The only description of him came from Thomas Giles and John Lench, who were strangers in Oddingley, unfamiliar with its lanes and most of its people. When questioned, they repeated the description that was soon to be circulated across Worcestershire and beyond: that the suspect stood about five foot five inches tall, that he had a round ruddy face and thick hanging lantern jaw;1 that he wore a round old-fashioned hat and – most strikingly of all – a dark blue greatcoat with white metal buttons. This description was sufficient to supply most villagers with a theory. This theory went that Reverend Parker had not been killed by a stranger unknown to the parish, but by someone who visited it frequently and whose face and figure were a common feature of its lanes. At around seven o’clock the hypothesis that had been developing was all but confirmed with the appearance of Thomas Colwell, a carpenter from Tibberton. Colwell called at the rectory, where he found John Perkins comforting Mary Parker.
