Midwynnter Murder - Solving the Crime

This is my solution of the crime posed by Colin, the tutor of the Writers Workshop of U3A Clarence, as a challenge to the members of the Workshop that each respond with their solution of the crime. Colin's challenge story, Stab in the Dark, is linked.


"This is a simple case, Sergeant, and we will solve it. All the clues we need are here! The forensic team will arrive shortly to examine and photograph the body. As forensics is your particular area of expertise I want you to examine the footprints in the snow. Find their source and track them to the house and give me a report."

"I have already been completely around the house, Inspector. There are no footprints leaving the house at any point. Our own car tracks are the only ones coming to the house. The constable will ensure nobody leaves by the road. This murder looks like an inside job."

"It certainly looks that way. As it is not yet light enough for you to study the footprints, let us first interview everyone in the house."

The guests and The Grange household were gathered in the lounge, presumably for safety, for no-one risked being anywhere alone with a murderer loose in the house.

"Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention, please?"

This was hardly a necessary question for anxious eyes had already been drawn to the policemen the moment they had entered the room.

"I am Detective Chief Inspector Lindridge, in charge of investigations, assisted by Sergeant Frances Coll. Until further notice, I want everyone to remain in this room, unless directed otherwise. There are twelve of you, and when asked, each of you, in turn, will proceed to your room, the six lady guests accompanied by Sergeant Coll, the rest by me. You are to open all drawers, cupboards, suitcases, and the like, to enable an examination of your belongings. Also, please answer any questions we put to you. It will only take a few minutes and you will be helping with our inquiries."

Within half an hour the inspections were completed. When everyone had reassembled in the lounge the inspector gave an update of proceedings, "A short while ago, Colin's body was removed from The Grange. Although you may not choose to do so, you are now free to go into the room where today's tragic event occurred. Now that it is day, Sergeant Coll and I will inspect The Grange grounds and vicinity. I shall return, as soon as possible, to inform you of our progress. Meantime, George will be in charge, with instructions to allow nobody to leave the house or walk in the snow."

No sooner had the inspector left the room than George called for attention.

"Colin's death is a terrible tragedy but we must accept the situation and carry on. Food and refreshments are essential but on this holiday we can get nothing from Midwynnter. In fact, we have more supplies, here and now, than we could get anywhere in the next week. My staff, who knew Colin so well, is far more likely to be upset than you, my guests. What I suggest, therefore, is that we do as the army used to do on Christmas Day. Then, the officers cooked the Christmas dinner and served the other ranks, and so I am inviting you, my guests, to reverse your roles and prepare Christmas dinner for my staff."

A murmur of approval surged through the guests. Appleby attempted to say that he felt able to continue but he was quickly shushed. Mickey, reversing his role, offered to get him a drink. Pauline, who had found Colin, and was still distraught despite the sympathetic comforting of all, raised a smile.

"Colin wouldn't have wanted us to be sad for any reason at Christmas," said Susan, the housemaid. "That wasn't his nature."

"Life must go on," said Mary, philosophical as ever.

An hour later, D. C. I. Lindridge re-entered the house. He was surprised at the changed atmosphere. The gloom prevailing when he had left had been replaced by a different mood. Though there was no merriment, sadness had waned, with everyone helping cook the dinner, and hardly a thought that one of their number may be Colin's killer.

"This is remarkable, George, a murderer at large yet everyone is bucking in to help."

"I think we may redeem some joy from this sad Christmas."

"Wonderful, and I have some progress to report. Can I leave it to you to get them back into the lounge-room in five minutes time?"

"Yes, Inspector, they will be there."

The thoughts in the minds of the guests were that they would be required to stay on at The Grange for several days and that delays and cancellations were inevitable.

"This will take ages if they stop to give hourly updates," said someone.

"The 'laws delay'," another commented sarcastically.

The inspector began, "When I spoke to the staff this morning, Pauline mentioned Colin's girlfriend, Vera. I went to Midwynnter and gave Vera the grievous news. She sent a telegram to Colin's folk who live in Kent. Though Vera was understandably upset she has come here with me to help with our inquiries. She is in the spare room so I will ask her to join us."

