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After twenty five years on 20 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: the force, Chief Inspector Robert Fabian was days away from 21 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 1: retirement when he got an urgent call at his office 22 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: in London's Scotland Yard, headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police. 23 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: Fabian was widely considered the most accomplished detective of his time. 24 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: He sat listening patiently as the caller laid out the 25 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: horrific details of a strange murder that occurred only the 26 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: day before out in the depths of the English countryside. 27 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: The victim, seventy four year old Charles Walton, had been 28 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: butchered in broad daylight while at work near his home 29 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: in Lower Quinton, a small village in the County of 30 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: Warwickshire on the northern fringe of the Cotswoltz, about one 31 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: hundred miles northwest of London. In short, as the caller explained, 32 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: the Warwickshire Criminal Investigation Department drafted in to help. The 33 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: local police force had never dealt with anything like it before. 34 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 1: They needed someone with Fabian's expertise to help. Chief Inspector 35 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: Fabian jumped at the chance. After all, what better way 36 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: to enter his career than helping to solve a murder 37 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,959 Speaker 1: that might just be the most unusual and brutal he'd 38 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: ever come across. The following day, February sixteenth, just as 39 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: dawn was breaking, Fabian and his partner, Detective Sergeant Albert Webb, 40 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: set off together for the village of Lower Quinton. Robert 41 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: Fabian was a city man through and through, and very 42 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: much a city police officer. Born in South London in 43 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,799 Speaker 1: nineteen oh one, he joined the London's Metropolitan Police at 44 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: the age of twenty and had dedicated more than half 45 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: his life to the service. By contrast to his usual 46 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: gritty city beat, Lower Quinton appeared the epitome of pastoral bliss, 47 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: with its chocolate box cottages and thatched roofs and its 48 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: two pubs around a quaint village square. However, as he 49 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: stepped out of the car on that first morning and 50 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: took it all in, there was no reason for Fabian 51 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: to expect the investigation to be different to any other 52 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: that he'd dealt with. But it wasn't long before he'd 53 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: be proved very wrong. Indeed, it began with a debris 54 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: from Superintendent Alex Spooner of Warwickshire's CID, who was on 55 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: hand to assist them with anything they needed. As Spooner explained, 56 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: Charles's niece Edith and her neighbor Harry Beasley were the 57 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: first on the scene, along with local landowner and Charles's 58 00:03:55,480 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: employer Alfred Potter. Or three had trampled liberally over the site, 59 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: as had many of the law enforcement officers who'd arrived later. 60 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: Some including Alfred, had even handled the murder weapons with 61 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: their bare hands. In the end, two police officers had 62 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: worked together to pull the pitchfork out of Charles's neck. 63 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 1: Trying to find a print for the culprit would now 64 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: be near impossible. What the local police had managed to secure, however, 65 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: was a fairly decent idea of Charles's last known movements. 66 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 1: At least that was according to Alfred Potter. Back on 67 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: the night Charles's body was found, the first investigator to 68 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: arrive was Detective Inspector Tombs. With Edith and Harry having 69 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: gone home already, it felt Alfred to fill the detective 70 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: in on what he knew. After introducing himself as Charles's employer, 71 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: he explained shakily that he Edith and Harry had he 72 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: found the body at about six thirty pm that evening. 73 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 1: He was as shocked as anyone to find Charles in 74 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: that state and had no idea who could possibly have 75 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: done it, Being potentially the last known person to have 76 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: seen Charles alive. Inspector Tombs asked Alfred to give a 77 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: statement on his movements that day. Alfred explained that after 78 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: a fairly standard morning overseeing the farm and tending to 79 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,559 Speaker 1: some animals, he stopped in at the village's College Arms 80 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: Pub around eleven forty five a m. To meet his 81 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: friend and fellow farmer, Joseph Stanley. Then about fifteen minutes later, 82 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: the pair walked back to Stanley's farm, where Potter said 83 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: he stayed for about ten minutes before he made another 84 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: round of his own fields, tending again to his sheep 85 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: and cattle, and that was when he apparently saw Charles, 86 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,239 Speaker 1: dressed in a long sleeved shirt, five hundred yards away 87 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: in a field adjoining hill ground near Mean Hill. That 88 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: must have been around twelve thirty, he thought. Alfred then 89 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: claimed to have returned home, where he helped another of 90 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: his employees before he broke for lunch around one o'clock. 91 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: It was shortly after that that he received the news 92 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: that one of his heifers had been spotted in a ditch. 