Marris gave his name, address and date of birth. On his solicitor's advice, he answered no further questions.
Relf put the telephone records to him, then the Jaguar, then the recovered boots. Marris offered no explanation for any of them.
Afterwards, Relf went through the interview with Eleanor in more detail than she had expected.
"Can you charge him?" she asked.
"Not with murder on what we have."
"He threw away boots that match the marks in the tower."
"Yes."
"He knew Bull. Bull called him."
"Yes."
"But you still need to establish what happened upstairs."
Relf closed the interview notes.
"And whether it was deliberate."
Martin agreed to return to the tower with them.
He was firm about one condition: nobody would move the bell while anyone was near the frame.
They would examine positions and sightlines. Nothing more.
The tenor was down and secured before Eleanor went up. Martin remained in the ringing chamber. Relf stood between the two levels, where he could hear them both.
"Can you hear me?" Eleanor called.
"Yes," Martin answered.
She moved to the place from which Bull appeared to have been reading.
There was little room. Timber pressed close on one side, metal on the other. She could see part of the inscription, but the rest was hidden. Shifting her head helped only slightly.
"Martin. If the bell's position changed, would that expose the rest?"
"It could."
She stayed where she was.
Bull might have asked the person below to move it a little. Read a few letters, then asked again. Whoever held the rope would have had to judge the movement without seeing precisely where Bull stood.
Eleanor called Relf up.
"Why would he wait until Bull was reading?"
"If Marris killed him?"
"Yes. He had other opportunities. Why choose that moment?"
Relf looked at the narrow space beside her.
"The opportunity was there."
"Or he was waiting to hear what Bull found."
"What would tell him that?"
"Bull would have called it down."
She turned back to the inscription.
Beneath the second line was a small mark incorporated into the casting. She had been concentrating on the text above it. Now she leaned closer.
Four worn letters.
HALE
She read them aloud.
Relf came nearer.
"Get Martin," she said.
Martin examined the mark.
"I've seen it before."
"What is it?" Relf asked.
"A foundry mark, perhaps. I'd need to check."
Eleanor pointed to the letters.
"Hale."
Relf looked at her.
"The bell is far older than Benjamin Hale," she said.
"Then it may be a coincidence."
"Yes."
She moved back to give Martin room.
"Or Hale wasn't originally his name."
Relf waited.
"Wycliffe bought names," she continued. "We know that much. What if some of the organisation's names came from these inscriptions?"
"Why would they?"
"I don't know. A way of identifying people, routes, contacts. Something Bull was trying to understand."
Martin glanced between them.
"And you think he read that aloud?"
"If he did, the person downstairs would have heard it."
Relf looked down through the tower.
"And known he'd found something."
"Perhaps."
Eleanor could imagine Bull calling out the word, pleased with himself. She could also imagine a perfectly ordinary request for the bell to be moved so he could see better. Neither was evidence.
She looked at Martin.
"What would happen if the next pull was stronger than he expected?"
Martin studied the place where she had been standing.
"He'd have very little room to get clear."
"Would the person below know that?"
"An experienced ringer should know the danger. Whether he knew Bull's exact position is another matter."
Relf took out his notebook.
"We need to separate what could happen from what did."
A small mark in the timber had already been photographed during the original examination. Eleanor had seen it among the damage around the fall.
She pointed it out to Martin.
"Could that have been made while the bell was moving?"
He crouched and examined the fresh compression in the old wood. Then he changed position, looking from the wheel to the frame.
"Possibly."
"What would have struck it?"
"I'd want someone to examine the whole mechanism before giving you an answer."
He rose and traced the possible movement with his hand.
"If this mark came from the wheel reaching that point, the bell was already swinging. It wouldn't get there from a single small pull with the bell down."
"More than one pull?" Relf asked.
"Or movement started another way. I can't count pulls from a mark."
"Could Bull have moved it himself?"
Martin went to another part of the frame.
"From here, yes."
He showed them where Bull would have needed to stand.
"To get to the position where he fell, he'd then have to let go and move across while it was still moving."
"Possible?"
"Yes. Dangerous, but possible."
Eleanor looked between the two positions. They had a reason to investigate the mark properly, but it did not prove that Marris had pulled the rope.
Relf wrote down Martin's explanation.
"We'll have it examined."
Eleanor returned to the inscription. From where she stood, she could not see the ringing chamber. Bull could not have watched his companion's hands. If someone had been helping him, they would have needed to speak.
She called down once more.
"Martin?"
His answer reached her clearly.
"How loudly would Bull have needed to shout?"
"Fairly loudly."
"Could someone outside have heard him?"
Martin considered.
"Possibly. Depending on where they were."
Relf looked towards the tower windows.
Eleanor stepped away from the frame.
"Then we should ask."