Murder in the Square by Adam Rutter - for a week of crime writing from Hightown Writers

Shrewsbury Square - Shropshire Star

It was on a Sunday afternoon when I sat in The Square in Shrewsbury. There were very few people about. The traffic along the High Street was quiet. The only person sitting on a bench was me. All the other benches were empty. The clock on the town hall chimed at 12.30. A tall person walked across The Square, wearing a long black coat, bowler hat and a pair of brown shoes. This person went behind the town hall, and then through an archway. A black cab went along the High Street before disappearing behind a row of shops opposite from where I was sitting. A quarter of an hour later, the clock chimed again. Coming through the archway was a young woman dressed in a red coat cutting diagonally across The Square. She was wearing a black cap and sunglasses, even though the sky was cloudy. The woman walked past me. A gentleman sat on a bench next to mine. He was middle aged, probably between his early to mid fifties.

“Afternoon”, he said.

I acknowledged him with a smile and a nod.

“It’s a chilly day.”

“Winter will soon be upon us.”

“You can feel it in the air, can’t you?”

“Oh yes, you can feel the change in the season.”

“Have you been here long?”

“I’ve been here for three parts of an hour.”

“Do you live around here?”

“No, I’m from Ludlow.”

“Wow! You've come a fair way, haven’t you?”

“Have you come out for lunch?”

“Eh? Oh no. I've arranged to meet my brother. I always meet my brother here at ten past one.”

“How nice.”

The clock struck at one. The person in the long black coat and bowler hat was walking along the High Street.

“Will!” cried the gentleman.

The person continued without acknowledging the gentleman.

“Fancy him not hearing me call”, said the gentleman.

I noticed something unusual about the person in the long coat. The shoes. This person had changed their footwear. The footwear turned out to be a pair of boots. This person also seemed slightly taller than the other person wearing the brown shoes.

“That’s funny”, said the gentleman.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Will seems to be early. He isn’t suppose to meet me here until the next ten minutes. It’s only one o' clock.”

We heard a woman screaming from a flat above the shops. We jumped to our feet to investigate which room the screaming was coming from. We ran through the archway, down the steps, along the alleyway, and up a flight of stairs. A door was open on the landing. We rushed into a small room. Lying on the floor was the body of the person in the brown shoes.

“Will!” cried the gentleman, covering his face with his hands. “Oh my god. Oh no”, said the gentleman, falling onto the wall. I held onto the gentleman to help him up while I had to calm him down. I took him out of the room, and we went back down the stairs. I dialled 999 on my phone to call the police.

“I wish to report a murder,” I said.

I carried the gentleman outside to get him as far away from the crime scene as possible.

“What’s your name?” I asked the gentleman.

“Anthony,” he said.

“When did you last see Will?”

“Friday.”

The sirens were wailing in the background, growing louder as they were getting nearer.

“Who’s killed my brother?” asked Anthony. “Why would anyone want to do this?”

I wish I knew the answer to these questions. We need to find the answers. Who killed Will. And why? I don’t know the answers. But what I do know is that the tall person in the long black coat, wearing the boots is the murderer. The truth is that I don’t know who the murderer is. The woman with the cap and sunglasses. I believe she is a suspect. And what about Anthony? Could he be a suspect too?