A Patient Man (Inspector James Given Investigations Book 3) by Charlie Garratt

Author:Charlie Garratt [Garratt, Charlie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2020-07-12T16:00:00+00:00

‘Still no joy with Robbie, sir. Not a word of him around the town. I went to see all his friends and everyone claims not to have seen him. Have to say I’m getting worried.’

Sawyer had come in to see me as soon as I got back to my office and made it clear he’d been waiting for a while.

‘Why worried?’

‘Robbie’s not the cleverest of blokes and disappearing so completely would be difficult for him. If he was hiding he’d probably just ask a mate to put him up for a few days but there’s no-one owning up.’

‘Perhaps he has a mate who wouldn’t rat on him.’

‘Possibly, but I’ve know most of them a long time and think they trust me. If any of them know where Robbie is they’d give me the nod. One or two might not tell me where but they’d let me know he’s safe.’

‘And you think he’s not safe?’

‘I’m not sure, but that bus conductor said Robbie looked like he thought he was being followed.’

‘Most likely he did but it was probably us he thought were following him. He’s still the only real suspect we’ve got and the simplest explanation is he’s packed his bag and gone on the run. Extend the search. Check with his friends in Coventry again, ask our lads over there, and find out if any of the other stations round the county have heard anything.’

This time Sawyer didn’t argue. He might not agree with my consideration of Wilkes as a suspect but he now wanted to find him as much as I did.

‘What about Sturges, sir. Anything on him?’

‘Doesn’t seem to be. We had a long chat. Lived in Italy for a while, seaman before that, same as me. Gave me an alibi for the night of the murder which seemed solid but I’ll check it. There are gaps when he claimed to be walking to and from his sister’s house, said it was only five minutes but it wouldn’t be much out of his way to go via Beeches Lane.’

‘Shall I do more digging on him, sir? Seems odd he comes to Kenilworth then we have a murder and another man goes missing. A man he was fighting with.’

‘No need. From what I can tell he’s a decent bloke and, as I said, I’ll check his alibi.’

Sawyer’s face when he left told me he’d take no notice of my advice. But that’s what he’s useful for, checking my assumptions, and, even though I liked Henry Sturges, I was far from certain he was innocent.

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