Corpse Road: A DCI Harry Grimm Novel by David J Gatward

Author:David J Gatward [Gatward, David J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Published: 2020-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Harry was first to arrive at the community centre, but not by much, which hadn’t been the plan. A restless night, and a breakfast which pretty much matched his meal the evening before when it came to being sad and depressingly unappetising, had sent him out into the morning before much of the world had woken up. He’d spotted an envelope on the carpet by the front door as he’d been leaving, but had been in no mood to check what it was, so had ignored it. Probably junk mail anyway, he’d thought, slamming the door behind himself.

A walk up the hill to Gayle, then back across the little age-worn flagstone path, which crossed dew-wet fields and followed the beck, had done nothing to clear his head. He’d done his best to drink deep of the beauty of the dales. Gazing off into the distance, his eyes had wandered up the fells, which swam deep in the colours which bathed them. The rich air, so much more alive early in the morning, crisp and bright with promise, filled his lungs. But it still hadn’t been enough. He’d hoped that a bit of time alone in the office before everyone else turned up, nursing a huge mug of strong tea, might help, but the other arrival had put an end to that with the slam of a car door and a terse call of his rank and name.

‘DCI Grimm.’

‘Sir,’ Harry nodded, as Detective Superintendent Swift stared at him from where he’d parked his car, then walked towards him with the cold, mean purpose of a vampire looking for a quick kill before having to turn in for the day. Harry checked his watch. ‘It’s not even eight, sir. Can’t say that I expected to see you quite yet.’

‘And just what are you suggesting by that?’

‘Nothing,’ Harry replied, searching for the office keys in a pocket. ‘You’ve a longer journey than most, that’s all.’

‘I have indeed,’ replied Swift. ‘But I wanted to get here good and early so that I could really get things moving along.’

Harry was fairly sure that a lot more was hidden behind those words than they actually communicated, but he ignored his suspicions, opened the door into the community centre, and walked through to the offices used by himself and the rest of the team. The soft footfalls of his temporary boss followed him through, all the way up to the kettle.

‘Tea, please, Grimm,’ Swift instructed.

‘Milk?’ Harry asked, barely able to disguise his irritation at being ordered about.

‘Yes, but no sugar. I bring my own sweetener.’

Doesn’t seem to be working, does it? Harry thought. ‘How did yesterday go?’ Harry asked. ‘With the parents?’ Didn’t get a chance to ask.’

‘As terrible as can be expected,’ Swift said. ‘With Haig away, I’ve sourced the relevant support for them, so that’s dealt with and we don’t need to worry about it.’

Harry was worried about it, though, because right now he was worried about everything to do with this case. As

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.