Philip Gooden - The Salisbury Manuscript

Fawkes went on to describe how he’d at first gone out alone, to almost stumble over Percy’s body in the clearing at the top of the knoll. He returned to the house and told Nan before taking the carriage and driving to Downton. All this and it was not yet nine o’clock on a November day. He was wild-eyed and dishevelled when he reached the Salisbury police house. Whether it had been suicide or murder, there was no immediate reason to suspect him of having a hand in the death of Percy Slater.

Yet there was much which Seth Fawkes left unsaid both on his visit to the Salisbury police house and in subsequent answers to the sergeant’s questions — and Fawkes was not a voluble man at the best of times. He had indeed gone out early in the morning to find Percy’s body. There was a flock of crows in the air and on the tree branches round Hogg’s Corner, and Seth did feel that all was not well. But he found his master’s body because he knew it was there, having first seen it some six hours before by the glow of an oil lamp which he had carried from the stables. He had been witness to the events which led up to fatal wounding of Percy Slater. He knew that it was not suicide but murder.

That gap of six hours had been to allow his brother to make his get-away.

What happened was this. After consulting the drawing which he laid out on the bare ground, brother Adam had fixed on a particular spot where there was a tiny hollow, three or four feet wide, roughly in the centre of Hogg’s Corner. If the knoll had really been a balding human head, then the hollow would have been the impress of a finger-tip in the topmost point of that head. Adam instructed his brother to start digging, telling him that he would take over after the first couple of feet down, reassuring him that they would not have to dig far.

‘How’d you know this is the right place?’ said Seth, unwilling even to begin.

‘Because, brother, this here tells me so — ’Adam waved the sheet of paper which he taken out of his rucksack — ‘and because any fool can see that this here mound is hollow in the middle and the earth has fallen in at just the point where you’re about to start adigging.’

‘Any fool can see that this is a wild goose chase,’ said Seth. ‘It’s a mare’s nest.’

Adam put down the lamp and crossed the distance between himself and his brother. He closed the space with a kind of caper. The two men were about the same build and height, and Seth was the older, though not by much. Yet Seth felt intimidated by the nearness of the other. He always did, whether Adam was in a mischievous mood (screwing a thumb into his chin) or a more malevolent one (jumping out at him on a station platform).

‘It is not a wild goose chase or a mare’s nest or any other silly animal lurking in that head of yours. I know what I’m doing. Leave the brain-work to me. You can do the other. And what you are doing, brother of mine, is digging here.’

To indicate the place, Adam stamped his foot in the middle of the hollow like a petulant child.

‘Do it yourself,’ Seth wanted to say but he did not. Instead he scraped at the surface of the ground to clear it. The edge of the spade clattered against some small stones and pebbles as he flicked them out of the earthen hollow. The sound would carry a distance on the almost windless night, thought Seth. As he worked, he allowed himself to grunt and curse. There was no law against showing Adam he was unhappy. He almost hoped that they would be interrupted. Yet there was no one to interrupt them apart from Percy Slater. And, if he knew Percy, his employer would be lolling drunk in his smoking room or snoring in his bedroom.

At that moment there was an urgent hissing sound from Adam, who’d been crouching on the ground and, with the aid of the lamp, poring over the wretched plan which he’d weighed down with a couple of stones. Seth stopped, his spade poised to cut into the ground. He listened.

There was no mistaking it. Noises of breathing, of panting and wheezing. Seth recognized the approach of his master, Percy. Despite wanting to be interrupted a moment ago, he now grew alarmed. What was the old devil doing up and about at this time of night? Then a shout rang out. ‘Fawkes!’

Seth did not move, did not reply. There was more wheezing as Percy Slater began to climb the short slope to the crown of Hogg’s Corner. Adam moved the few paces which separated him from Seth and took hold of the spade. Seth was holding on to it so tight that his brother had to prise his fingers from the handle. At first Seth thought, why does he need the spade when I have already started doing the digging for him?

The light cast a subdued circle in the immediate area of the plan while everything beyond was in shadow. Seth could not see clearly what his brother was up to as he scampered towards the ring of trees at the approximate point where Percy would appear. But he could guess.

Time passed. There was a pause in the heavy breathing and then a sigh. Again came the call ‘Fawkes?’ but it was less a shout, more of a question. It crossed Seth’s mind that he might cry out a warning to Percy but even as he opened his mouth, there was a clang and clatter from the edge of the knoll. Seth stumbled towards the spot.

Under a tangle of low branches stood Adam. He was holding the spade which he had just used as a weapon. On the ground lay Percy. Seth got down on his hands and knees. His master was still breathing, breathing steadily, all things considered. It didn’t sound as though there was anything much wrong with him. He might have been asleep. A great fury seized Seth but, when he clambered to his feet, he spoke calmly enough.

‘What have you done, brother?’

‘Didn’t want us to be disturbed. I gave him a rap on the noddle.’

‘And now you give me that spade.’

Adam surrendered the spade. It was a heavy, old-fashioned implement, with a wooden handle and shaft around the bottom of which an iron blade was fitted like a kind of tunic. Adam must have hit Percy with considerable force because the blade was loose. As if divining his thoughts, Adam said, ‘He’s a tough ’un with a thick noddle. Only gave him a tap. Keep him out long enough for us to finish the business.’

For almost the first time in his life, Seth detected a note of apology or justification in his brother’s voice. It gave him heart for what he did next.

Flinging the spade behind him, where it would be out of his brother’s reach, he said, ‘I’ve had enough. No more business here. You will help me take Mr Slater back inside and you had better hope, Adam, that he keeps breathing steady.’

Adam stooped down and picked up something from the ground.

‘To be honest, brother, I don’t care whether Mr Slater keeps breathing steady or whether he keeps breathing at all. I came here to get a job done and I’m not going until it’s finished. Now, pick up the spade and get back to it.’

There was only the little light of the quarter moon and the trio was in the shadow of the trees. More by outline than because he could see clearly, Seth realized that Adam was holding a shotgun. Seth knew it belonged to Percy. His master must have taken it from the cabinet in the smoking room before coming out to see what was going on. A sensible precaution — until someone else got their hands on it.

Neither man moved. On the ground Percy Slater started to snore. The sound was incongruous in the circle of Hogg’s Corner.

‘See,’ said Adam, ‘no harm done. He’s sleeping sound as a nipper. Now, Seth Fawkes, you go and pick up the spade and you get digging. Otherwise I swear I’ll let loose with this. Not at you, maybe, but at him.’

He waggled the shotgun in the direction of the snoring man.

Seth knew he was defeated, for the time being. He turned round andbegan to cast about in the dark for the spade. He couldn’t find it straightaway. He went across to pick up the lamp and search for the spade. He swung the light from side to side. The spade was lying a few yards off. Seth had just picked up the spade when it happened. The snoring ceased and there was a scrabbling sound. Seth turned back, to see Percy in silhouette sitting up and then rising unsteadily to his feet. Brother Adam was standing a few yards off, cradling the shotgun. He did not hesitate but swung the weapon towards the staggering man. There was a flash of light and a ringing report, which stunned Seth.