A Darker Place by Rachel Amphlett

Author:Rachel Amphlett [Amphlett, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Saxon Publishing

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kay popped the top of her ballpoint pen as her team assembled in front of the whiteboard, a mid-afternoon sun speckling the desks and carpet with thin streaks of light.

Their murmured conversations were tinged with frustration, and she felt an underlying sense that the days were slipping away from them without a single suspect in Carl Taylor’s death.

Aaron Stewart hovered at the fringes of the group wearing a fresh shirt, his head bowed as he listened to something Debbie was saying beside him.

Kay admired the constable for his dedication to the role he had been thrust into. He had turned up five minutes ago telling her he wanted to be as up to date as possible before heading back to Helen Taylor’s house for another shift as Family Liaison Officer.

‘Let’s start with the drugs Aaron found last night,’ she said, raising her voice over the throng.

The team fell silent as all eyes turned to the constable.

‘Charlie and Patrick didn’t find anything else in the garden over the course of this morning,’ he said. ‘The package of drugs found in the drain outside the kitchen window has been logged into evidence and Debbie’s arranged for a sample to be sent to the lab to check its grade. That’ll give us a better idea of its value.’

‘What about prints?’ said Gavin, leaning forward in his chair to better see Aaron. ‘Anything?’

‘Patrick found a latent print that matches Carl’s but that’s all. They unwrapped the package once they got it to the lab this morning, but whoever packed it was careful,’ said the constable. ‘Harriet reports they couldn’t get any other prints off of it.’

Kay tapped her pen against her notebook as she listened. ‘Has anyone in the Serious Crimes Directorate reported a quantity of drugs going missing from anyone they’ve got under surveillance?’

‘There isn’t anything on the system, guv,’ said Debbie, ‘but I’ll give headquarters a call after this to find out if any new reports have come in within the past twenty-four hours.’

‘Do that, please – and ask them if they’re aware of any sort of threats about retribution, things like that.’ Kay turned to the whiteboard and tapped the photographs Aaron had taken while the package of cocaine was still on Helen Taylor’s kitchen worktop the night before. ‘From what everyone’s been telling us about Carl Taylor, he doesn’t come across as a drug dealer, does he?’

‘It’s always the quiet ones, guv,’ Barnes said.

‘True.’ She turned, her gaze seeking out Laura. ‘Have you heard back from Adele Marchant? Wasn’t she going to give you the contact details for a work colleague of Carl’s?’

‘Yes, guv.’ The detective constable rose from her seat at the far side of the cluster of chairs so everyone could see her. ‘I’m heading off after the briefing with Gavin to go and speak to Bonnie Hopkins – Carl covered her route a couple of weeks ago. Adele told us she delivers to the Aylesford area, so we’ll ask her for a better idea of what that entails and whether she’s aware of any issues Carl might’ve been having.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.