Silver Glass

Chapter V: The Hanging Tree

Lying wastes more time than anything else in the modern world. -- Margery Allingham, The Tiger in the Smoke

Yo-han had witnessed some grisly spectacles in his career. The man whose chest had been sawn open and all his internal organs removed held the title for the most grisly. He had fierce competition, though, including the woman who had lost half of her face in a bear attack, the man who had spilled acid on his arms, and Rachael Patton-Langdale with a chunk blown out of her skull.

His history gave him an advantage. He could examine the murder victims relatively impassively while the police constable was trying not to be sick.

Both victims were hung by the neck from different branches of the tree. Both ropes had been cut from the same length of rope, which was unusually thick and had probably been taken from a boat. The bodies had been dragged over to the tree from somewhere across the lawn.

Victim one: Mrs. Lennox. She was fully dressed in a plain white frock, not an evening dress. Her hair had been pinned up. Now most of it hung loose and was matted with blood. Her expression was mildly surprised but not frightened. She hadn't seen her death coming.

She had been struck in the back of the head with a heavy, blunt object. The murderer had hit her with such force that part of her skull had caved in.

Victim two: Çelik Bey. He was shirtless. His face was contorted into a ghastly silent scream. He had certainly seen his death coming.

It was a cliché of crime novels to say someone's throat had been cut from ear to ear. Yet that was the only way to describe it. The murderer had slashed so deeply into his neck that they had almost decapitated him. The rope holding him up was looped around his chest under his arms, because his head would have been pulled off if the murderer tried to hang him by what remained of his neck. His chest and arms were sliced all over with shallow cuts.

Yo-han leaned in to get a closer look. All of them had been inflicted with a long, sharp blade. The cut throat had probably been inflicted with the same weapon.

He was used to gory sights. All the same, he was glad the news had arrived before he had time to have breakfast.

Constable Martin wasn't so lucky. In the background Yo-han could hear him losing the fight to keep his food down.

After a careful examination Yo-han had reached several conclusions.

"They were both attacked from behind," he said. "They were facing each other. I think Mrs. Lennox died first, and Çelik Bey saw her death right before he was killed. Then they were dragged here from the scene of the crime. See the trail in the grass? Çelik Bey was stripped after death. Notice how there's very little blood from his throat; most of it went onto his shirt. These cuts were also inflicted posthumously. We're looking for at least two murderers of above average strength, with a personal grudge against Çelik Bey."

Constable Martin staggered over, still looking green. "It was her husband."

Yo-han raised an eyebrow. The thought had occurred to him when he first heard of the murder, but had been dismissed as soon as he saw the bodies. "How do you know?"

Martin shrugged. "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Wife is unfaithful, jealous husband kills her and her lover."

"So why mutilate the lover when the worst betrayer was the wife?"

"Because he still loved her." Martin seemed to think this was final.

Yo-han thought it was proof he'd read too many penny-dreadfuls.

"I happen to know that Lord Kilskeery is suffering from a long illness. Do you think a sick man could commit two murders, almost simultaneously but with different weapons, and then drag both bodies a considerable distance before hauling them up into a tree?"