Chapter 78

All Saints Church was a Grade I Listed building on the outskirts of Kendal. It had a tower, a long nave and a large, well-maintained graveyard. Poe had passed it many times but never had any reason to visit. A hard-boiled woman waited for them by the wooden lychgate.

‘She looks like she's just eaten a warm oyster,' Poe said, parking at the side of the road.

‘Are you Sergeant Poe?' she snapped before he'd had a chance to undo his seatbelt.

Poe got out of the car. ‘I am.' He showed her his ID.

‘What's this about then? Why do you want to look at my records?'

‘And you are?'

‘I'm Alana Williams, the senior churchwarden. And you can tell the bishop we have nothing to fear from an audit.'

‘The National Crime Agency doesn't do church audits, Mrs Williams,' Poe said. ‘And even if we did, I wouldn't.'

‘What do you want then?'

‘I honestly have no idea,' Poe admitted. ‘I've just been told to grab your records between 1985 and 2007. This is a murder investigation.'

‘A murder? Who's been murdered?'

Poe didn't answer. Instead, he said, ‘Do you have everything ready?'

Alana nodded. ‘Follow me,' she said.

She led them to the back of the church. One of the transepts, the parts of the church that form the arms of a cross-shaped floor plan, had been turned into office space for the clergy. There were two desks. Both were piled high with files, printouts and ledgers.

Alana opened a drawer and handed Poe half a dozen CD-ROMs.

‘I've put all our digital records on these,' she explained. ‘I wasn't sure what you wanted so you've got everything.'

‘That's OK,' Poe said. ‘The person who requested this loves data, the more the better.'

‘When can I have this back?'

‘I haven't taken it yet.'

Alana folded her arms.

‘As soon as possible,' Poe relented.

‘Tomorrow?'

‘Maybe next week.'

That seemed to be too long for Alana. Poe was wondering if he would need the bishop to intervene when a large book caught his eye. It was open and on a pedestal. It was A3 in size and thicker than his foot. It wasn't a Bible, as Poe could see handwritten entries.

‘What's this?' Poe said.

‘That's the log,' she replied.

‘And what's "the log"?'

‘Every time something happens in the church, it goes in here.'

‘What things?'

‘Weddings, funerals, repairs, extraordinary services. That type of thing.'

‘How far does it go back?'

‘A long time,' Alana said. ‘We'll start a new one when this is full, but as it only gets line entries, they last for years. I've included the previous log in the records you can take with you.'

‘How far back does this one go?' Poe asked.

‘I think it's coming up to twenty years now.'

‘We'll take this as well then.'

‘You can't; it's a working docu—'

‘Thanks,' Poe said, picking it up and handing it to Linus. ‘Take this to the car, Snoopy.'

Linus grabbed the logbook and a couple of lever-arch files.

‘I need that!' Alana said.

‘So do I,' Poe said. He grabbed a pile of records and followed Linus out of the church office and down the nave.

‘I really don't know how you get away with being so rude to people, Poe,' Linus said, shaking his head.

‘The secret is not to care,' Poe replied.