A Shred of Evidence by Jill McGown

Author:Jill McGown [McGown, Jill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9780307559647
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2012-02-07T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Nothing new had come in overnight; after the morning briefing, the squad dispersed on various duties, leaving Judy, Tom and Lloyd in the murder room.

Poor Lloyd, thought Judy. She must have petrified him last night, but she had had to deal with an overwrought pathologist, a distraught mother, a garage mechanic, hostile colleagues and a post-mortem all before just being alone with him, which had in itself brought her emotions dangerously close to the surface. The sudden, frightening thought that she might have taken him for granted for too long had just been one emotional jolt too many. Now that she was herself again, she couldn’t really recapture that dreadful feeling; just the effect it had had on her. She felt more than a little silly, if truth be told, and grateful to Lloyd for behaving as though it had never happened.

“I think Natalie got tired of waiting for Cochrane and let someone else have a legover,” Tom said. “Cochrane caught her at it and lost his rag—finished her off when he saw the damage he’d done.”

Lloyd looked at him over his specs as he read the night duty’s reports. “You have such a poetic touch,” he said.

“He did it, guv,” said Tom. “If he washes his own clothes, I’m Groucho Marx. And I smelt that deodorant.”

Lloyd took off his glasses. “It makes sense,” he said. “But I don’t want us concentrating on Cochrane to the exclusion of all else, because all this is purely circumstantial.”

Oh, get him, thought Judy. He had built up more fool-proof circumstantial cases than anyone she knew. Except, of course, that he didn’t actually believe in them. He wanted them to be picked over and the bones extracted, because the flesh was pure invention, and he knew it.

Tom simply believed that he was right, and Lloyd was determined not to encourage that.

“Until we get forensic or eye-witness evidence to the contrary, I think we have to assume that what we have been told by Mrs. Cochrane is true,” Lloyd went on.

“But, sir—”

“Don’t make the facts fit your theory, Tom. Keep an open mind. We should get the reports on the physical evidence at the scene today—let’s not speculate.”

But oh, God, he could be so irritating, thought Judy, watching Tom’s reaction with a smile.

Tom was due at the forensic lab; he had turned to go, but he turned back again, deciding to put up a fight. “He was having an affair with her, sir. The letters say so. She arranges to meet him on the Green. He can’t account for twenty minutes of that so-called run, and his wife just happens to see her alive before Sherlock the bloodhound conveniently finds her dead? Come on, guv—even if I hadn’t smelt his deodorant, it’s got to be worth looking into.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t worth looking into. Of course it is. But I’m sure the inspector will tell you what’s wrong with your theory.” He smiled at Judy. “You have the floor,” he said.

Judy looked at Tom, and smiled sympathetically.

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.