Keep Her Silent_A totally gripping thriller with a twist you won't see coming_Oonagh O'Neil by Theresa Talbot

Author:Theresa Talbot [Talbot, Theresa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788545334
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2018-08-20T16:00:00+00:00

38

Glasgow 2002

Oonagh could see Jim McVeigh’s outline against the frosted glass and rapped on the door. She knew Davies wouldn’t be there – she’d already spoken to him on the phone. The office was dingy with polystyrene ceiling tiles, and the sunlight streaming through the window only served to highlight the gloom as dust settled on every available surface. McVeigh was perched on the edge of the desk but stood up as soon as she entered.

‘The boss isn’t here.’ He looked a bit flustered and was surrounded by countless box files, tattered paper wallets and a seemingly endless sea of paper.

‘Crikey, is that the files for…?’

McVeigh nodded. ‘Aye, I need to sift through it and go through the witness statements again.’

Oonagh stood slightly on tiptoe and peered over the desk. ‘Don’t suppose there’d be any chance of…?’

‘No!’ McVeigh gently ushered her back from the desk with his arm. ‘You kidding? He’d have my head on a plate for that.’

She wasn’t surprised but, still, a slight pang of disappointment pricked her chest.

‘I see you shaved your top lip.’

McVeigh just tutted.

‘Don’t let him bully you, Jim.’

He looked a bit uncomfortable so she steered the topic back to the investigations.

‘Making any headway?’

Oonagh had already gained copies of as much of the press coverage of the crimes as possible, radio archives, television news bulletins and newspapers. Almost every article focussed on the fact that all the girls had been pretty blonds. As though in some way that had made a difference. Killing beautiful women was less palatable to polite society and there was a greater need for their killers to be caught. Beautiful women had earned their right to survive. She wondered how often the media would include a male victim’s looks when reporting a murder. The handsome, blue-eyed father of three… just didn’t have the same ring to it, and it made her feel slightly sick. Even those useless vox-pops so prevalent now after an atrocity carried the same message. ‘She was such a pretty girl… she was so nice… always had a smile on her face.’ Beautiful people didn’t deserve to die that way.

‘Fancy a cup of tea?’ McVeigh held his cup aloft and Oonagh looked at her watch.

‘It’s taken you almost three minutes to ask!’

McVeigh grinned. ‘What kind?’ He was legendary for his tea and could talk for hours on the subtlety of each flavour.

‘Oh, go on, surprise me.’

He gave her a look that she couldn’t read. ‘Oh, I may do just that.’ This time it was his turn to look at his watch. ‘I’ll be gone for about—’ he pursed his lips ‘—four minutes?’ He turned the statement into a question.

‘I hadn’t realised tea making was so precise.’

He looked at his watch again, then glanced at the sea of paperwork. ‘Four minutes.’

With that he was gone and it took Oonagh a few seconds for the penny to drop. Shite! She lunged at the desk and pulled random pieces of paper from files, trying to take in what was the most important.

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.