‘I see now why this area attracts so many visitors.’ replied Ravenscroft, his face turned towards the welcoming rays of the afternoon sun.
The cab man flicked his whip and the cab continued its journey, turning first left, then right, then left again, and so on, down the steep meandering road, until the way ahead finally became straight and stretching into the distance. As they entered the village of Colwall they past a number of cottages, each with their own neat little gardens, until the cab halted on the edge of what Ravenscroft supposed to be the village green.
The two men alighted from the cab, and Crabb gave instructions to the driver that he was to wait for their return. There in front of them lay a row of black and white thatched cottages.
‘These are Old Lechmere’s Almshouses,’ said Crabb pointing at the buildings.
Outside the nearest cottage, two old men sat talking together and smoking long clay pipes.
‘Good day my man,’ said Crabb addressing the first man. ‘We have come to speak with Mr. Armitage. Do you know where he is?’
‘No good asking him. He can’t speak. Lost his tongue in an argument with his wife,’ said the second man indicating his companion.
‘Can you tell me where Mr. Armitage is then?’ asked Crabb.
‘No good asking me. I can’t ’ear yer. Lost me ’earing on account of my wife shouting so much!’ answered the first, old man laughing.
‘Come on Crabb, we will perhaps do better looking for him ourselves,’ interjected Ravenscroft, realising that any further attempts of conversation would be futile.
‘I think your right sir. Thank you gentlemen,’ said Crabb.
The two policemen moved on.
‘What did they want then?’ asked a voice behind them.
‘Wanted to know where young Armitage was,’ replied the second old man, ‘Told him we can’t help him on account of our wives.’
The two men chuckled.
‘Take no notice of them sir. Their brains be addled,’ said Crabb shaking his head.
They continued walking past a number of the cottages, until they reached a slightly larger building which was separated from the rest of the row.
‘I fancy this might be where the warden lives,’ suggested Crabb walking up a path, which ran between rows of red and white rose bushes, towards the front door. Before they could raise the knocker however, they were interrupted by a voice coming from the corner of the garden.
‘May I be of assistance to you two gentlemen?’
The speaker was a tall, thin gentleman, dressed in country attire and a garden apron, and sporting a fine long red flowing beard. Ravenscroft guessed his age to be around thirty years or so.
‘Do we have the pleasure of addressing Mr. Armitage?’ inquired Ravenscroft.
‘You do,’ replied the other
‘My name is Inspector Ravenscroft. This is Constable Crabb. We are investigating the death of Mr. Jabez Pitzer of Malvern Wells.’
‘Pitzer, dead you say? I was not aware that he had died,’ replied Armitage placing his gardening bucket on the ground before him, and wiping his dirty hands on his apron.
‘He died yesterday evening sir,’ said Crabb taking out his pocket book from his tunic.
‘What terrible news. How did he die?’
‘We have reason to believe that he was poisoned,’ said Ravenscroft.
Armitage turned away. ‘I don’t see what this has to do with me.’
‘We are trying to build up a picture of Mr. Pitzer’s business concerns, and we think you could be of assistance. I understand that he was one of the trustees of the almshouses?’
‘As indeed were a number of other gentlemen. The trust deed states that there shall always be ten trustees of the almshouse. They were founded in the 16th century, by a local benefactor, Sir Nicholas Lechmere.’
‘How long have you been warden here?’
‘Three years.’
‘We understand that you and Mr. Pitzer had a falling out over a few matters concerning the running of the almshouses,’ said Ravenscroft closely observing the young man’s expression.
‘Ah, I see you think I killed Pitzer because we had a falling out, as you said so eloquently put it sergeant,’ laughed Armitage picking up his bucket and moving off towards his doorway.
‘Inspector,’ corrected Ravenscroft.
‘Inspector, well then, this must indeed be a serious matter, if the Malvern Constabulary has secured the services of an inspector to investigate Pitzer’s death.’
‘This is not a matter to be taken lightly sir,’ said Crabb.
‘I am sure not. There was no offence intended.’
‘And none taken Mr. Armitage,’ said Ravenscroft, ‘You would oblige us though by informing us as to the nature of these differences of opinion, if you would be so kind.’
‘Oh dear Inspector, I’m sure that if I told you all about our little matters of difference of opinion, I would be in danger of detaining you here until the sun sets over that field.’
‘We have plenty of time at our disposal.’ Ravenscroft was becoming irritated by the warden’s casual manner.
‘Well I’m afraid I haven’t. Good day to you two gentlemen.’
Armitage went to enter his cottage but Crabb smartly moved to one side of the path, blocking his way.
‘Mr. Armitage, you will oblige us sir by answering our questions,’ said Ravenscroft using his best voice of authority. Armitage gave him an unwelcome stare, and sighed.
‘When I came here three years ago, I could see that the almshouses were in a poor state of disrepair. The buildings had been sadly neglected for many years, and the previous incumbent had spent the majority of his time in Tewkesbury instead of supervising the health and education of the old people. I merely suggested, upon a number of occasions, that the trustees spend more of the money that has been invested from old Lechmere’s bequest, on the improvement of the houses for the benefit of the residents.’
‘And the trustees refused?’ suggested Crabb, looking up from his notebook.
‘Let us say that they were not forthcoming. I know that some of them regard my ideas as being somewhat too liberal. Malvern is a very conservative town. It does not welcome change inspector.’
‘What radical ideas were those, Mr. Armitage?’ asked Ravenscroft, anxious to know more of the rift between Armitage and his employers.
‘I felt that we should be adopting a more outgoing approach; that we should extend our mission, for want of a better word, out towards.the less fortunate members of the village. I wanted to start classes for not only the residents but also those poor villagers who would benefit from them. I am a great believer in education for the poorer classes inspector.’
‘It all sounds a noble idea to me, Mr. Armitage. I cannot see why the trustees would object.’
‘Ah well, inspector that is where you are wrong. Pitzer and several of the trustees thought that my ideas would prove too radical for the people of Colwall, who might be tempted to stray from the straight and narrow. In other words I was regarded as a corrupting influence. Some of the trustees tried to remove me and replace me with another, who would be more in tune with their current conservative thinking.’
There was no doubting the bitterness of tone in Armitage’s voice.
‘The reverend Touchmore spoke of financial irregularities in the running of the almshouses,’ said Ravenscroft.
‘Touchmore is a silly old man who ought to keep his idle thoughts to himself,’ replied Armitage contemptuously.
‘You have charge of the finances of the almshouses?’
‘I have access to some finance. As the warden I am expected to attend to bills that may arise from time to time, in regard to the food, clothing and daily expenditure of the inmates.’
‘For which you keep accounts sir?’ asked Crabb.
‘For which I keep detailed accounts. Look I really don’t see the relevance of all this,’ replied Armitage throwing up his arms in the air.
‘It is for us to decide what is relevant, Mr. Armitage, and what is not. So Mr. Pitzer and the reverend Touchmore and some of the other trustees thought that the accounts were not in order?’ suggested Ravenscroft.