A Festive Fatality - BaNES Virtual Library

This murder mystery, written by author Rachel Ward and inspired by our own Bath Bloodhounds Book Group, was originally released over twelve days from the 7th of December to the 18th, 2022.

Each section has a question about Bath and North East Somerset – make a note of your answers, fill in the quiz at the end and identify the murderer. Once you’ve submitted your answers you’ll receive a score out of 16 (working out the killer is worth 5 points!) and you’ll be able to read the final part of the story.

Part 1

As the six members of the Bath Bloodhounds Crime Book Group gather at St. Michael’s Church, opposite Bath Central Library, one snowy December evening, they are startled to find the entrance to the undercroft taped off. The caretaker, Harry Batchelor, has found the body of the Bloodhounds organiser, Emma Redwell, a librarian at Bath Central Library, lying at the bottom of the steps.

A pool of dark blood is soaking into the snow around her head and books lie scattered about. Overhearing two police officers saying – ‘looks like an accident, these steps are slippery’ – the shocked Bloodhounds head for the nearest pub to warm up and steady their nerves with a medicinal drink.

Margo de Vere, chair of the Bloodhounds, proposes a toast, ‘We should raise a glass to Emma, our inspiration, our founder, without who the Bloodhounds wouldn’t exist. Emma!’

QUESTION 1: THE BLOODHOUNDS ARE MEETING IN THE PUB THAT CHARLES DICKENS STAYED IN WHEN HE VISITED BATH, BUT WHICH ONE IS IT?

Part 2

The others echo her, Emma’s name filling their snug corner of the pub. Jan Fry, middle-aged and in a sensible fleece, is quietly crying.

‘I can’t believe it,’ she says. ‘Emma was the most wonderful, kind person. What a terrible thing, to slip and fall.’

‘If she did,’ says Oliver Seacombe, archly. He looks around the group, waiting for someone to rise to the bait.

‘You surely don’t mean there was foul play, Oliver?’ says Margot.

‘Well, Jan might be crying into her pint – sorry, Jan – but we all know that some of us aren’t mourning her. The question is, did she fall or was she pushed?’

A frisson ripples around the group as his words sink in. Lisa Tyning, stylish as ever in a shimmering top and silver necklace, shivers, ‘Goodness, it feels like someone just walked over my grave.’

QUESTION 2: WHERE IN BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET CAN YOU WALK OVER AN IMAGE OF MINERVA GAZING AT HER REFLECTION?

Part 3

‘I’m quite serious,’ says Oliver. ‘After all, we’ve read about every sort of crime, every motive. We’re uniquely placed to solve this. Why don’t we see if we can work this out?’

‘Oliver’s right,’ says Vikram Anand, a rather dapper man in his sixties. ‘We’ve spent so long discussing fictional crime – I bet we can sort this out between ourselves.’

Margot clears her throat. ‘Very well,’ she says, ‘I’ll call this meeting to order. We’ve got one item on the agenda. What happened to Emma? Harriet,’ she addresses a quiet woman with grey shoulder length hair and glasses, ‘you work, sorry worked, with her. Where was she this week? What was she doing? Did you notice anything different?’

Harriet flushes, the skin mottling around her neck and throat. ‘I didn’t keep tabs on her. It’s not like I was her manager. Quite the opposite.’ There is no mistaking the resentment in her voice. ‘We had a team meeting in the Central Library on Monday when it was announced that Emma had been promoted.’

‘So, technically, that made her your manager, did it?’ says Margot.

Harriet’s skin mottles to a deeper shade of purple.

QUESTION 3: WHEN DID BATH CENTRAL LIBRARY OPEN AT ITS CURRENT SITE IN THE PODIUM?

Part 4

‘Oh, promoted, that’s interesting,’ says Vikram. ‘You’d think she’d be pleased, but when I saw her on Monday afternoon, she seemed off, preoccupied or something.’

‘Where was this?’ Margot’s tone is rather sharp.

‘I just happened to be in the library, and we bumped into each other.’ Vikram is trying, and not quite succeeding, to keep his tone casual.’

‘On Monday afternoon?’ says Jan. ‘I saw you crossing the road outside the Podium, then checking your watch and practically breaking into a run, like you were late for a meeting.’

Vikram’s mouth twitched with irritation.

‘Not at all, Jan. I was just dropping off some books and Emma was there. She sounded me out about something briefly. Then she had to dash. I walked out with her and she headed off towards the station.’

