A Morning Murder: The Freeman Files Series - Book 20 by Ted Tayler

Author:Ted Tayler [Tayler, Ted]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Monday January 19th, 2015

Bonnie Adamson had spent Sunday afternoon with Debbie and Phillip Kenyon and passed on information about the break-up with Alfie Jones and the names of Tammie’s best friends.

Alan thought they had found their first suspect, but Alfie explained why the relationship ended when interviewed. His parents believed they had persuaded him to break up with Tammie to concentrate on his schooling. Alfie said he was happy to let them think that, but the truth was Tammie was moving too fast. She kept wanting sex with him, and he wasn’t her first lover by any means. Tammie had convinced herself Alfie loved her, and they would get married. Unfortunately, that wasn’t on the cards as far as Alfie was concerned.

When Julie Kemp asked Alfie where he was on Thursday morning, he said he left home at half-past eight, walked to school with his mate from next door, and spent the morning in the company of over a dozen fellow students of Chemistry and Physics. The teachers confirmed that Alfie hadn’t been out of their sight at any time.

Naomi Fletcher and several of Tammie’s schoolfriends gave similar replies about who Tammie went out with and what she was like. Julie Kemp asked if Tammie had argued with anyone. Were there any strangers outside the school in the days before the murder? Everyone seemed to know the names of the boys Tammie had been with. She got on with everyone, which made it impossible to think of anyone who wished her harm. Nobody had noticed any strangers near the school.

Karla Bates called the police station on Monday evening. She’d worked a shift at the Leigh Park Country House Hotel, and a customer had mentioned police activity in the field off Leigh Road. When Karla asked a colleague about it, she began to wonder whether the girl she’d seen on Thursday morning was Tammie Kenyon.

Julie Kemp and Alan Quinn interviewed Karla Bates at home the following morning.

Alan showed Karla a photograph of Tammie in her school uniform.

“Gosh, yes, that’s the girl I saw,” said Karla. “How dreadful for her family.”

“Can you tell us what happened, from when you left home until you reached work, Karla?” asked Julie.

“It was still dark, here in Woolley Grange, when I came out of my front door. So, I put my headlights on. I pulled out of the driveway onto the main road and drove along the B3105. I spotted a girl wearing a short, dark-coloured jacket over a school uniform. The same school colours as in the photo you just showed me. She looked a couple of years older than that photo, say, fifteen or sixteen. There was nobody else on the pavement near her. It was hard to tell whether she was late for something and running; or just eager to cross the road the second she spotted a gap in the traffic.”

“You didn’t see anyone following her?” asked Alan.

“No, dear,” said Karla, shaking her head. “As I neared the crossroads, the traffic volume caused me to slow to a crawl.

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.