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lor Walkcrs Crisps Ihan lor any unwclcomc Ytsitors. and who had sadly bccn run over a fcw rnonths prcviously.

With ihc smashed rcar window, ihe bu rg lary iheory was at llrst ihc favouriic. although thcrc was no apparcm thcft of scvcral rcadily dis-playcd ilcms of siKerwarc and non*too-subtly concealcd pieccs of jewcllciy. Whal was far morc obvious to thosc w ho cntcred thc housc laicr ihat nighl was a body ihc body of Yvonnc llanrison. lying on thc bcd in Ihe main bcdroom: naked. handcuftcd. and gaggcd. And dcad.

Whal immediatcly caught public inlcrcsi was ihc fact that Ihc nian who discovercd thc body was nonę othcr than the murdered woman'$ husband.

A somcwhat dclayed post-mortcm cstablishcd that Yvonnc Harri-son had probably bccn murdcrcd by somc sort of "tubular metal rod" iwo or thrcc hours bcforc her body was discoscrcd al 11:20 p.m., and fairly ccitainly not afler 9:30 p.m. Independent cvidencc corroboratcd thc patho!ogist’s ftndings. A loeal builder. Mr. John Barton, had rung Mis. Harrison at ^l) p.m. on thc dot. as instrucicd. But hc had hcard only the **cngaged“ signal. At about 9:30 p.m. he had rung again: but although he had peisisted thcrc had bccn no rcply. The phone was quite ccrtainly ringing at thc othcr cnd. Either thc Ansaphonc had not bccn activatcd...or cIsc thc lady of thc housc was not alive to takc thc cali.

Anothcr cali howcvcr had bccn madę morc succcssfully that evening. An cMraordinarily pu//ling cali. At just after 9 P.M. Yvonnc's husband pickcd up his phone in Pavilion Road. London, to hcar a man'$ voicc informing him that his wite was in troublc and that hc ought to get out tltcrc immediatcly. Nortnally he would baw driven Home posł-hastc in his BMW. But with thc car in for repairs. hc took a taxi to Paddington whcrc hc caught thc 9:48 tram to Oxford. arriving at 10:50. whcrc hc took anothcr taxi for thc tcn-milc joumcy out to l.owcr Swinslcad.

Latc-night tratTic was thin. and when Mr Patrick Flynn brakcd his Radio Taxt outsidc 'The Windhovers” at 11:20 p.m. hc saw a village mansion abla/.c with lighłs tumed on in almost cvcty room. and thc burglar-alarm box cmitting sharp bluc llashcs and a continuous ringing. The front door stood o pen... and tlsc rest is bisiory.

Or ii was history until a fortnighi ago. when two anonymous piwne calls wcrc rcccivcd at Thames Yallcy Police IIO. whcrc it is thc vi en of Chief Supcrinlcndcnt Strange Ihal promising ncw lincsof enquiry may soon hc opened.

It is surdy univcrsally to be hoped that thc identity of Yvonnc Harrison’s murderer will finally be rcvcalcd: and that on somc morc