Vera entered and a wave of sympathy arose from all, particularly the staff, for they all knew her quite well. After a couple of minutes everyone settled down to hear the inspector's report.

"The basis of this investigation stands is the assembling of a sequence of facts and presenting evidence that fits the person responsible for the crime. There is a time and place for imaginative deduction, but the "Sherlock Holmes" element is of little use without tangible evidence to support it. Meticulous, painstaking attention to detail is needed. In that task I have a most diligent assistant, Sergeant Coll, who at this very moment is still gathering evidence but will be here in a few minutes.

You were all at the murder scene some hours ago, but not beyond it. Outside the backdoor were Colin's footprints in the snow. Almost alongside them was another line of footprints. Sergeant Coll thought Colin may have been followed. 'Maybe,' I said, 'but where did the murderer go after the deed was done?' 'Not sure, Sir,' said Sergeant Coll, who then made a circuit of the house but found no footprints leaving the house!

The murder certainly looked like an inside job and that possibility initiated the inspection of everyone's belongings, this morning. What, if anything, did we find? And what did we not find?

But let us return to the evidence we do have, namely, the footprints in the snow. One of the two tracks was made by Colin. Let us assume that the other track was trodden by his murderer. Colin's usual practice was to arrive at The Grange before dawn. Last night, because of the snow, he had no path to guide him. He would have had to use a torch to light his way in crossing the featureless snowfield on a pitch-black, moonless night.

The two lines of footprints alongside each other imply that Colin was accompanied by somebody he knew. Perhaps it was snowing and they walked side-by-side to share an umbrella or were arm-in-arm. Again, we are lead to think that Colin and his companion were acquainted.

Naturally, you will think his companion was Vera. She has come to The Grange with Colin a number of times and is well-known to the staff. Vera said that she did not accompany Colin here last night. But let Vera tell you, herself."

"Yesterday afternoon," Vera began, "Colin and I went ice-skating. Last night we went dancing at the Palais. After the dance, we had supper and then strolled to the big oak-tree on the edge of Midwynnter, not far from The Grange boundary gate. Colin had to go to work at The Grange but he had plenty of time and as it was snowing heavily we stayed under the oak-tree. After a couple of hours the snow eased off somewhat and we could see the stars and this was the appropriate moment for Colin to leave. He went one way, and I the other and went home. I knew nothing of what happened until the Inspector told me about it, this morning."

"Thank you, Vera. So, the mystery deepens. Whose footprints were those next to Colin's? Sergeant Coll went to the oak-tree and took samples of the rubbish on the ground below its boughs. It consisted of leaves, acorns, debris, dirt and such detritus. She then examined Colin's footprints and found deposits of this same material gradually diminishing in the first dozen or so steps. Clearly the detritus had come from Colin's boots. Cross-sections of these steps revealed a very thin layer of fresh snow on top of the detritus. This, we would expect, given that Vera told us that Colin set out while it was still snowing lightly.

What of the accompanying track? Each footprint had the same degree of detritus as was found in Colin's footprints. However, there was one big difference. There was no fresh snow covering the detritus!

It appears, then, that Colin was followed after it had stopped snowing. That person would also have needed torchlight to be able to walk a fresh track alongside that of Colin. But why do that? Why not follow the track already made by Colin? Perhaps it was done deliberately to appear as though Colin were accompanied.

At The Grange end of Colin's track, his footprints were in a pristine state, the snow evidently having stopped falling before he arrived.

Colin began his task of setting the fire by bringing kindling and small logs into the kitchen. At some stage, the murderer arrived. Colin was stabbed with a long-handled kitchen knife, virtually a two-handed weapon, that even a weakling could wield with telling effect. Who killed Colin? What was the motive? Was it a crime of passion? Something provoked the murder, perhaps a quarrel. Was it opportunistic in that the murderer realised that with a dozen people in the house, including seven guests, it would be almost impossible to pin the crime on anyone? I think the murderer was someone Colin knew. It would have been futile for a stranger to arrive at the house and find the door locked and Colin flatly refusing to open it.