93 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: Alfred said he then drove to the nearby village of 94 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: Lower Clopton to borrow a tractor from another farmer that 95 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: he used to remove the heifer and return it to 96 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: his field. Later. On returning home, he thought he saw 97 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: Charles again through the upstairs window of his farmhouse, which 98 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: would have been some time around two pm. Thinking on it, 99 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: then he reckoned at that time, Charles couldn't have had 100 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: more than ten yards of hedge left to trim. He 101 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: estimated that he'd only made it another four or five 102 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: yards before he was murdered, Since that would have taken 103 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: about half an hour, he figured that Charles must have 104 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: been murdered around two thirty PM, not long after he'd 105 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: last seen him, and with that Alfred was finally allowed 106 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 1: to go home too. At one thirty a m. Charles 107 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: Walton's body was lifted onto an old farm gate and 108 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: transported to Stratford for an autopsy. There, medical examiner doctor 109 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: James Webster determined that he had indeed most likely been 110 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: killed around one or two PM, just as Alfred Potter's 111 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: account attested. For all the savagery of the crime, the 112 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: met Police's Inspector Fabian couldn't help but notice there was 113 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: also something unnervingly personal about it. The way Charles had 114 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: been slaughtered, with his own belongings pinned to the ground 115 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: by his own pitchfork. It felt like his assailant was 116 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: deliberately mocking him, suggesting the possibility that the murderer was 117 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: well known to Charles. Yet from what Superintendent Spooner had 118 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: gleaned so far, Charles didn't appear to have any enemies, 119 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: at least no one that anyone in the village was 120 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: aware of, though Fabian knew only too well that stood 121 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: for very little. Others began to suspect that Charles was 122 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: simply the victim of a random attack, a mugging gone awry, perhaps. 123 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: When Charles's body was searched by officers, they found the 124 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: chain of a pocket watch hanging from his waistcoat, but 125 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: no sign of his actual watch. Edith told police he 126 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: never went anywhere without it, had it been stolen in 127 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: the attack they wandered. An empty money belt was also 128 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: found around his waist that appeared to have been loosened, 129 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: but Inspector Fabian wasn't sure, as he knew well most 130 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: murders were committed by people known to the victim, so 131 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: despite Spooner's insistence that the man had no enemies, he 132 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: and Detective Webb resolved to find out for themselves. Together 133 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: they interviewed every single one of the villagers from Lower Quinton, 134 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: as well as some from the adjoining villages of Upper 135 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: Quinton and Amdington, all four hundred and ninety three of them, 136 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: and almost without exception, no one wanted to say anything. 137 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: It was hard for the urbanite fabian to tell if 138 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: this was by design or simply the way of the 139 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: people out there. Few offered more than a requisite grunt 140 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: when asked if they'd known Charles or not, and when 141 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: pressed on whether they had any idea why he might 142 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: have been murdered, no one appeared to have the faintest clue. 143 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: But slowly, one possible angle did begin to emerge. Despite 144 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: his humble appearance, it was discovered that Charles was an 145 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: astute savour and was apparently seen taking a sizeable sum 146 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: of money out of a savings account only the day 147 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: before he was murdered. While some said he never went 148 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: anywhere with money on him, others that he often carried 149 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: money in his money belt, the same he'd been wearing 150 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: the day he died, which was found empty. Another rumor 151 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: that sprung up among the residents of Lower Quinton was 152 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: that Charles had been lending money to someone in the village, 153 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: but had suddenly reneged on the agreement. Perhaps this had 154 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: driven the lonely to murder him in return, they speculated. 155 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: Either way, no one was prepared to say who that 156 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: mystery person might have been. One local resident said cryptically 157 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: that the man who did it was still in the village, 158 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: but again frustratingly refused to offer a name. It was 159 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,959 Speaker 1: all news to Charles's niece Edith, as far as she knew, 160 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 1: Charles rarely carried money on him, evidenced by the fact 161 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: that he even left his purse at home on the 162 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: kitchen table the day he died, though she made no 163 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: mention of the apparent money belt he was found to 164 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: be wearing. Another possibility that routinely came up in Inspector 165 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: Fabian's interviews with the villagers was that Charles might have 166 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: been attacked by a prisoner of war. As it happened, 167 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: there was a sizeable pow camp just a few miles 168 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: away at Long Marston, holding men from Germany, Italy and 169 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: the Ukraine. After all, as some of them said, the 170 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: way Charles had been murdered, it just wasn't very English, 171 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: was it. One local vicar even went as far as 172 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: to suggest there was something distinctly Italian about the way 173 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: he'd been brutally mutilated. Although no one had recently escaped 174 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: from the prison, it wasn't entirely out of the question 175 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: that one of them might have been responsible. Many prisoners 176 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: were put to work on farms, and were occasionally allowed 177 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: out to attend the local theater and cinema, and so 178 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: Over the next few days, one thousand and forty three 179 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: inmates were asked for their whereabouts on the day in question. 