Don Hale - Murder in the Graveyard

HarperElement

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London SE1 9GF

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First published as Town Without Pity by Century,

an imprint of Random House 2002

This revised and updated edition published by HarperElement 2019

FIRST EDITION

© Don Hale 2019

Cover design by Ellie Game © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

Cover photograph supplied by the author

While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein and secure permissions, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgements in any future edition of this book.

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Don Hale asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008331627

Ebook Edition © June 2019 ISBN: 9780008331634

Version: 2019-05-22

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Dedication

5 Contents

6 Cast of Characters

7 Map of Bakewell Cemetery

8 INTRODUCTION

9 1 ‘STEPHEN WHO?’

10 2 THE DOWNINGS

11 3 WHAT RAY SAW

12 4 THE CONFESSION

13 5 THE WITNESSES

14 6 STEPHEN’S VERSION

15 7 BELIEVING THE BEEBES

16 8 THE RUNNING MAN

17 9 PERSONS OF INTEREST: MR ORANGE, MR OULSNAM AND MR RED

18 10 WHO WAS WENDY SEWELL?

19 11 ANATOMY OF A FALSE CONFESSION

20 12 ON THE TRAIL OF MR ORANGE

21 13 WALKING WITH WITNESSES

22 14 THE BOMBSHELL

23 15 THE SMOKING GUN

24 16 GETTING TO KNOW STEPHEN DOWNING

25 17 FACE TO FACE AT LAST

26 18 JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE PARANOID DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE NOT AFTER YOU

27 19 WALKING IN ROBERT ERVIN’S SHADOW

28 20 CLANDESTINE MEETINGS

29 21 BATTLING BUREAUCRACY

30 22 THE TEA AND CAKES DEPARTMENT

31 23 THE COVER-UP

32 24 MULTIPLE MURDERS

33 25 THE NATIONAL INTEREST

34 26 THE WAITING GAME

35 27 THE LONGEST DAY

36 28 FACE TO FACE AGAIN

37 29 WELCOME HOME

38 30 FREEDOM

39 Epilogue

40 Enjoyed the Book?

41 About the Publisher

Landmarks CoverFrontmatterStart of ContentBackmatter

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Wendy Sewell

David Sewell

John Marshall

Stephen Downing

Ray Downing

Juanita Downing

Christine Downing

Mr Orange

Syd Oulsnam

Mr Red

Mr Blue (the running man)

The businessman

Robert Ervin

Port Vale

Chelsea

Spurs

PC Ernie Charlesworth

PC Ball

Detective Younger

Detective Johnson

Detective Rodney Jones

Detective Superintendent Tom Naylor

Chief Constable John Newing

Deputy Chief Constable Don Dovaston

Sam Fay

Jackie Dunn

Norman Taylor

Marcus Edwards

Matt Barlow

Nick Pryer ( Mail on Sunday )

Frank Curran ( Daily Star )

Matthew Parris ( The Times )

Rob Hollingsworth ( Sheffield Star )

Allan Taylor (Central Television)

Patrick McLoughlin MP

CCRC Commissioner Barry Capon

Charlie Carman

Wilf Walker

Peter Moran

Mr Watts

Mr Dawson

Louisa Hadfield

George Paling

Marie Bright

Jayne Atkins

Margaret Beebe

Ian Beebe

Lucy Beebe

John Osmaston

Rita

Ms Yellow

Cynthia Smithurst

Yvonne Spencer

Crabby

Steven Martin

A: Anthony Naylor’s grave on the lower path where Wendy was attacked, and where Stephen found her.

B: Sarah Bradbury’s grave where Wendy had moved to after Stephen returned with Wilf Walker, and where she was seen by the workmen.

C: The consecrated chapel. Jayne Atkins saw Wendy on the path behind here embracing a man.

D: The spot where little Ian Beebe saw Wendy as he cycled up the middle path.

E: The unconsecrated chapel used as the workmen’s store.

F: The Garden of Remembrance.

G: The Kissing Gate

H: The Gatekeeper’s Lodge, home of Wilf Walker.

I: The main cemetery gates.

J: The phone box.

K: The back gate to the cemetery through which Jayne Atkins entered and left.

L: Syd Oulsnam’s van was seen parked here.

M: Bakewell Methodist Junior School.

N: The spot where Louisa Hadfield saw the running man going towards Lady Manners School.

It was a cold, drizzly night in March 1995, and I was working late at the Matlock Mercury office, with no one but my dog Jess for company, when the phone rang. It was a young woman on the other end of the line. She said there was a large fire at a nearby farm, which sounded serious and newsworthy to me.

I quickly grabbed my gear, cameras and all, and jumped in my car with Jess, who snuggled in her blanket on the back seat as we travelled through the bleak Derbyshire hills in the direction of the fire.