One small detail nagged me! Where was Colin's torch? We could not find it. When everyone's things were searched it was not found. There had to be a reason why it was missing. Who would take it? The murderer! Why did the murderer not use their own torch? Simple! The murderer did not have a torch! Clearly, then, the murderer did not follow Colin's tracks after the snow had stopped falling, as it first appeared to be. No! The murderer had always been Colin's companion and they had arrived at the house together. The killer had not planned the murder and so had neither carried a torch, nor the murder weapon. Why would the murderer take Colin's torch? Presumably, to light their way in the pitch darkness to get away from The Grange. But where are the footprints in the snow that one would expect to find?

Think again of the start of the two tracks from the oak-tree. Colin's footprints had their detritus covered with a tiny amount of fresh snow. His companion's footprints had similar detritus but no snow covering. How can that be when they walked side-by-side? What happened to the snow cover?"

There was a knock on the door.

"Ah! That will be Sergeant Coll. Come in Sergeant. What have your latest explorations revealed?"

"As you requested, I have made a similar examination of the footsteps at The Grange end of the tracks as I did at the oak-tree end."

"And what have you found?"

"I sprayed Colin's footprints with Snow Print Wax which as you know holds the details of an impression. They matched his boots exactly. Also, his footprints were completely free of detritus. It had been deposited much earlier in his path at the oak-tree end."

"What of the other set of footprints?"

"As we suspected, Colin and his companion walked side-by-side and arrived simultaneously. One would expect the companion's footprints, just like Colin's, to be entirely free of detritus. However, they were not! The final dozen or so steps to the backdoor held tiny deposits of wood residue, bark, ash, sawdust and splinters."

"And what do you make of that, Sergeant?"

"Clearly, the wood particles must have been picked up from the kitchen floor. How, then, did the fragments get into those last few footsteps as they approached the backdoor? Another odd thing is that the quantity of fragments was less and less the further from the backdoor. That would seem to be impossible unless the person left the house and walked backwards into their own footsteps. If ever I meet the person who walked backwards I meet the murderer."

"Sergeant, meet Vera!"

Gasps of surprise arose here and there from some of those present while others seemed puzzled by the inspector's somewhat ambiguous remark. What did he mean? Was he simply introducing Vera to the sergeant, or was he implying that Vera was the murderer? Vera was clearly taken aback for she had turned quite pale. Her mouth had dropped open and her bulging eyes were fixed on the inspector.

"Vera, you are under arrest for the murder of Colin. Sergeant, please escort Vera to the station to complete formal charges and to take her statement. I will join you once I have finalised things here."

When the inspector turned to face his audience, he noted the looks of astonishment and quizzical looks of disbelief.

"Undoubtedly you are surprised at the sudden turn of events. You will recall the mystery of Colin's missing torch. Well, here it is."

The inspector put his hand into his pocket and withdrew a torch.

"George has confirmed that this is the torch he gave Colin. He recognised this dent on its barrel sustained when, weeks ago, it fell to the floor. I see by your nods that you also know it to be Colin's. Where did I find it? Not here at The Grange but at Vera's home. While I was there this morning I looked for it and saw it on a shelf. As we were about to leave to make our way here, I secreted it into my pocket.

Vera took the torch to make her escape from The Grange. From what you may have already assessed from Sergeant Coll's comment, you, quite possibly, have worked out that Vera walked backwards all the way to the oak-tree. It can now be seen why there was no snow cover over the detritus of her footsteps at the oak-tree end of her track. The snow had simply been crushed flat when she stepped on it.

You may wonder how Vera was able to walk backwards with such skill and care. But recall what she said: She and Colin went ice skating. For many, skating is easier to negotiate backwards rather than forwards. They then went dancing, an activity in which the man leads and the woman proceeds backwards. As clever as was Vera's escape it ultimately led to her capture. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I must away. A Happy New Year to you all."

Previous | Top | Home | Next