to be doing paperwork, isn’t it?”
“If he has moved in there, he can’t have notified the bishop of the vicar’s demise,” Hugo mused aloud.
Charlie nodded, in spite of the fact that nobody could see him. “The bishop would have sent a new vicar by now, if he knew that Reverend Potts was dead.”
Barnaby moved to stand beside Hugo. “Even a temporary one would have made his presence felt. It isn’t the verger’s duty to undertake the vicar’s work. The Bishop can’t have been informed.”
Hugo frowned at Charlie. “When did your friend write to you about Meldrew?”
“About six weeks ago now. There has been plenty of time for the Bishop to make arrangements for a new vicar to get here.”
“It points to the fact that Snetterton has something to hide,” Hugo said quietly.
Barnaby nodded. “He could have been paying Meldrew. To notify the Bishop of the vicar’s death means that they will send in a new vicar, who will look at the finances, realise that something is amiss, and investigate.”
“God help the new vicar if he notifies Meldrew that money has gone missing,” Charlie growled. “He will almost certainly end up as dead as poor Arthur.”
“We need to stop that from happening. We need to find out if the Bishop has been informed of the death of Reverend Potts, but also get him to refrain from sending a new vicar in until we have concluded the investigation.” Hugo turned away from the window and looked at his men. “I need to do that though, because I think that we may have to use a few select names from the War Office to convince the Bishop to agree.”
“Given that we are dealing with a case of murder, won’t he agree? I mean, it is a member of his clergy who has been killed,” Charlie countered.
Hugo sighed. “I hope so. I can pay him a visit as soon as practicable. Until then, we need to find out if Snetterton is conducting the services himself. We need to get into that rectory and take a look at the paperwork first. Then we need to keep a careful watch on the verger.”
“Do you think the verger is Meldrew’s link to what’s going on in the village? I mean, if he is doing the vicar’s work, he will have contact with the parishioners, and can find practically anything out through gossip. It’s the perfect way to keep up-to-date with what’s going on without having to go to the tavern,” Barnaby growled.
“I think that Meldrew and Snetterton may have done a deal,” Hugo replied. “The verger may have paid Meldrew his ‘protection’ money, and taken up residence at the rectory to stop the church authorities from finding out about the vicar’s death. I think that Snetterton is ideally placed to gather gossip about people, and pass on bits here and there to Meldrew to garner favour.” Hugo sighed with a shake of his head.
“So when I turned up here, and started asking questions about the vicar’s death, I drew Meldrew’s attention,” Charlie snarled.
“I think so,” Hugo said.
“How can he expect that to work?” Luke reasoned. “I mean, the Bishop won’t stay away forever. At some point it will become evident that a new vicar hasn’t been sent. The Bishop may want to pay a visit, or someone will say something about not having heard from Reverend Potts for a while. Correct me if I am wrong, but the verger can’t conduct marriages or anything; can he?”
Everyone shook their heads.
Hugo shook his head. “First, we need to find out what state the church finances are in. Theft from the Church is a punishable crime, and more than enough to allow us to put Snetterton behind bars. Whether he has killed Reverend Potts or not is something else to consider later.”
“Let’s go over to the church now?” Charlie suggested. Somehow, he just knew that life wasn’t going to be easy on him tonight.
Hugo nodd
ed, and the men quietly made their way to the door.
Before the men got to the Rectory though, a furtive movement out on the street drew their attention.
“Snetterton,” Charlie whispered. They motioned to Barnaby, who paused and turned to study the man surreptitiously scurrying down the road.
The men disappeared into the shadows, and followed him all the way to the tavern. It was difficult to get around the back of the inn’s yard, but they arrived in time to watch the verger disappear through the back door. A huge, burly guard then moved into position to block it.
Charlie looked at Hugo. “I don’t think he is paying a visit to give the last rights to anyone, do you?”
Hugo shook his head absently and eyed the heavily built man guarding the door.
“We are going to replace him,” Hugo growled.
