Banking on Murder by J.D Whitelaw

Author:J.D Whitelaw [Whitelaw, J.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781913331979
Publisher: Red Dog Press/Bloodhound Books

18

“Did you really have to wake me?” moaned Helen, yawning loudly. “I mean, fine, great, I like that you guys always think about me and stuff, but you woke me for this? Really? Couldn’t you two have managed on your own?”

“We didn’t want to leave you out,” said Geri. “Because if we did we would never hear the end of it.”

“That’s true,” Helen said, battling sleep as she drove erratically down the motorway. “I can’t really deny that. You know me too well, sis.”

“Thanks,” smiled Geri.

Martha sat in the front passenger seat of the Mini. They were hurtling along through the night. The city shone in the distance, bright colours dancing off the new buildings and making the whole place seem alive. As they crossed the River Clyde the skyline reflected on the dark water. It was beautiful, hypnotic even.

Martha only wished they were seeing it under better circumstances. For the millionth time since they’d left her house she asked herself whether she’d taken leave of her senses. Were they really about to break into a morgue and find Gordon Coulthard’s body? It was breaking so many rules she wasn’t even sure she could count that many.

Yet somehow she kept coming back to the same answer. It was the right thing. Doing the right thing seemed to be a recurring feature of this case. Ever since she’d first met Tracey Coulthard, it had felt like she was questioning every decision she made. The consequences, the execution, everything had been up for debate. And now that it had all taken such a sinister turn, Martha found she was doing it more and more.

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” asked Helen.

Martha refrained from answering her with a glib remark. She wasn’t sure if she’d feel any better if she voiced their plan aloud. Somehow, it felt quite conspiratorial, like they were plotting an assassination or something. She kept her voice low, just in case.

“We have to take a look at the lump on the back of Gordon Coulthard’s head,” she said. “I hadn’t noticed it, but Geri says Tracey was adamant she hadn’t put it there.”

“Right,” said Helen. “So why do we have to break into a morgue in the middle of the night? Shouldn’t we just tell the cops?”

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Helen?” asked Geri from the back. “Where’s the fun in just handing it over to Pope the Dope?”

“Eh, it wouldn’t be against the law for one thing,” she replied. “You can’t go about breaking and entering, that’s a criminal offence you know.”

“So’s sending an innocent woman to prison for a crime she didn’t commit,” Geri snapped. “How would you feel about that on your conscience?”

Helen didn’t answer. Martha didn’t say anything either. Geri was right, the stakes were as high as they could possibly be.

“So what are we looking for then?” asked Helen. “I mean, it’s just a lump, so what? The morticians and forensics guys will have seen it surely. What will we find that they won’t already know?”

“That’s why we needed you here,” said Martha.

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