House of Lies by D S Butler

Author:D S Butler [Butler, D S]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Calibre
Published: 2019-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Karen left Cressida and Ella, wondering if she’d done the right thing by giving Cressida another ten minutes. She didn’t want to pressure the young woman, not when she seemed to be turning a corner and appeared so much better than yesterday, but the clock was ticking.

The longer Natasha was missing, the less likely it was she would turn up safe and well.

Karen reached the top of the stairs just as PC Smith and Mike Harrington began to climb them.

Harrington saw her and lifted a bag of tools. ‘I think these should work,’ he said.

PC Smith cracked his knuckles. ‘I’m a little bit rusty, but I should be able to get that door open.’

Karen walked with them, leading them along the corridor. ‘This is the door that won’t open. I keep hearing strange sounds coming from it, like whispering.’

‘You think Natasha could be in there?’ PC Smith’s jaw dropped, and he made a grab for the tools in Harrington’s hand. ‘I didn’t realise it was so urgent.’

‘I don’t think it’s Natasha in there,’ Karen said. ‘In fact, it sounds so similar every time I hear it I think it must be a recording.’

‘A recording?’ Harrington scratched his head. ‘Why would someone be playing a recording in a locked room?’

‘I’ve got my suspicions, but I might be wrong. Let’s just wait until you manage to open the door.’

PC Smith kneeled on the red carpet and peered closely at the lock. ‘It might take me a few minutes. I don’t want to damage the lock and land us with a bill from Lord Chidlow. I imagine he’s not going to be very pleased when he gets home and finds out what we’ve done.’

Karen shrugged. ‘He gave us permission to search the whole house, and we have a warrant now. His signature is on the paperwork.’

As PC Smith worked, Harrington stood beside him, handing him tools. Karen pulled out her mobile phone and walked to the other end of the corridor, planning to return Alice Price’s call.

It rang for a long time before anyone answered.

‘Yes.’ It was a male voice.

‘Oh, I was hoping to speak to Alice,’ she said. ‘It’s Karen Hart, DS Hart.’

‘Alice isn’t here.’ Karen recognised the voice now. It was Declan, Alice’s husband.

‘I’ll call again later.’

‘There’s no point. She’s gone away,’ he said in a listless voice.

‘Gone away? But she hasn’t taken her mobile?’

‘No, she does this quite a lot. Likes to go off on her own for a bit. It’s her way of coping, I think. Being alone with her thoughts. Not being interrupted by frivolous phone calls.’

Karen frowned. ‘I’m returning her call.’

There was silence on the other end of the phone and then Declan said, ‘She called you?’

‘Yes.’

‘What about?’ he asked, sounding suspicious.

‘I’m not really sure,’ Karen said, truthfully, ‘but Alice asked me to call her back.’

Karen didn’t mention Churchill’s name. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but she felt like it wasn’t something Declan needed to know. Alice’s husband wanted her to forget about the past and move on.

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.