180 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: Most had cast iron alibis or were nowhere near the 181 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: scene at the time. Then a report came in from 182 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: a local baker's assistant who claimed to have seen a 183 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: man who he knew to be in Italian pow close 184 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: to the scene of the murder, right about the time 185 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: that Charles Walton was thought to have been killed. The 186 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: man was said to have been seen crouching in a 187 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: ditch washing blood off his hands. Incredibly, the prisoner in 188 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: question was quickly identified by the police when they searched 189 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: his bunk. Despite his protestations of innocence, a jacket was 190 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: found stained with blood. With great anticipation, the jacket was 191 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: sent to a lab for analysis, while a team of 192 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: soldiers were despatched to the spot where he'd been sighted 193 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:57,199 Speaker 1: to help the police look for more clues. A short 194 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: time later, one soldier was scouring the air with a 195 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: metal detector looking for any potential contraband or further murder weapons. 196 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: Pointing the device into a hedgerow, a loud squeal rang 197 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: out of his headphones. He jumped excitedly into the bush 198 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: and pushed back the foliage to find a crude rabbit trap. 199 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: Sure enough, when the blood work on the Italian POW's 200 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: coat came back from the lab, it was found to 201 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 1: be rabbit blood. The prisoner had merely been poaching rabbits. 202 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: In truth, it was virtually unheard of for a pow 203 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: to attack a civilian member of the public, let alone 204 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: murder them. Italian soldiers, in particular, had a respectable reputation 205 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: for being well behaved. Day after day, the police returned 206 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: to the scene of the crime to comb the area 207 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: for more clues. Every distinguishable footprint they could find was 208 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: filled with plaster and cross checked with possible owners, as 209 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: were the huge array of fingerprints found on the murder weapons. 210 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: All were traced back to owners that appeared to have 211 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: solid alibis. Inspector Fabian, it seemed was back to square one. 212 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: In late February, Charles Walton's body was laid to rest 213 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: in the cemetery of Saint Swithin's Church, just across from 214 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: his home. As his flesh was lowered into the earth, 215 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 1: numerous members of the community, far more than would have 216 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: likely been present had he died under usual circumstances, watched 217 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: on somberly. Among them was Inspector Fabian, casting his suspicious 218 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: eye over the moor, but no one gave anything away. 219 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: Not long after, a devastated Edith left Lower Quinton to 220 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: live with her fiance in Stratford, and over time life 221 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: steadily got back to normal in the village. Certainly for 222 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: those those who worked in the fields, there was little 223 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: option but to get back to tending to their crops 224 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: and animals, whose needs never let up no matter the circumstances. 225 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: It was about this time that a man named Smith 226 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: from the village of Upper quintin fifteen minutes walk away 227 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: from Lower Quinton, was found dead in his garage, having 228 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: gassed himself. Perhaps this was the murderer, some wondered, driven 229 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: to suicide due to the guilt of his actions. When 230 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: it was later revealed that the man had beaten up 231 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: his wife and another man in an apparent jealous rage 232 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: only a few weeks before, he was quickly dismissed as 233 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: a suspect. At the inquest into Charles's death on March twentieth, 234 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: doctor James Webster gave a more detailed account of what 235 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: had happened that day. He theorized that Charles had most 236 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: likely been knocked down by his attack of first before 237 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: being pinned to the ground with the pitchfork. Then his 238 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: throat was slashed, with the attacker holding his head as 239 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: he wrenched the hook up across his trackere. Later, Alfred 240 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: Potter was once again asked for his version of events. 