Fires of Hate by Heather Peck

Author:Heather Peck [Peck, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SilverWood Books
Published: 2022-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

22

Secrets and lies

Dashing to the chief super’s office, Greg was waylaid by George, with ‘Mildred’ as ever in tow. Despite his rush, Greg had time to notice that today’s cardigan was an unpleasant shade of blush pink, distinctly reminiscent of the old-style ladies’ underwear he remembered from shops even his granny would walk past with a disparaging sniff.

‘Got you an answer,’ said George, with the closest to a tone of triumph that Greg ever remembered hearing from him. ‘It was tricky, but I won’t bother you with the scientific details. I know you’re not interested and you wouldn’t understand them anyway.’

Swallowing this insult to his intelligence and education without a murmur, Greg waited for the punchline.

‘Suffice it to say, we’ve identified the body found in the locked store room. It was a chemist named Jan Littleboys.’

‘Hang on,’ said Greg sharply. ‘This is the first I’ve heard about the store room being locked.’

George was offended. ‘Take that up with your CSIs,’ he snapped. ‘The fact is, that beyond reasonable doubt we can identify this body as that of Jan Littleboys, and we’re prepared to state that in court.’ He snapped the file in his hands together. ‘OK, we’re done here. We’ll be on our way back to Bradford. Come on M.’ And they both bustled away.

‘Thank you,’ shouted Greg after them. ‘Great work! I’m most grateful for your help.’

George waved the file without turning and kept going.

‘Oh dear,’ Greg said to his only audience, Phil Knight, who had popped out of the adjacent ops room. ‘I think I’ve offended them again.’

‘Wouldn’t worry, Boss,’ he said. ‘That’s their default state.’

‘So what’s this about the storeroom being locked?’

‘That’s what Forensics are saying. They’ve been taking a closer look at what’s left of the door, which admittedly isn’t much, and at the material surrounding it. Their report is that although the door is gone, much of the lock survived and the bolt was across. Moreover, they also think a metal-framed chair was wedged under the handle from the outside.’

‘How sure are they?’

‘I asked them that,’ said Phil with some satisfaction. ‘The lock, more than seventy per cent, the chair, more like fifty fifty, but taking the two elements together, it certainly looks like the poor woman was deliberately trapped in there.’

‘And George has confirmed it was Jan Littleboys. Pass that on will you, Phil, and concentrate efforts on her now. We need to know why she was a target. Her past associations, friends, enemies. You know the deal.’

‘I’ll pass it on, Boss.’

‘I’ll be with you shortly. I have to meet with the chief super first.’

*

Greg wasn’t surprised to find a frosty silence in the room. Margaret was ostentatiously consulting her online diary and DI Newton was sitting ignored in a corner. Sarah was also present, and flashed Greg a warm smile.

‘Ah, DCI Geldard,’ said Margaret, and Greg wasn’t sure whether the acid in her tone was aimed at him for keeping her waiting, or Newton for being difficult. ‘As DI Newton has apparently

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