Bad People (Tom Nolan Book 1) by Craig Wallwork

Author:Craig Wallwork [Wallwork, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Underbelly Books
Published: 2020-01-17T05:00:00+00:00

23

THURSDAY

After realising Palmer was missing, Nolan had called his sergeant, Paul Cornwell. Cornwell was as near to retirement as he was type II diabetes. His desk, which faced Nolan's, had an ongoing joke that its drawers contained more biscuits than solved cases. There was some truth to this, mainly because Cornwell had begun coasting toward retirement five years leading up to it. Sure, he was happy to control the ship, if the ship only needed a slight push to keep it on course. He didn't want headaches, so allowed his staff to take more control of the cases they were working on. This was why Nolan had been given latitude to pursue his hypothesis on the missing children between other less demanding jobs. It was also why there was little resistance from Cornwell when Nolan informed him that he would be traveling to Manchester. The news of Palmer going missing hit Cornwell like a ball of shit. Nolan knew senior command would need informing of this at the next PACE setter, and because Palmer was such a high profile person, Cornwell would be the one tasked with informing the Superintendent, which would mean more work, more questions, all of which Cornwell didn't need right now.

"If it's any consolation," Nolan said, stood before Cornwell's desk. "I'm fairly confident DI Coonan will take the Palmer case on as part of his ongoing enquiries in Stormer Hill."

Cornwell wiped the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief. Like Nolan, he was carrying more weight than he should. His neck was aligned perfectly with his jaw giving his face the appearance of a thumb poked through the neck of a shirt. Even if it was a few degrees above freezing, the man could be found sweating worse than two rats fucking in a wool sock.

"What makes you think Coonan wants the hassle?" asked Cornwell.

"I think it might be linked with the missing girl," Nolan replied.

"Sarah Cook?"

"No, Amy Taylor. But yeah, Sarah Cook too. Too many missings in one place for it to be coincidence."

"That right?"

Nolan could almost hear the relief in Cornwell’s voice.

"So, everything okay with me crossing over to Manchester?"

Cornwell wasn't even looking at him now. His eyes were fixed on the desk's third drawer.

"Manchester? Yeah, sure."

"Do you want to contact Coonan about Palmer going missing, or should I?"

Cornwell looked up, his eyes widening at the thought.

"You're working with him on this case. No point in me muddying the water. Keep me updated though. I'll need to keep SLT abreast of the situation. Hopefully he's on a long walk or fucking some book-geek." He paused for a moment in reflection before adding, "Jesus, if anything has happened to him, we'll be in for a shit-storm."

"I can't see it," replied, Nolan. "The abductor just takes children. Adults are not part of their MO."

Nolan was about to walk away when Cornwell threw out a perfunctory remark about time management and traveling expenses, which Nolan acknowledged dutifully. As he left the office, he heard the drawer open on Cornwell's desk, and the familiar sound of biscuit packaging being opened.

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