01 Ask No Questions by Lisa Hartley

Author:Lisa Hartley [Hartley, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, &, Detective, Police, Procedural, Women, Sleuths, General, Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The café had a murky tiled floor and a queue of defeated-looking customers. Brady pushed open the door, the smell of burnt cooking fat greeting them. Behind the counter, a thin woman scurried between customers and the till, dodging around a scowling man whose sole task seemed to be to operate the coffee machine.

‘Why are we here?’ Caelan looked around, expecting to see Glen Walker tucking into a fry-up or Seb Lambourne swigging coffee. No one had noticed their arrival, no smiles, waves or shifty glances of acknowledgement.

Brady grimaced as a middle-aged waitress hurried past bearing a plate of food, grease already pooling around two watery fried eggs and rashers of bacon. Remembering the breakfast she and Ewan had enjoyed in the café in Lincoln, Caelan wished herself back there. Her task had been simpler then. Now, she was halfway between disgrace and the country’s most-wanted list.

‘We’ve a possible sighting of Glen Walker. The woman who phoned it in works here.’ Brady spoke quietly.

‘Shouldn’t you be at the station, doing … whatever chief superintendents do?’

Brady sniffed. ‘Tim can handle it. I felt like getting my hands dirty.’

‘You’re certainly doing that. This place is a shit tip. Who says they’ve seen Walker?’

‘The woman taking the orders, I assume.’

‘Are we going to talk to her?’

Brady stared at the surly man, now glaring in their direction. ‘Maybe we should order something.’

‘I’ll risk a coffee, but no food.’

‘Did I offer any?’ Stomping to the back of the queue, Brady left Caelan to search for an empty table. There were several, so she chose the cleanest-looking. She watched Brady exchange a few words with an elderly man who leaned on a grey metal walking stick as he waited. He waved a spindly hand towards the counter, Brady smiling, nodding.

The queue moved quickly, and Brady was soon at the table. She sat beside Caelan, took out her warrant card and left it face up in front of her. Caelan watched with interest.

‘What are you doing?’

‘She’s bringing our coffees over. I want her to know who we are.’

‘What did the old man say?’

‘Nothing relevant. Passing the time of day. Weather, the evils of immigration. The usual. Here she comes.’

The woman was hurrying towards them, two white mugs in her hands. Brady sat back in her chair as she approached and put the cups down. Coffee slopped onto the table, and the woman shrank back.

‘Oh, I’m sorry … I’ll get a cloth.’

The hint of an accent was hard to place. Eastern European, but which country? Caelan watched the man behind the counter speak harshly to the woman. Was he her partner, or her boss?

As she wiped the table, the woman’s eyes flicked to Brady’s warrant card, her head darting from side to side as she read it.

‘Do you have information for us?’

‘The man on the news …’ She hesitated, looking around the café without moving her head. ‘He’s been here. Two times, maybe more. Buys coffee to take away.’

‘Do you know where he lives?’

‘No. He came in with another man.

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