John Francome - Declared Dead

I turned off the B216 and drove along a narrow single-track road. After three miles I parked the car on the side of the road and walked the fifty yards or so back to the old track which led up to the pit. It was clear from the tyre marks that there had been plenty of recent traffic. Today, however, it was deserted again. Ten minutes later I reached the top of the pit itself, and below me I could see an area about twenty feet square which had been roped off. It could be reached by the worn drive that the lorries once used to collect the chalk. I walked down and inspected the site where no doubt the car had been found. There were scorch marks on the ground, but apart from that there was nothing to indicate that it had been the scene of such a gruesome crime.

I strolled on and into the heart of the pit. I didn't expect to find anything as the police had no doubt carried out a thorough search of the area for evidence. It was eerie and depressing and I tried to picture the scene on the night of the murder, Edward's body curled up in the boot as paraffin or petrol was poured over it and then the car set on fire. I wondered whether the murderer or murderers had stood by and watched the blaze or whether they had set off straight away in a waiting car. Out here, miles from anywhere, they had very little chance of being disturbed. A cold and ruthless murder, an act wholly beyond Tom Radcliffe.

I was beginning to feel nervous hanging around there, so I returned to my car and drove to Oxford in the hope of gaining an audience with my father-in-law. The courts were on vacation and I knew that he was likely to be in his study writing up judgements to be delivered at the beginning of the next legal term. I took the precaution en route of phoning up to see whether Lady Pryde was at home. If she had been I would have aborted my mission for the present. I had no desire to come face to face with that most formidable of battle axes; Doris, the housekeeper, didn't recognise my voice and said that Madam was away until late evening. I had hoped as much, remembering that Friday was usually her bridge afternoon in Abingdon.

Lord Pryde was positively displeased to see me. I could sense his legal mind evaluating whether he ought to refuse to talk to me and kick me out. In the end it was only the fact that Doris had let me in which embarrassed him into being civil and inviting me into his library. It was a magnificent room, lined with thousands of leather-bound books. At the far end sat a large mahogany desk piled with legal-looking documents. A fire was blazing and he beckoned me to sit down on one of the leather armchairs beside it. It reminded me of my last serious discussion with Edward.

Lord Pryde looked tired and drawn, although nowhere near as drained emotionally as one would expect from a man who just recently lost his only son. He went straight on the attack, a family characteristic.

'Victoria, it really is quite wrong of you to come here uninvited. If Eleanor had been here you would have caused her considerable distress, and that's the last thing I want at the moment. As you can imagine, Edward's death has come as a terrible blow… to us both,' he added, apparently as an afterthought. 'I must ask you in any event to be brief. It would be dishonest of me to pretend that you are welcome in this house, and if it's young Freddie you've come to talk about, then you're wasting your time. It's quite clear to us that his interests are best served by being brought up here.' He stood up and started pacing the room, giving me no chance to speak. 'I realise that we are no longer young, but the boy is a Pryde, and quite frankly your involvement with this Radcliffe man makes your continuing custody of the boy quite out of the question. Of course, we would have no objection to your seeing him now and again, say once a month during the school holidays, but it's quite impossible for him to remain with you.'

I wanted to scratch his narrow, arrogant eyes out, but his spectacles would have got in the way. I went on the verbal attack instead.

'How very generous of you,' I replied aggressively. 'As it happens, it's not Freddie I've come to talk about, not directly at least. I'll leave that fight to the lawyers, and it will be a fight, I warn you. No, I'm here to talk about this,' I said, triumphantly waving a piece of paper in front of him. 'The letter from a certain Mr Lorenz, which my late beloved husband treasured so much.'

His complacent air gave way to a vitriolic rage.

'Where the hell did you get that?' he demanded, walking over towards me.

'No you don't!' I replied, putting it back inside my handbag. 'Don't worry, Gerald, I'm not a blackmailer. Your secret is dead along with your son. I just want to ensure that justice is now done. You must tell the police what Edward really was, so that they start investigating all those other people who had a real reason for wanting him dead.'

'Don't be ridiculous! Do you seriously think that a man of my standing can afford to expose himself so that some two-penny-ha'penny racehorse trainer is acquitted of a murder he almost certainly committed in any event? Think of my position. I would have to resign, lose everything I've worked all my life for. How would Eleanor feel? Isn't it enough that she's lost her son? No, Victoria. I've absolutely no intention of doing what you ask. Here, you're going to give me that letter right now!' He shoved me hard and grabbed the handbag. In a second he had opened it and removed the letter. He threw it straight onto the fire without even looking at it. As it burned he held me back from the fire with his right arm.

'There. Gone is your one and only piece of evidence.'

'How do you know I haven't made a copy?' I countered.

'I wouldn't care. Only originals are admissible in court. Now, leave this house and never ever return.'

I smiled condescendingly at him. 'As you will. Just one last thing. The next time you burn one of my mother's letters, I would prefer you to ask permission.' I didn't wait to see his reaction. Only his overweening arrogance would have let him think I was naive enough to bring actual evidence with me.

I returned to Ralph's house to find a message waiting for me to contact Amy Frost as a matter of urgency.

Freddie was running around the house with Ralph's dog. It was amazing how well he had taken the news of Edward's death. It was either a consequence of his age or more likely an indication that its true implications had not yet sunk in. When he saw me walk through the door he left the dog and came running up to me. I bent down and picked him up in my arms and we gave each other a big hug.

'What have you been up to today?' I said as I kissed him on his forehead. As he rushed through a seemingly endless list of things he had done, I pulled my head away and admired him. He was the spitting image of Edward, but had blond hair like my own. Once he finished telling me his various achievements, I put him down and told him to go on playing with the dog while I called Amy. I wondered if she had any news of Tom's committal hearing, which was due to take place in a couple of days' time. By now the prosecution statements would have been served and Tom given full notice of the case against him. Clever Amy had befriended the solicitor acting for Tom and with a bit of luck, she would have been tipped off as to its strengths and weaknesses.

I caught Amy just as she got in the door.

'Any news?' I asked anxiously.

'I'm afraid so and it's not ail good. Hold on a minute while I take my coat off and make myself a little more comfortable.'

I couldn't believe that she could sound so calm.

'Shall I fire away?' she asked, a minute or so later. 'They've served the statements on Tom's solicitor and to be honest, although I haven't actually been shown them, they don't seem to make that happy reading.'