It was placed against the wall of the house so as not to get in the way of the homeowners or casual callers looking for the back door.
I could see it being a bit of a hazard if it managed to slip out of its near vertical position or even toppled over completely.
It was in effect a huge shaped piece of black slate.
The dimensions were difficult to make out from what was a bit of a lopsided vantage point on the pathway but I estimated it to be about three yards long and about one yard in width. My mind had immediately reverted to the old Imperial Measurements upon the sight of what was obviously a bit of an antique..........something.
I had come across a considerably smaller but similar bit of slate before in a pile of apparent rubbish in a garage that I was clearing out. That piece had formed the mantelpiece of an old fireplace with the big giveaway as to its former role being the skilled workmanship of a Mason to form a bevelled edge as a decorative feature.
The shape of this particular object caught my attention.
Although of mostly a regular rectangular configuration the end sticking out in clear view was three sided and as such resembled the leading end of a coffin. If it had been stood vertically the same sort of profile was a bit like a tombstone.
Looking closely at the surface of the black slate I could not see any chiselled words of scripture or worldly wisdom and so the prospect of it being a gravestone could be discounted.
Within the panel facing outwards there was however a whitish paint outline as though the object had been mounted flat on a sort of plinth. That could mean a former use as a platform or even a display unit of sorts but I was not convinced.
What must have appeared to be suspicious behaviour as in my persistent loitering about at the side of the house had by now come to the attention of the local Neighbourhood Watch or to be more accurate that of a lone watchful neighbour.
A lady had suddenly appeared at my side as if materialising out of thin air when in fact she had simply walked out of her kitchen door and stepped over a low pin kerb that formed an ineffective boundary between the adjacent properties.
"I see you have spotted that thing then" she said without making the usual chit chat to establish who I was and what my business was for being there.
This was a major variation from the usual interrogative stance that I usually found myself confronted with in many similar situations in and around an empty house.
She gave the impression of wanting to open up a dialogue on the subject of that thing.
It did seem to have a bit of a strange fascination for her but then again I could appreciate that from my own rather obsessive behaviour towards it.
"Have you seen a Mortuary Slab before?" she continued.
I asked whether the former householder had been, perhaps, an Undertaker but the reply came back that "No, he had been the Chief of Police".
Some sense and clarity began to emerge from this disclosure.
The former Senior Officer must have on many occasions delivered an unfortunate cadaver to the City Mortuary for it to be laid out on the slab or had been present for a Post Mortem Examination.
It turns out, from the neighbour that the object had been rescued by the former resident from a Municipal Building when at risk from being discarded during long awaited renovations and modernisations of the Civic Facility.
The Policeman had claimed it for nostalgic reasons and had intended to use it as a bit of a feature in his garden.
This had not at all been well received by his wife and the slab with the morbid backstory had been set aside at the side of the house where it had evidently rested for many years.
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