IMPIOUS: A wicked murder mystery from Yorkshire (The DI Gardener crime fiction series Book 8) by Ray Clark

Author:Ray Clark [Clark, Ray]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Folks bestselling crime fiction publisher
Published: 2022-05-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-seven

The team had assembled in the incident room for a briefing. Gardener had a lot to tell them. He hoped they had in return. He glanced at his watch: 8:30pm. He didn’t want to keep them here any longer than necessary but things had to be discussed.

Sharp and Rawson said that there was nothing further on the rag-and-bone man. Speaking to witnesses in the area revealed that only two of them had seen him very briefly and had paid little or no attention. He’d been spotted on Station Road but no one knew where he had gone, which brought into play the possibility that he had some form of transport other than the cart.

Sharp mentioned that vans seen in the area and on the station CCTV were still being checked but they had nothing concrete as yet.

“What about dental and retinal scans concerning the head? That reveal anything?” asked Gardener.

As he spoke, the door quietly opened and DCI Briggs took a seat at the back of the room.

“Nothing,” said Rawson. “Of the opticians we’ve checked, they have said that records only really go back a short time in terms of years.”

Gardener suspected there wouldn’t be anything on the scans. The more information they gathered, the more likely it was they were dealing with something cold. He had however, been hoping for something on the rag-and-bone man because he now suspected there was nothing genuine about him. The rag-and-bone man at scene one was probably the water board man at scene two – though he had yet to fill the team in on that one – which could mean that the man might have a number of different vehicles.

He turned his attention to Thornton and Anderson.

“How did you get on with Elizabeth Holmes?”

“Very well, sir,” said Anderson.

“Yes,” said Thornton, smiling, “she certainly knows that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

Gardener rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming.

“Are you trying to wind me up?” said Reilly.

“As if,” replied Thornton.

“But those scones were to die for,” said Anderson. “So soft, so crumbly.”

“So delicious. With jam and fresh cream,” said Thornton.

“And do you know something?” said Anderson. “She made us have two each. We were near stuffed.”

Reilly glanced at Gardener. “Tell ’em, boss, they didn’t go there for scones,” he said scowling at Anderson.

Gardener noticed even Briggs was laughing. Anderson jumped up and passed a brown paper bag to Reilly.

“Calm your passions, my friend, I said we wouldn’t forget you.”

Reilly’s face beamed as he dipped into the bag.

“I don’t care what they say about you, I keep telling ’em, they’re all wrong.”

“Can we get back to the meeting now?” asked Gardener.

Anderson returned to his seat and told them what Elizabeth Holmes had said, which was very unsettling.

“What she said was,” continued Anderson, “a clergyman came to the school for the girl, but he never mentioned a convent. He said Debra was going to family in Ireland, and he had papers to prove it.”

“According to Holmes,” said Thornton, “they looked pretty genuine.

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