241 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: Despite a few minor discrepancies, it tallied pretty closely with 242 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: the original statement he gave to inspect A Tombs the 243 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: night Charles was found. There was one interesting difference, however, 244 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: In Potter's first statement, he claimed to have removed a 245 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: heifer from a ditch just after one p m, before 246 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: returning it to his field and heading back home some 247 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: time around two pm. When asked about this again at 248 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: the inquest, Potter revealed instead that although he did remove 249 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: the heifer from the ditch on the day of the murder, 250 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: not only had it actually died the day before he 251 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: got to it, but he didn't actually pull it out 252 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: until three p m, a good two hours after he 253 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: originally claimed. And then there was the shirt that Charles 254 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: died in. At the inquest, Potter repeated his claim that 255 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: he'd seen a man that he took to be Charles 256 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,120 Speaker 1: around twelve thirty working in the fields wearing a long 257 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: sleeve shirt. At this the coroner interrupted and ordered the 258 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: actual shirt that Charles was wearing at the time of 259 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: his murder to be held up to the court to 260 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 1: audible gasps. The garment was revealed to have in fact 261 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,160 Speaker 1: been a short sleeve shirt, at which point Potter reminded 262 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: the court that he never said for sure it was 263 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: Charles Wharton that he'd seen in the field, only that 264 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:38,639 Speaker 1: he assumed it was. When Potter was asked by Inspector 265 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: Fabian to clarify the discrepancy in the story about the heifer. 266 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: He confirmed that the version he was giving then was 267 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,199 Speaker 1: the true account. In Potter's defense, the coroner granted that 268 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 1: it was highly likely that he wasn't thinking straight on 269 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: the night of the murder, given the stressful circumstances. Alfred 270 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: Potter was also asked if he ever knew Charles to 271 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: carry money on him. He replied that he did, but 272 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: never more than a pound equivalent to roughly forty pounds 273 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:12,159 Speaker 1: or just over fifty US dollars in today's money. The 274 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: jury returned a verdict of murder by some person or 275 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: persons unknown. As the days passed, with little to show 276 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: for his time spent in Lower Quintin, Inspector Fabian found 277 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: himself becoming increasingly desperate. One evening, he strolled out alone 278 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: to the crime scene, something he did often, hoping to 279 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: find something, anything, that might help crack the case. He 280 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,719 Speaker 1: made his way to the spot under the willow tree 281 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: where Charles's body was found, and breathed in the crisp 282 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,919 Speaker 1: early spring air, tasting the earthy tang of it on 283 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: his tongue. Gazing down toward Lower Quinton, he was suddenly 284 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,879 Speaker 1: struck by the stillness of it. All, the chimneys smoking silently, 285 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 1: the occasional robin darting about in a nearby hedgerow, sheep 286 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:16,159 Speaker 1: bleating intermittently in an adjacent field, All of it seemingly 287 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: so incongruous with the brutality of what had occurred right 288 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:25,160 Speaker 1: under his feet. But in reality, the brutality of Charles's 289 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: death was perfectly in keeping with nature. Consider the fox 290 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: that thinks little a sentiment when it rips the rabbit's 291 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: throat out with its bare teeth, or the blackbird that 292 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: cares little for discretion when it plucks another worm from 293 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: the earth. And what of the live stock that peppered 294 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:49,119 Speaker 1: the fields in their gentle, graceful ways. Are they not 295 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:56,159 Speaker 1: merely awaiting the butcher's cleaver. In truth, beyond nature's bucolic veneer, 296 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: the earth is always a wash with blood. As dusk felt, 297 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 1: Inspector Fabian began making his way back to the village 298 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: when a large black dog suddenly appeared, running toward him 299 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 1: from the direction of me and Hill. The inspector froze 300 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: as it shot passed, followed moments later by the appearance 301 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: of a young farm hand. When the inspector asked if 302 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,640 Speaker 1: he was looking for the black dog. The boy went 303 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: deathly pale and shot off in the opposite direction, not 304 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: stopping to look back once, despite Fabian's efforts to call 305 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: him back. Later that day, when Fabian supposedly relayed this 306 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: peculiar story to some locals in the pub, there were 307 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: few looks of surprise. It was only then that he 308 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: is said to have learned all about the strange history 309 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: of me and Hill, how the Devil was said to 310 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: have once talked the area, and how terrifying black dogs 311 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: portents of doom were often sighted there. Not long after, 312 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 1: police were called back out to the murder site to 313 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: find a black dog hanging dead from a tree, strangled 314 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: by its own collar. Shortly after that, some officers involved 315 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: in the investigation were driving along a narrow country lane 316 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: when another strange black dog shot out suddenly in front 317 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: of them. It was struck and killed. As Inspector Fabian's 318 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: investigation dragged on, one police officer, Inspector Hinksman of the 319 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: Warwickshire CID, decided to do a little digging into the 320 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:43,679 Speaker 1: village's history. During his research, he came across a book 321 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: titled Folklore, Old Customs and Superstitions in shakespeare Land by 322 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: Reverend James Bloom, that was first published only a few 323 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: years before in nineteen twenty nine. One passage was especially interesting. 