A Body in the Lakes by Graham Smith

Author:Graham Smith [Smith, Graham]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786818386
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2019-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Six

Beth made it back to Carleton Hall with two minutes to spare thanks to getting a clear run along the A66 from Keswick. For once there had been no slothful caravans or tractors to impede progress on the parts of the road which weren’t dual carriageway.

As she entered the office, she took in the scene. Unthank was at his desk, phone pressed against his ear as he scribbled notes or peered at his screen. O’Dowd was fiddling with an ink cartridge for the ancient printer that refused to die despite giving a death rattle every time it was asked to print more than a full stop. She looked up at Beth as the younger woman put her jacket over the back of her chair.

‘What is it, ma’am?’ As fearful as she was of getting a bollocking from O’Dowd, Beth had learned that the best way to deal with the DI’s capricious moods was to front up and face the music.

‘Press conference at five.’ O’Dowd reached into the printer. ‘The brass are running scared so I have to take it and, quite frankly, I’m not of a mind to face that pack of wolves alone.’

Beth couldn’t believe what she was hearing; she’d never attended a press conference before, and to have to go into her first unprepared, and while investigating a crime with so few leads, couldn’t end well. If the brass were throwing O’Dowd to the wolves, the DI was doing the same to her.

‘Surely DS Thompson would be a more suitable companion? He’s more senior than I am, both in age and rank.’

‘Bugger.’ O’Dowd withdrew her hand from the printer. It was covered in black ink and she scowled at the printer as if it would apologise to her. ‘He is. But look at him, he’s exhausted, literally running on empty. Both physically and emotionally. One wrong word from a reporter and he’s likely to give them a piece of his mind. That can’t happen when the cameras are rolling.’

‘Cameras rolling?’ Beth shot a look at O’Dowd. ‘So we’re going to be filmed telling the world we haven’t got a clue who killed those four women. That’s just marvellous, bloody marvellous.’

‘Aye well, some things are what they are. It was either you or Unthank, and the way he’s been lately, I can’t trust him not to try and shag that new reporter from the News and Star.’

Beth got what O’Dowd meant. The new reporter wasn’t above batting her eyelashes to get what she wanted, and Unthank had reacted to breaking up with his fiancée by trying to jump into the bed of any woman who spoke more than four words to him. If the two of them were left alone in each other’s presence for any length of time, it was a racing certainty he’d end up being teased into feeding her titbits about the investigation.

‘With due respect, ma’am, a wee heads-up a bit sooner would have been nice. You know, a chance to run a brush through my hair or at least put some lippy on.

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