Coping Without You by M.A. Comley

Author:M.A. Comley [Comley, M A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

“Right, I’ve heard back from Georgia. She’s organised the conference for midday. That gives us the morning to visit Paul Collins,” Sally informed Lorne after she’d dropped into her office with a top-up of coffee.

“When do you want to set off?” Lorne pointed at the paperwork littering Sally’s desk. “Before you tackle that lot or after?”

Sally raised an eyebrow and smiled. “What do you reckon? Needs must, eh?”

“I’ll get my jacket.”

Lorne left the room, and Sally picked up the notebook in which she’d made copious notes the evening before, at home, much to Simon’s annoyance, then followed her partner.

THE FACTORY WAS SITUATED on the outskirts of Mulbarton. The car park was half-empty. Sally reversed into the first available spot she could find, closest to the main entrance. “Are you ready for every eventuality?”

“I am. I have my spray in my pocket.”

Sally leaned over and extracted the Taser from the glove box she had signed out before they’d left the station. “This should put a stop to him eluding us this time.”

“The A-team to the rescue.”

“Now, now, the boys did their best.”

The receptionist was busy shuffling papers and glanced up as they approached the desk. “Hello. Can I help?”

Sally showed her warrant card. “DI Sally Parker and DS Lorne Warner. We’re here to speak with Paul Collins if he’s available. A couple of our colleagues dropped by yesterday but, unfortunately, Mr Collins was called away on an emergency.”

“Ah, yes. Strange, that was. He’s back in today. I’ll give him a bell, see if he can see you.”

“I’d rather you take us straight to him. We wouldn’t want to miss him again, you know, two days on the trot.”

“Well, that’s usually against the firm’s policy. He works on the factory floor. I might need to run it past the line manager first.”

“I’m not averse to that.”

The receptionist left her desk and made the call on the other side of the room. She returned and said, “He’s given us the all-clear. If you’d like to follow me, ladies?”

Their footsteps echoed down the hallway. The receptionist took them to a large noisy room, full of staff wearing white uniforms.

“You’ll need to put on the protective clothing before we go any further. In here.”

She took them into a locker room where they pulled on white coats, before they continued on their journey. She introduced them to Frank Tyrell, the line manager, who showed them into his office. A man in his late thirties was standing by the window. He glanced over his shoulder and eyed them with concern as they entered the room.

“I’ll leave you to get acquainted,” Tyrell said. “I can only spare him for a maximum of fifteen minutes. I hope that will be enough for you. We’re on a tight deadline. If the goods aren’t packed up and in the warehouse by ten, we could all lose our jobs.”

Sally was surprised by the line manager’s frankness. “We won’t keep Mr Collins longer than necessary, I promise.”

He left the room, and Collins made his way around the desk to sit in the manager’s chair.

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