Murrain's Truth: A Trio of DCI Kenny Murrain Short Stories by Alex Walters

Author:Alex Walters [Walters, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2016-05-10T00:00:00+00:00

***

Murrain knew he shouldn't be there. He had no justification, no justification at all. He'd get the mother of all bollockings if anyone found out. It wasn't his case. He had no right to any information. He had no grounds, other than his own half-baked instincts, for getting involved.

He just knew, fortunately, that Wally Saunders would be prepared to play ball. Up to a point, anyway. He might well just tell Murrain to bugger off, but at least it would go no further.

In any case, the truth was that Murrain felt he had no choice. It wasn't just what Neil Ferbrache had said, though Murrain never underestimated anything that came from that direction. It was more that, ever since Bradgate's funeral, there had been no let up from the insistent voice that was plaguing Murrain's brain.

The night after the funeral, he'd felt as if his whole body was buzzing with an internal electricity. He'd woken in the small hours, Eloise snoring softly beside him, with a clear sense that someone had just been talking to him, painstakingly setting out the whole story. Already it was gone, unremembered fragments fluttering from his waking mind. But the voice was still there, whispering as if barely within earshot, repeating the account over and over again but in words that somehow Murrain could never quite understand.

He'd spoken to Sally Bradgate shortly before leaving the funeral. He'd met her a few times before at Divisional events with Eloise. Even so, it had been an awkward, disjointed exchange. Murrain had been distracted by the games his mind was playing, muttering little more than banal platitudes. The widow had stared at him blankly, as if barely comprehending why he was there or what he was saying. She'd seemed in shock, but somehow Murrain had sensed that it was more than the simple trauma of bereavement. In that moment, the voice had seemed louder and more insistent than ever.

'Won't be a minute, Kenny,' Saunders had said when he'd arrived. 'Just need to make a couple of calls then I'm all yours.'

It was fairly typical of Saunders to leave his guests kicking their heels in the tiny waiting room outside Professional Standards. Murrain was happy to accept that Saunders was busy—they all were—but he'd always been keen to let you know who was in charge. Well, fair enough. Murrain was looking for a favour, after all.

Saunders was a retired Chief Super who'd been brought back in a civilian role to head up Professional Standards. He wasn't to everyone's taste—he wasn't entirely to Murrain's though they generally rubbed along well enough—but he was seen as a straight dealer. Standards had had its fair share of problems over the years. To some extent, that went with the territory. Blue on blue investigations were never going to be popular, and there'd always be people looking to settle scores. Saunders was old enough not to care what anyone thought, and he had sufficient authority and credibility to make sure they listened. As far as Murrain could judge, he was doing a decent job.

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