The body of a suspect in a murder enquiry is uncovered during work to the town fountain. He was Ray Radford, killed thirty years previous and thought to have killed his partner John Kennedy. A manhunt at the time involving DCI Winwood who had only recently been appointed as a detective failed to find Radford or identify any suspects. The case had led to accusations of corruption in both the police force and local Council.
Now that a body had been uncovered the case has to be re-opened and the question answered: if Radford killed Kennedy who killed Radford? The town’s workforce had lived in fear of Radford and even thirty years later few want to discuss the past.
Winwood has to interview people still alive who remember the case despite the hurt it causes. Winwood fears that his career and that of his superiors could be ended by the failures of the past and his inability to solve then now.
The investigation is aided by the fact that there is no public identification of Radford as the body in the fountain. The press are more interested in the discovery of a bag of bones in a utility trench which are identified as being those of a soldier in the English Civil War.
Winwood draws on the help of Christine Grey, Leader of the Council and Brian Stirling, Sergeant Emma Porter’s partner. They are able to access Council records and local tradespeople willing to talk. The trail leads to a suspect by means of advances in modern forensics to establish soil samples that marry up Radford and the Civil War soldier.
This is a much abridged edition of the first version published in April 2016.
