I passed the second grave where the dead witch was buried head down, and moved very slowly forward on my tiptoes until I reached the pit.

A shaft of moonlight fell through the trees to light it up, so there was no doubt about what had happened.

I was too late.

The bars had been bent even further apart, almost into the shape of a circle. Even the butcher could have eased his massive shoulders through that gap.

I peered down into the blackness of the pit but couldn’t see anything. I suppose I had a forlorn hope that she might have exhausted herself bending the bars and was now too tired to climb out.

The Spook's Apprentice Chapter 9