Midsomer Maiden |1| The Trials of Midsomer

21. A Worm In The Bud

In Midsomer Worthy, two young children, a brother and a sister, were walking through their local woods. The older of the two, Julie, was teasing her brother, telling him a story to frighten him. "The children walked through the woods for hours and hours. The trees got bigger and bigger and it was getting dark. There was lots of thunder and animals made horrid rustling noises in the night—foxes and wolves and a huge big bear."

Sean frowned uncertainly. "There's no bears."

"There was then," she assured him, rolling her eyes, "with fangs to eat you."

"Can we go back, Julie?"

She glanced back over her shoulder, widening her eyes for dramatic effect. "The bear's coming! Run, Sean!" She set off running, and he scrambled to keep up.

"Julie! Julie! Come back!" He tumbled over and got back to his feet hurriedly. But now, when he looked around, there was no sign of his sister. "... Julie? Where are you?" There was no reply. "I'll tell!"

Just then, she jumped out from behind a tree, pouncing on him. "Aaarrgh!" They tumbled down into a small dell, laughing.

And then Julie stopped laughing. Sean rolled over and followed her gaze, confused.

There was a woman lying face down in the undergrowth.

"Stay there," Julie ordered quietly, and something in her tone made Sean do as he was told. She crept toward the body tentatively, wishing she hadn't told that scary story earlier. Much as she would deny it if ever asked, she wasn't quite as fearless as she led her little brother to believe—but then who was? Nothing would ever get done if people weren't prepared to be brave every now and then.

Rapid footsteps scampered towards them, accompanied by a harsh, high-pitched barking. Julie leapt out of the way as a small Jack Russell shot past her and, afraid, she and her brother ran from the body.

***

At the court, half of the village were attending a case to which the judge was now giving his verdict. "I understand the feelings of the Midsomer Worthy community," he declared. "Setwale Wood has been a place of recreation for generations. Children play there, people walk their dogs, picnic, and I'm sure all sorts of things. But none of that alters the fact that the land belongs to Mr. Harrington. As for this long list of objections, nothing warrants an injunction to prevent Mr. Harrington selling his wood, nor Whitley Estates felling it."

The barrister representing the villagers shot to her feet. "With all due respect, your honour—"

"Ms. Sullivan," the judge sighed. "Whenever a barrister addresses the bench with those words it is because he or she is about to show no respect at all. Please, don't."

***

Twenty minutes later, Tom, Gavin and Freddie left the courthouse without the satisfaction they had hoped for in a different case. "Where do they get these judges?" Gavin complained. "The man burgled his way through every village in the county."

"You have such a keen sense of justice," Freddie teased. "Look, we catch the criminals, we offer up the evidence—after that it's out of our hands. Not everyone likes what happens in court. I mean, perhaps the judge is right. Perhaps one more chance is all the boy needs to turn his life around."

"Oh, look!" said Tom, pointing over her shoulder. He waited for her to look, and then added, "A squadron of pigs over Causton."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You can be terribly cantankerous sometimes, do you know that?"

He grinned. "Thank you, Winifred. I shall treasure that sentiment for the rest of my days."

As they made their way towards the car park, they headed towards a group of Midsomer Worthy's residents who were getting rather antagonistic towards a certain Mr. Harrington. "It's not finished," Simon Bartlett insisted.