Chapter 5

‘Here, lad,' waistcoat man said to Poe. ‘You're that copper, aren't you?'

‘When I'm not on holiday.'

‘I thought you always had to be on duty?'

Poe drained his pint. ‘Tell me what's happened,' he sighed.

‘You need to follow me.'

After collecting his wallet and keys from the bar, Poe traipsed after the man. The street was still cold, the frost on the pavement glittering like smashed glass.

‘Where are we going?' Poe asked.

‘The church.'

‘St Michael's?'

‘Aye, lad.'

Poe stopped. After a couple of yards, the man turned to see why Poe was no longer biting his heels.

‘What's up?' he asked.

‘Do you have a name?'

‘Anthony Lawson.'

‘And what do you do, Anthony?'

‘I look after the church grounds.'

‘Is this about badgers digging up graves?'

‘You already know?'

‘A man ran into the bar fifteen minutes before you did. Said he'd been to put flowers on his mum's grave and the badgers had dug her up. It's unpleasant but it's not unheard of for them to burrow under graves and excavate human remains. They're protected, so can't be moved without rarely given permission.'

‘But—'

‘This isn't a police matter, Anthony,' Poe said firmly. ‘If you want a licence to remove them, you'll need to go through the proper channels.'

Anthony waited a moment. ‘Are you finished?' he asked.

‘I am. And now I'm going back to the Crown for a Scotch egg. I'll buy you a pint if you want me to talk you through your options.'

‘It's true, the badgers did tunnel underneath Mrs Hetherington's grave, lad, but that's not why I was sent to get you.'

‘No?'

‘You say badgers unearthing human remains is a civil matter?'

‘I do.'

‘But what if the remains they unearthed were never supposed to be there in the first place?'