Angel: A DCI Ryan Mystery (The DCI Ryan Mysteries Book 4) by LJ Ross

Author:LJ Ross [Ross, LJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-08-25T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Ryan and Phillips emerged from The Diner onto the rain-washed pavement. Instead of heading straight back to his car, Ryan steered them in a southerly direction towards Newcastle Central Station. They walked in a comfortable silence while each man tried to divest himself of the discomfiting, grimy residue left over from their visit. They made a pit stop for coffee but neither had any appetite for food and they passed several cafés and restaurants without interest.

“We need somebody to give us a steer on the religious side of things,” Ryan declared, once the caffeine had begun its miraculous work.

“I already did a full background check on the priests who were due to conduct the funerals up at West Road and Heaton. Both of them are fully alibied,” Phillips put in.

“That doesn’t rule out any of the others. If the killer has some affiliation with, or follows the Roman Catholic faith, then we need to speak to somebody inside its fold and try to get a handle on it. Besides, I’d rather we were seen to be working together.”

Phillips nodded and stirred a couple of sachets of sugar into his coffee.

“My memory of the brief time I spent as a Catholic schoolboy is limited to freezing cold Sunday mornings chasing Amy Gallacher around the pews,” he recalled with fondness.

Ryan smiled and downed the remnants of his espresso before scrunching the paper cup in his hand and lobbing it into a nearby recycling bin.

“Well, all of my information comes from the internet so I’m no better off. I’ve got Morrison nagging at me to ‘build bridges’—whatever the hell that means—and I haven’t got a clue where to start.”

Ryan threw him a baffled look and Phillips had to smile.

“There’s been a lot of daft talk on the news. The press are running all the old stories about abuse within the church and trying to make connections. No doubt Morrison’s had the Bishop on the phone mouthing off about it.”

“I know. People are clutching at straws wherever they can find them. The sooner we put this to bed, the better.”

Phillips stopped and looked around to get his bearings.

“If you want to start building those bridges, we’re just around the corner from somewhere you could start,” he said. “St Mary’s. That’s the Catholic cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.”

“Talk about throwing me in at the deep end,” Ryan grumbled. “You know the holy water starts to fizz whenever I come near it.”

With a bark of laughter, Phillips prodded him forward.

* * *

The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary occupied an imposing position overlooking the mainline station into Newcastle. Its grand nineteenth century architecture was ‘Gothic-revival’, so the placard told him, but as Ryan stood at the bottom of a short bank of steps leading up to the cathedral’s entrance he saw only a tower of expensive stones paid for by the poorest inhabitants of industrial Newcastle.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Phillips said, coming to stand beside him.

“Depends on your point of view.”

“Apparently, the architect who designed it was famous for working on the Houses of Parliament.

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