He was aware of Snetterton’s avid gaze locked on his weapon, but ignored him as he carefully placed with wicked looking object on the table.
Snetterton began to talk. At first, the words tumbled out in such rapid succession that it was difficult to make sense of what he was saying. However, the man eventually confessed to using Church funds, without Reverend Pott’s knowledge, to pay Meldrew. The discord between the vicar and the verger was more than enough to ensure that Snetterton went against the vicar’s wishes.
Meldrew offered to ‘deal’ with Potts as long as Snetterton continued to pay.
“So you agreed,” Hugo drawled with a shake of his head. It wasn’t a question.
“I didn’t think that Meldrew would kill the bloody man. I got threatened by his thugs one night on the way home. I just thought they would do the same with Potts. I didn’t think I would walk across the churchyard that morning, and find him dead.”
“It wasn’t your place to agree to pay Meldrew anything out of church funds though, Snetterton,” Hugo challenged. “I don’t believe you for one second.”
Silence settled over the room while Hugo left the man to think his situation through again.
“I think that you knew that Potts would find out about your thefts because he was already suspicious about you, and didn’t like you any more than you liked him. You knew that he would discover the altered ledger eventually. I think that you are using Meldrew’s threats as an excuse to cover your own crimes. After all, Meldrew has a notorious reputation for taking a hard stance against anybody who doesn’t agree to his demands. This is Hemsley, a village where bodies of the protesters appear regularly. People already knew about the damaged church contents, and attempted arson. They would just assume that Potts was another of Meldrew’s victims who had refused to pay, wouldn’t they? Only, unfortunately for you, Potts left a diary and the ledger, as proof that you were the guilty one.”
Barnaby sighed. “You haven’t notified his family about his death have you?”
Snetterton slowly shook his head.
“You haven’t notified the Bishop either, have you?”
Snetterton shook his head again.
“You have been gathering information for Meldrew, haven’t you?” Hugo demanded.
“No, I haven’t,” Snetterton sighed, apparently defeated under the weight of the mounting evidence.
“Liar,” Hugo growled. “We saw a pouch of money pass hands. We thought that you were paying Meldrew, but you weren’t at all, were you? You were receiving money for the information you gathered from listening to the parishioner’s gossip, and collecting money for him. You have been taking the church funds for yourself. I have no doubt that somewhere in that rectory, we will find a huge wad of money that you have purloined over time.”
Snetterton swallowed, and ducked his head.
Hetty shifted, she knew from the sl
ump of the verger’s shoulders that Hugo had just hit the nail on the head. She had never seen anything like this before in her life, and was more than a little appalled at just how ruthlessly scheming Snetterton had been.
“Right,” Hugo said as he leaned on the table.
He picked up a quill and began to write on some parchment. “I am going to make a statement that says you have been stealing from church funds. I am also going to state that you have failed to notify the Church authorities about the Reverend Potts’ death, nor have you notified his family. As such, you had no authority to bury Reverend Potts. It’s as simple as that. Until I have evidence from Meldrew that states otherwise, I have no reason to doubt that you were the one who murdered Reverend Potts. As such, I am therefore placing you under arrest for murder.”
“It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me,” Snetterton gasped. He lapsed into silence when Hugo speared him with a dark look.
“Come again?”
Snetterton stared at him before he slumped in his chair in defeat.
“I put it to you that it was you, and it is for you to prove otherwise in a proper court of law,” Hugo challenged. “Because the magistrate in this county is breaking the law himself, and overstepping the bounds of his authority, we cannot transport you to jail at this moment. However, as soon as it is possible, we shall transfer you to prison to await trial for theft and murder.”
Hugo continued to write for several moments while Barnaby moved to release the bindings that held Snetterton confined to the chair.
Charlie suddenly pushed away from the wall, opened the door, and motioned to Hetty to leave the room. Once outside, he closed the door behind them and turned to look at her.
“It is done now. Hugo won’t let up on him until he has signed the confession. Once we have his signature, we can move in on Meldrew. We should have enough to ensure that we can arrest Snetterton, and send him for trial for Arthur’s murder,” Charlie declared with no small measure of satisfaction.
“Is it really that easy?” Hetty asked dubiously.
If she was honest, she was glad to be able to get out of the room. Although what she had just witnessed was impressive, it was horrible to think that she had been in the same room as a cold-blooded killer.
“This part is,” Charlie acknowledged, but lapsed into silence when the door opened and Wally and Simon moved out of the room and came to join them.