QUESTION 4: WHICH TOWN IN BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET FEATURES IN THE SONG SLOW TRAIN BY MICHAEL FLANDERS AND DONALD SWAN?

Part 5

‘The station or the bus station?’ says Margot.

‘Does it matter?’

‘It could have been either,’ says Harriet. ‘She was heading for Keynsham. The first stop on her Grand Tour of the other libraries to talk about her new role.’ She uses her index fingers to form speech marks around the words ‘Grand Tour’.

‘Jealous, Harriet?’ says Oliver. ‘Did you apply for the same job, by any chance?’

‘I don’t see what’s that got to do with anything,’ says Harriet, glowering.

‘Well, there’s a vacancy now…’ A slight smile is playing round Oliver’s mouth.

‘Shut up, Oliver,’ Harriet says.

QUESTION 5: WHICH COMEDIAN, WHO HAS A BOOKSELLER AMONG HIS ACTING CREDITS, GREW UP IN KEYNSHAM?

Part 6

‘So, that was Monday,’ says Margot, rather fancying herself as Miss Marple. ‘Do we know anything else?’

‘I saw her, but not to talk to,’ Lisa says quietly. ‘On Tuesday, I’d nipped out of the shop to get to the post office. Town was packed with tourists at the Christmas Market, so I was going round towards Orange Grove to avoid the crush and I glanced into the window of The Huntsman and there she was.’

‘On her own?’

‘No.’ She frowns.

‘Lisa?’

And now, simultaneously, they all notice there is a pale line on Lisa’s ring finger, like a ghost marking the empty space where a wedding band used to be.

QUESTION 6: WHICH BUILDING IN BATH FEATURES A GHOST SIGN RELATING TO A CIRCULATING LIBRARY AND READING ROOM?

Part 7

‘You did talk to her, though, Lisa,’ says Jan, clutching her crumpled tissue. ‘I saw you. You were arguing outside Sally Lunn’s tearoom.’

Lisa rounds on her.

‘Were you spying on me?’

‘Of course not. Walking around town is part of my job. I’d just issued a whole batch of parking tickets at Bog Island. Rich pickings this time of year. Rather satisfying.’

‘But North Parade Passage is pedestrian only,’ says Margot. ‘What were you doing there?’

Jan looks rapidly left and right, like she is looking for an escape route, but they are all focused on her now and there’s nowhere to hide.

‘Okay, sometimes, if I see someone I know or just somebody that catches my eye…’ she hesitates, ‘…I follow them.’

‘You were following me?’ says Lisa, clutching at the silver pendant hanging from a chain round her neck.

‘Not you.’ Jan looks down at her hands, still clutching a tissue which is now pretty much sodden.

Oliver purses his lips and blows out a long breath. ‘Emma,’ he says. ‘You were following Emma.’

QUESTION 7: EMMA IS THE NAME OF ONE OF JANE AUSTEN’S CHARACTERS, BUT WHICH AUSTEN CHARACTER SAID THIS OF BATH, ‘…THEY HASTENED AWAY TO THE CRESCENT, TO BREATHE THE FRESH AIR OF BETTER COMPANY.’?

Part 8

‘Yes, okay, I was following Emma, and that’s when I saw you arguing, Lisa, shouting in the street,’ says Jan.

Margot can’t help tutting. Quarrelling in public is not the sort of behaviour she can condone. On the other hand, Oliver’s eyes are shining. This is just the sort of gossip that gives him life.

‘Yes, we argued,’ says Lisa, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. ‘And I told that cow to stay away from my husband, but that was it. That was the last time I saw her.’

Margot is now wishing she was making notes. The days and times are starting to get muddled in her head. Being an amateur detective is not as easy as you’d think.

QUESTION 8: WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE POLICE DETECTIVE IN PETER LOVESEY’S BATH-BASED CRIME SERIES?

Part 9

There’s something in that last exchange that stands out to Margot, though.

‘Jan,’ she says, ‘had you followed Emma before?’

Jan looks sheepish. ‘A few times. You know how people are always walking along looking at their phones. Emma was different. She was nearly always reading a book as she walked.’

‘Did she ever spot you?’ asks Margot.

‘Yes, the first time we both laughed it off. I could tell she wasn’t sure if I hadn’t just been walking the same way. The second time, she said I was being weird and to stop.’

‘But you didn’t.’

There’s something defiant about the way Jan answers. ‘There was no harm in it. Just something to cheer the day up. Do you know how boring being a traffic warden is?’

