Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

He had been assured by his good friend, Sir Hugo, that help would be sent. After this, he knew he was going to need all the assistance he could get.

The presence of ‘outsiders’ investigating poor Felicity’s death, and the others’ disappearance would reassure the villagers, but also unsettle them at the same time

. Strangers couldn’t be trusted. That was what the villagers firmly believed anyway. That said, if it became known the Star Elite were in the village to hunt for clues, and the killer was nearby, their presence might be enough to stop this horrendous barbarity once and for all. He hoped so in any case.

“I want you to tell nobody about this right now,” Weeks ordered the farmer, Mr Benson. “I need time to tell the family. I am sure you understand.” It wasn’t a question. He didn’t care if the farmer understood or not.

Mr Benson nodded. “Aye, you can count on me.”

“Leave this to us. For now, just go home and discuss this with nobody. When you hear news of the death then you can mention you were the one who found her if you like, it is up to you. We aren’t going to make it public for now. We will just tell everyone that a member of the public found her and leave it at that.”

Mr Benson nodded gratefully. He was aware of the rather judgemental characteristics of some of the villagers who would make his life Hell if they chose to suspect him.

“I need to ask you some more questions at some point, Mr Benson,” Weeks declared with a nod. “So, don’t go anywhere.”

“Aye. You take as long as you want. Do you want to use my cart? You know, for er-” He waved ineffectually at the body.

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. She must go to the mortuary for the doctor to examine. I will send one of my men over to get the mortuary cart over here. Leave that to us, Mr Benson. Thank you.”

Weeks nodded dismissively and waited until the farmer had left the area.

“Do you think he is responsible?” Herriman asked when the man had gone.

“We cannot take anything for granted in this game,” Weeks replied. “We have to consider every possibility, and person, until we can rule them out.”

“Are we still going to be involved in the investigation once the Star Elite arrive?” Dixon frowned. He wasn’t at all sure whether he wanted to work with anyone on this. It felt as though it was a private matter seeing as he lived in the village himself. He didn’t see why Weeks had felt the need to call in help from anybody, but of course, he didn’t say as much to Weeks.

He had heard, through gossip running rife amongst lawman circles, that the Star Elite were a formidable force nobody really would be wise to mess with. They had connections in high places, and authority to do practically anything they wanted to do, whenever they wanted. No doors could be barred to them, and nobody was in any position to deny them anything they wanted. There were rumours afoot amongst his contacts in Derbyshire that the Star Elite were solely responsible for the demise of Terrance Sayers, a well-known gangster whose crimes had infiltrated practically every county. While details were sketchy, the sudden disappearance of the gangster, together with the cessation of his many criminal activities, together with the local and regional gaols suddenly bursting at the seams had generated a lot of speculation. Of course, nothing could be proven, such was the nature of the organisation everyone talked of, but nobody really knew much about.

Despite this, Dixon still didn’t want to work with them.

“We are going to have to assist them, but we won’t be part of their investigation unless they ask us for our involvement,” Weeks replied cautiously. “I hate to say it, but this is completely out of our remit. I have no experience in anything like this.” He waved to the young girl at their feet.

“This is far too close to home,” Herriman replied.

“I do hope they hurry up,” Dixon replied as he pushed to his feet. He turned around and, with his back to the woods, stared at the village he called home. “I think we have got a killer in our midst.”

“Well, let’s get her moved. She can’t stay here like this. The sun will be warming up soon and this situation is going to get worse,” Weeks murmured as he quickly moved to his horse, and away from the stench that hovered over all of them.

He didn’t think he would ever be able to forget the smell he had endured this morning. It was something that would remain with him for the rest of his life, he was sure of it. To think of someone – anyone – working with such things and not being disturbed by it was, well, disturbing. With a shudder, he put as much distance between him and the corpse as he could, and began to suck in deep breaths of fresh, clean air as soon as he was able. It did little to ease the churning in his stomach, though, and he swallowed uncomfortably as he turned his horse around.

“I am going to see the family and will then go home to see if the Star Elite has arrived. You had better go and notify the doctor and get her moved to wherever he wants. Keep this quiet, though. I don’t want this discussing right now.”

“What do we do about the search parties?” Herriman asked. “They are still looking for her.”

“Just tell them-” Weeks paused and thought about that. He shook his head, well aware that most of the villagers had been out searching for Felicity since her father had raised the alarm in the tavern late last night. Thankfully, none of the search parties had ventured this far given how poor the light was, but it would only be a matter of time before one of them did.

“I can’t leave them to keep searching,” he muttered.

“What’s that?” Herriman asked with a scowl.

“Tell them she has been found, but don’t give any details right now.”

“They will want to know,” Dixon warned.

“Well, for now just stay out of the way. Herriman, you go and get the doctor and don’t delay or stop to talk to anybody. Get the body covered and out of the area within the hour if you can. I don’t want a load of hawkers up here. By the time you have it sorted, I will have informed her parents. They can tell me what they want people to know.”

“Want me to come with you?” Dixon offered helpfully.