324 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: It read, at Alveston in eighteen eighty five, a plow 325 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,879 Speaker 1: lad met a dog on his way home nine times 326 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,640 Speaker 1: in successive evenings. When he told the shepherd with whom 327 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: he worked, he was laughed at for his pains. Then, 328 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: on the ninth encounter, a headless lady rustled past him 329 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: in a silk dress. The next day he learned that 330 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: his sister had unexpectedly died. The so called plow lad, 331 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 1: another term for a farm laborer, was named as one 332 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: Charles Walton, as the passage states, according to author James Bloom, 333 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: when Charles was just a boy of fifteen, he apparently 334 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: encountered a phantom dog several nights in a row on 335 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 1: his way home from work. This event was seemingly a 336 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: dark omen for warning Charles of the death of his sister. 337 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: Was this the same Charles Walton who had been murdered? 338 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: The police wondered It was all a little strange, to 339 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: say the least, but Hincksman thought it significant enough to 340 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: bring to the attention of Inspector Fabian. He in turn, 341 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but with 342 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: little else to go on, he figured there was no 343 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: harm in pulling this tiny thread to see where it 344 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: might lead. Over the next few days, Inspector Fabian and 345 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: Detective Web once again made the rounds of the villagers, 346 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: asking if anyone knew any more about the story or 347 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: could confirm whether it was the same Charles Walton or not, 348 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 1: And once again the investigators hit a brick wall. No 349 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: one seemed willing to talk about it at all, but 350 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,400 Speaker 1: bit by bit, as they teased the odd scrap out 351 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: of the occasional local, a more bizarre picture of Charles 352 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:56,679 Speaker 1: Walton began to form, though no one was able to 353 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: confirm unequivocally that the Charles in the story were the 354 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,719 Speaker 1: same Charles who was murdered. As it happened, there had 355 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,480 Speaker 1: been strange whispers about our Charles Walton long before he 356 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,199 Speaker 1: was killed that tallied with the eerie tale about the 357 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,879 Speaker 1: plow lad. Chief among the local rumors was the belief 358 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: that Charles had the gift of foresight, which appeared to 359 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: be both a blessing and a curse. Depending on whom 360 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: one talked to, Charles was either born with this ability 361 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: or he developed it later after communing with the forces 362 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: of darkness. Charles was also said to keep a knot 363 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: of natterjack toads, which he apparently routinely used in magic 364 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 1: spells to blight the crops and livestock of any local 365 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: farmer he had a disagreement with. Some claimed to have 366 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: seen him letting the allegedly enchanted creatures run loose over 367 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: freshly plowed soil with the intention of corrupting the seeds 368 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: that lay underneath. Indeed, in the yearly heading up to 369 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: his murder, rumors swelled that Charles and his black magic 370 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: ways were to blame for last year's poor harvest. Even 371 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: more harmful for Charles's reputation, however, and perhaps most pertinently 372 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: for Inspector Fabian, was the persistent rumor that he also 373 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: had the ability to cast the evil eye, the power 374 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: to curse people with little more than a malevolent stare. 375 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: It was said that children in the area would often 376 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: dare one another to knock on old Man Walton's door 377 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: and run away before he could open it and curse 378 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:39,719 Speaker 1: them on the spot. Then the investigators came across another 379 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:44,879 Speaker 1: interesting story found in Reverend Blooms Folklore, Old customs and 380 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: superstitions in shakespeare Land. This one concerned the murder of 381 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,119 Speaker 1: an elderly woman named Anne Tenant some seventy years previously, 382 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: which took place only a few miles away from where 383 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: Charles Walton's body was found, and Tenant was said by 384 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: some to have been a witch. Could her shocking murder 385 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: be the key that finally unlocks the truth about Charles. 386 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 1: You've been listening to part two of Unexplained Season nine, 387 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: episode twelve, Eyes That Shine, Burning Red. The third and 388 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: final part will be released next week Friday, February twenty seventh. 389 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: This episode was written by Richard mclin Smith, James Connor 390 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: Patterson and Emma Dibden. Thank you, as ever for listening 391 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: Unexplained as an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard 392 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,679 Speaker 1: mclin Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music, 393 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: are also produced by me Richard mclin Smith. Unexplained. The 394 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You 395 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 1: can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. 396 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,440 Speaker 1: Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get 397 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with 398 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on 399 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or a story 400 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: of your own you'd like to share. 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