‘You don’t have to do it, Jan. It’s not compulsory,’ says Oliver.

‘Some of us don’t have mummy and daddy’s allowance and a flat in the Circus – we need to work; we’ve got bills to pay.’

‘Careful. The chip on your shoulder is showing.’ Oliver seems more amused than offended.

QUESTION 9: THE OUTER CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE ROYAL CIRCUS IN BATH IS SAID TO EXACTLY REPLICATE WHICH LANDMARK FEATURE IN THE SOUTH-WEST OF ENGLAND?

Part 10

Margot turns to him.

‘What about you, Oliver? Did you see Emma this week?’

‘As a matter of fact, I did. It wasn’t particularly pleasant. As you know, I’m seeking an agent for my novel…’ – half the Bloodhounds roll their eyes. The saga of Oliver’s novel, a work of genius apparently, has dominated Bloodhound meetings too often for comfort – ‘and Emma had read it.’

‘What was her verdict?’

‘She said some rather nasty things about it. Said it was obvious plagiarism and that my judgement had been clouded by my obsession, that’s what she called it, with Conan Doyle.’

Harriet unsuccessfully tries to stifle a snigger but stops abruptly when Oliver stares at her.

‘She suggested I stopped looking for an agent and posted it on a fan fiction site instead.’

He says the words as if they are poison in his mouth.

QUESTION 10: THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES IS LISTED IN THE BBC’S 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED THE WORLD. HOW MANY FULL-LENGTH NOVELS FEATURING HOLMES AND WATSON DID SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE WRITE?

Part 11

Vikram has been listening quietly. Now he adjusts his tie and sits up a little straighter in his chair. They are only small movements, but somehow, he’s commanding everyone’s attention.

‘How about you, Margot? You met Emma this week, didn’t you? Tell us how that went.’

Margot narrows her eyes. ‘How did you know? Never mind. Yes. She asked to meet me for a coffee. She said she was in Midsomer Norton for a meeting.’

‘Another stage of the Grand Tour,’ Harriet mutters under her breath.

‘And?’ says Vikram.

‘It was less of a conversation, more of an ambush,’ says Margot. ‘She suggested I step down as Chair of this group, implied that I was old and doddery.’ She waits for expressions of shock and protest, which are a little too long in coming for her liking.

‘And when was that? When did you see her?’

‘Yesterday. She sprung it on me, hardly giving me any time to think. For a start, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t just step down without a successor in place. It would be anarchy!’

‘I don’t think that would be a problem,’ says Vikram smoothly. ‘What is it politician’s say? I have no ambitions in that direction, but if my fellow members insist…’ He’s looking very pleased with himself.

‘So that’s what you two spoke about. It was a coup!’ splutters Margot. ‘I knew it!’

‘Calm down, Margot. If it’s for the good of the Bloodhounds, I’m sure we’d all adapt very quickly.’

QUESTION 11: WHICH CRIME WRITER ADAPTED CAROLINE GRAHAM’S CHIEF INSPECTOR BARNABY SERIES FOR TELEVISION STARTING IN 1987, BORROWING PART OF THE NAME OF A LOCAL TOWN FOR THE TITLE?

Part 12

None of them have noticed the unassuming figure standing in a corner just behind them. Harry Batchelor, the caretaker at St. Michael’s, having given a statement to the police has been quietly listening in as he sips his pint. Now, stepping out of the shadows, he goes to stand near Margot’s chair.

‘How long have you been here?’ Vikram says as they others look nervously at each other.

‘Long enough,’ says Harry.

‘We were having a confidential conversation,’ Lisa sniffs.

‘In a pub? I don’t think so,’ says Harry. ‘Anyway, none of this will be confidential for long. The police want to interview you all. Unless, of course, the person who pushed Emma turns themselves in.’

‘How do you know she was pushed?’ says Oliver.

‘I saw it, through the basement window. I was just about to go out and grit the steps. There were two sets of feet at the top of the stairs and then down she came. By the time I unlocked the door, she was dead, and her attacker was gone. But I saw their feet and I’ve got a pretty good idea who they are. I’m not a grass, never have been, but I believe in doing the decent thing. The police will be coming over here soon, but it would look better if you handed yourself in.’

He has been addressing the group generally, but now he looks at one person, his last sentence clearly directed at them.

QUESTION 12: WHO KILLED EMMA REDWELL?