It’s Dark in Wenlock

It’s Dark in Wenlock. I have been out at night in Wenlock before, of course I have. It is just that I haven’t been out that late, walking home in complete darkness. They turn off the street lights overnight. That made the difference, as I walked home last night. I’d got a call for help about 10 o’clock, but by the time everything was sorted it was about 3 o’clock before I was ready to walk home. I walked down the lane by the Pottery and turned onto Sheinton Street. At the Bull Ring I crossed over the road and started walking up past the church. I heard a noise to my left. I can’t explain what sort of noise exactly, but it was like a swooshing noise. I stopped and turned. I felt my heartrate go up a few notches. I could just make out the outline of the nearest gravestones. I could also make out the shape of the big tree beyond that. That was about the extent of my view. Then she appeared from the doorway of the church and walked along the path and away from me. She must have been hiding in the doorway as I approached. The whoosh, I took to be her movement. She had a long cloak on, as far as I could make out. Beyond the gravestones, she just blended into the rest of the darkness. I did call out to her, but she didn’t slow down and she didn’t respond. That was my first encounter with her. Later that morning I saw activity down the town. When I enquired what was going on, I found out that a body had been discovered in a house near to the corner of Sheinton Street. A passer-by had found the front door open and ventured in. What they found was not a pretty sight. I felt I should mention that I had been walking past there in the night. I also feel I should tell about the figure I saw running away from the entrance to the church, less than 50 metres away.I am interviewed by a detective and that is that. But it isn’t. About lunchtime I have been in the town again. I am on my way home when a car stops beside me. It is the detective. ’We need to have another talk to you.’ Is all that is said initially. Their stance is anything but relaxed. I have a feeling I am not going to like the talk they want to have. It is not because I have done anything wrong, but more the manner in which they have stopped and got out of their car. They take me back down to the house where the body was found. I have to run through my walk past there in the night. As we stand outside the house, one of his colleagues comes up to us and starts talking. I don’t think I am supposed to be hearing this.’Something really odd happened. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been here. It has just disappeared into thin air. We left the room and stood outside for a minute. We stepped out of the front door and it slammed shut behind us. We had to break the door down to get back in. The place is locked from the inside. There are piles of letters on the floor inside the door. They weren’t there earlier. The body has gone.’What is going on in Wenlock? Where has the body gone? Who is this cloaked figure I saw when I was walking in the middle of the night? Why am I the one who is so deeply involved with all this? Read on: