Chapter 8: An Unusual Promotion

You also had no idea that Garth would go as far as he did. ‘I believe that you did not take an active part in either the killing of Keto or the disposal of his body.’

‘But in law, you are still guilty. That you have had so many regrets and thoughts about Keto since, is another point in your favour. That you did nothing even so, whilst not in any way good, is perfectly understandable.’

‘So, the situation is, that once the investigation starts, your life as you know it ends.’ Brian nodded sadly, clearly accepting it. ‘But there is always hope.’ Danny told him. ‘At this moment I cannot guarantee what I am about to suggest will work.’

‘But at this precise moment I have a good bit of control over the situation. Although, without any likelihood of recovering Keto’s body for his parents, I can’t do a lot. But I promise you that I will do everything I can to help you.’ Brian looked up surprised.

‘Really,’ he asked, ‘You’d do that for me, even after everything that I’ve told you?’ Danny just smiled at him. ‘Garth as the killer and the ringleader must receive very severe punishment for what he did. Taffy and Glynn must also be punished, but not quite as severely, as I feel sure they were considerably under Garths power.’

‘And of course, you also deserve to be punished. I’m sure you agree that that is only fair. But what is not quite as fair is that your wife, son and families are punished too. If I can find a way to keep you out of it, at least publicly, I will do so.’

‘When we leave here tonight you can return home whilst I look into all the options. I recommend that you don’t mention anything to anyone about what has happened here, especially to your wife. Once I know what’s happening, we can meet up again.’

‘The thought of going home after being certain he was going to be locked up and would never see his son again was too much for him, he burst into tears. Danny went round and sat beside him. Brian turned to him and held him.’

‘I can’t believe I’m going to see Janet and Jacob again,’ he managed to get out through his sobs. ‘Now you really know how Ketos parents are feeling.’ Danny told him. That made him cry even more. When he finally came to a stop he stood up and went to the sink.

After swilling his face, he returned to sit opposite Danny. He put both his hands out over the table and Danny took them both into his hands. ‘There’s one more thing I haven’t told you.’ Brian said. ‘You went back that night, didn’t you?’ Danny asked.

Brian looked at him in surprise. ‘How on earth... ‘ ‘You took the trouble to go back on a previous occasion,’ Danny said. ‘When you left Keto, you were even more worried about him based on what you’d heard and seen. The brother’s attitudes also concerned you.’

‘So, I thought it more than likely that you did, but I wanted you to want to tell me.’ ‘I owe it to you anyway.’ Brian said. He took a deep breath then said, ‘When I got home that evening, I had a shower and got changed. Then I started thinking about what I’d seen and the brother’s odd behaviour.’

‘I don’t know what made me decide to go out again, but I kept picturing Ketos still form lying on the field and it bothered me. The light was starting to fade as I left home. For some reason I went a longer way round, so that I didn’t pass the brother’s house.’

‘It also meant that I approached the field from the opposite direction. My intention was to just walk past the gate, glance in, see that Keto had gone and go back home. As I got near, I was walking alongside the far side of the field, but on the other side of the hedge.’

‘As I passed a small break in the bushes, I caught a glimpse of people moving in the field. When I reached the gate, I approached very cautiously and peeped round the hedge low down through the bars of the gate.’

‘I could see what looked like the three brothers standing up and Keto still lying on the grass alongside them. That seemed very strange. As I watched, one of the brothers must have jumped down into a hole because he suddenly went two feet shorter.’

‘Then he started shovelling soil out. I couldn’t tell for sure which brother was which now as it was getting darker. I watched for what seemed like ages. They were each taking turns to dig. Keto was lying very still. He didn’t seem to have moved at all since I had left earlier.’

‘I had a farfetched thought that they might have killed him and were about to bury him. I laughed to myself at the idea. Then I decided that whatever they were doing, I’d be in trouble if they found me spying on them.’

‘So, I set off back home the way I’d come. As I peeped through the break in the hedge as I passed, I could still see that one was in the hole.

I had a restless night thinking about what they could possibly be doing.’

‘But the only conclusion I could come up with was my original idea, the thought of which terrified me. Eventually I must have dozed off, but I woke again about six a.m. I knew the brothers never ever got up before at least nine.’

‘I got dressed, left a note for mum and slipped out as quietly as I could. I retraced my steps to the field gate. I peeped in very cautiously, but the field was deserted. Keto had gone too. I stood at the gate wondering what to do.’

‘I hadn’t seen a soul on my way to the field, so I climbed over the gate. I walked over to where we had all been. At first, I saw nothing, then I realised that there were odd bits of fresh soil on the grass. A closer inspection showed that sods had been dug out and then replaced.’

‘I traced the area that had been disturbed and was horrified to discover it was six foot long and two feet wide. I got out of there as fast as I could and returned home. By the time I saw the report in the local paper about Keto missing, I’d convinced myself it was my imagination.’

‘Then after Glynn told me, I felt sure that that was where Keto was buried.’ Brian went silent deep in thought. ‘I went back there a year to the day,’ Brian said. ‘You couldn’t tell anything had happened. All the grass had grown over it.’

‘I stood there briefly and told Keto I was so sorry. I haven’t been near since.’ Danny squeezed his hands. ‘Thank you for that,’ he said. ‘At least that narrows the search area down. Can you draw a plan of the feild and mark roughly where the grave is?’

Brian nodded, so Danny got him a sheet of paper, a pen and a ruler. Brian drew the field and showed the gate. He put the road name past the gate and the name of the road up the side of the field. Then he looked at it for a moment before putting a cross.

As Danny was about to speak, he added some numbers and writing. He passed it to Danny. In the bottom corner Brian had written, ‘Stand in the field with your back to the lefthand gate post. In the distance you can see a hill with a mast of some sort on it.’

‘Walk thirty-three paces towards it and mark the spot. Turn left and you’ll see a church steeple two fields away. Walk towards it until you reach the hedge. Do an about turn and walk back towards your marker ten paces. That is where the grave is.’

‘That’s brilliant Danny told him, what made you count it all out?’ ‘I had this bright idea of reporting where it was,’ Brian told him. ‘But when I thought it through properly, I decided I couldn’t risk it.’ ‘I’ll have to think how I can handle the discovery to protect you.’ Danny told him.

‘But if, as it seems, Keto is buried where your plan shows, I will do my best to get him accidentally found and the three brothers punished without involving you. But you must appreciate this isn’t the normal way of doing things.’

‘If we pull it off, no one will ever know of your involvement. But equally you will have to keep this meeting and our discussion to yourself for ever. You would also have to forget anything you heard about how the brothers were punished.’ ‘That would be a price I’d willingly pay.’ Brian said looking happy.

‘There’s another part of the price.’ Danny said. As Brian looked concerned, Danny told him, ‘You will be expected to be a good husband and father for the rest of your life.’ ‘That would be a pleasure.’ Brian said beaming happily.