‘It was only a gypsy
A ragged, shaggy blackguard of a didecoy
Up to no good I did what I should
A little physical persuasion and he passed on by...’
Jake Thackray


Part One

1
It’s six a.m. The day’s beginning.
A man is walking up the lane.
Inside the hedge songbirds are singing.
He sniffs, he stops, then sniffs again.
Can he smell smoke? To be explicit
A bonfire? The allotments, is it?
Well something’s burning, and he’d say
It isn’t all that far away.
His pace along the lane now quickens,
He turns the corner, sees the blaze,
The pall of smoke, the shimmering haze.
The sight before him shocks and sickens
-A burning Morris motor car. 
Its blistered paint begins to char.

2
The heat’s intense. He can’t get nearer
To see if anyone’s inside.
He squints, he peers, but gets no clearer
Impression so he then decides
He’d better summon some assistance.
Recalling passing in the distance
A phone box in the empty street
He turns, and now on hurrying feet,
Heads back towards the village running.
Just minutes later, panting, hot,
He stands inside that very spot,
He gasps for breath, he’s all but done in,
Dials 999. ‘Which Service, please?’
‘The Fire Brigade and the Police…’

3
The fire at last has been extinguished
And a discovery’s soon made.
A smell like roast pork was distinguished
As the fire crew worked. Some, dismayed,
Said, ‘I swear that’s a body burning!’
Grim-faced and with their stomachs churning
They peer into the smouldering car.
‘Aye, look, I told you. There you are!’
All black and burned. Could it be human,
A body as it is alleged,
Between the back and front seats wedged?
The youngest takes a look. ‘It’s true, man.’
He pales then retches. ‘Oh my God,
What should we do?’ ‘Wait for the Plod.’

4
Now at the lane end, like a sentry,
A constable stands at his post.
The lane’s been closed off. There’s no entry.
It’s now a crime scene it’s supposed.
The firemen stand on one side waiting
While officers investigating
The facts try to establish who
The victim is. They have one clue.
Still legible, the registration
Of the car is radioed in.
Police enquiries begin.
The search for any information
Is underway. Soon, slow but sure,
A team will go from door to door.

5
The Murder Squad has taken over.
The victim’s been identified.
It didn’t take long to discover
Who she was, but why she died
(For that’s in fact their stated mission)
Could be a different proposition.
One thing is crystal clear at least,
Miriam Culine, the deceased,
Had led a colourful existence,
Or so the rumours would suggest.
With Youth and Beauty amply blessed
She’d got herself, with their assistance,
A husband older than herself,
One quite well off, but in poor health.

6
At seventeen, a pastor’s daughter,
She’d run away and joined a fair,
Worked on the show grounds. There they’d taught her
To run a stall. She’d learned to share
The lifestyle of the travelling showmen,
And like lots of attractive women
She hadn’t even had to try
To catch the fairground boss’s eye.
With her he’d soon become enamoured,
He was besotted, taken in,
Her beauty had him in a spin.
His old heart in his chest had hammered
As, helplessly, beneath her spell,
The fairground king, Fred Culine, fell.

7
His Queen of Candy Floss he’d call her.
She laughed at that, so Fred began
To woo her, hoping to install her
As queen too in his caravan.
At first, resisting him demurely,
She shook her head, but slowly, surely,
As Fred continued his campaign
With flowers, chocolates and champagne,
He overcame all her objections,
Convinced her it would be alright,
And finally, to his delight,
He’d won a place in her affections.
Yes, she’d agreed she would move in,
Their life together could begin.

8
‘The old fool!’ as response was standard.
‘Never? He didn’t? What, they’ll wed?’
‘He’s old enough to be her grandad!’
That’s what a lot of people said.
But others laughed and thought it fair dos
That young brunettes with bouffant hair-dos
Should use their charms and all their art
To do well in the marriage mart.
Fred’s family weren’t pleased or cheerful.
His grown-up nephews, fearful lest
By his wife they’d be dispossessed,
Behind his back, gave her an earful.
‘Gold-digger! Mercenary cow!’
They’d never get Fred’s money now.

9
And if they could they would have stopped her.
They couldn’t, and the couple wed
A while ago. Now someone’s topped her
Those nephews who all wished her dead?
They’re in the frame there’s no denying,
But so’s the man they’re notifying
As next of kin of his wife’s death.
Poor Fred, who’s old and short of breath,
Insists, although they’re separated
And she has her own caravan,
She’s still his wife, he’s still her man.
Whatever’s been insinuated
He loves her and they get on well.
But is it true? It’s hard to tell

10
Fred Culine could have killed his missus.
Why would he tell the cops the truth?
The Chief Super remains suspicious,
But knows he hasn’t any proof.
The argument keeps on revolving.
The Chief’s no closer yet to solving
The mystery of why she died.
Forensic science has supplied
The hard facts. She’d been knocked out, senseless,
Then stripped, not bare, but to her bra,
Shoved in the back seat of her car
And left, unconscious and defenceless.
The killer then set it alight
And disappeared into the night.

11
Not Fred perhaps. He’s old and ailing,
Incapable of such an act;
He’s doddery; his health is failing
Too frail to hurt a fly in fact.
But if he didn’t kill her, who did?
The suspects on the list included
The show folk, all who’d worked for Fred,
For knowing he would wish her dead
One of them might, to curry favour
Or do himself a bit of good
And guarantee his livelihood,
Have done her in. A thought to savour
For the Chief. Possible? Well yes,
But likely? He can only guess.

12
There’s lots to look at; facts to order;
New angles to find out about.
His focus keeps on getting broader
And each new lead needs teasing out.
And so enquiries continue.
The Murder Squad strain nerve and sinew
Re-covering the same old ground,
Collating everything they’ve found;
Re-interviewing friends, relations
In search of the one break they need,
The crucial clue they hope will lead
Them to the final revelation
And in the end provide the key
To the killer’s identity…