The Man in the Barn : A Grane Road Mystery (1909)

Walking along the rain sodden path, the stranger could see in the near distance the silhouette of building. Hoping this would prove to be a somewhat ideal refuge, it may at least be of help to him to shelter from the rain that hadn't stopped beating down for most of the day and into the evening.

Off and away from the building was another, much larger one and a light was coming from one of the rooms on the lower floor. Obviously realising the land he was on was private property, he knew he had to creep silently if he was to get to the other building without causing too much alarm.

The stranger, full of a cold and carrying a chesty cough, would finally make it to the smaller building. It was barn that at least for now could become his savior.

The door was firmly locked but as he pulled on one door and pushed forwards the other, a small gap opened, just wide enough for him to squeeze through. It may not have been ideal, but for now, it was better than being outside in the freezing cold and rain.

Unfortunately, it would also be the last place he would ever see.

Our story today takes us back to a mid-afternoon on Monday, 15th February 1909 when a young man by the name of Emanuel Woods, and at around 4.00pm, would make a shocking discover inside a barn that was situated at Two Tree Farm, where he lived and worked.

Making his way across the yard, he walked a short distance along a muddy path made all the worse by the recent inclement weather which had seen it rain heavily for the past couple of days. The barn was situated just a minute or two walk away but was rarely used as other, newly built outbuildings had more space as well as them being located a little closer to the farm.

In fact, the barn itself hadn't been used since late summer and as the months passed by, it would be left redundant by Emanuel and his father and hardly ever given a thought too.

After struggling to unlock the heavy bolts, Woods finally managed to force the door open just enough to squeeze his body through and into the inside.

Obviously, the last the thing he was expecting was to come face-to-face with the body of a deceased person, but that is exactly what was awaiting him as he made his way into the shippon that adjoined the barn.

Lying on a truss of hay in front of him was the body of man with his arms folded. It was obvious to Woods that this person had been dead for quite a while and the smell alone gave indications to Woods that he had been there for some time.

Shocked by his discovery, Woods ran from the shippon and out of the barn, shouting for his father to come quickly to see for himself what he had found.