One Lost Soul by J M Dalgliesh

Author:J M Dalgliesh [Dalgliesh, J M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hamilton Press
Published: 2019-10-07T16:00:00+00:00

The day was predominantly overcast but every so often the clouds would break and the warmth of the spring sun would cut through reminding them of the promise of the forthcoming summer. Janssen loved Norfolk in the summertime. Sheltered on the east coast, the prevailing wind kept the edge off the North Sea and the Atlantic storms would usually dissipate over land leaving the region blessed with more sun and less rain than the rest of the country. The downside came when the prevailing winds were knocked off course from the east. On those days fog could hug the coastline for the daylight hours and whereas inland people were treated by blue skies and hot sun, those unfortunates on the coast could barely see a hundred paces in front of them. Today, spring seemed in touching distance.

“Do you think Ken Francis could have been Holly’s benefactor?” Tamara asked him, following a long pause in conversation. She had seemed lost in thought since they left the station and Janssen hadn’t wanted to intrude. Perhaps she’d been puzzling over the case. She must have been thinking along the same lines as him.

“The source of where she got the laptop?” he asked, just to clarify. She nodded. “Do you think it could be a present? Ken certainly has the money and if she didn’t buy it out of her allowance, how else could she have got it?”

She retreated into herself once more, falling silent and so he didn’t comment further, allowing her space to think. “There’s another possibility. The laptop is neither Holly’s nor a gift.”

“She borrowed it… or stole it?” He was thinking aloud now. They had no proof for any of their ideas, it was all merely supposition.

Tamara laughed but it was a sound without genuine humour. “For all we know, we’re looking at Holly as a pure innocent here. How often does it turn out the victim was somehow culpable in their own murder?” He looked over at her, feeling himself frowning at what was rather an odd comment. Regardless of how Holly may or may not behave, her baby was certainly innocent. She must have read his reaction and sought to explain. “I’m just saying Holly comes across as something of a mixed-up kid, not that that would necessarily make her responsible for what happened to her. All I’m saying is she seems to have a lot of secrets. No one really knows her, least of all us. For all we know, she could have been blackmailing Ken Francis, extorting money from him. Who knows.”

“He could just as easily be her sugar-daddy,” he bit back, possibly harsher than was necessary. “Hell, if he has a tendency towards young girls then, regardless of her being over age, we could have found a motive.”

“The model in Canning Town was in her twenties.”

“Still over half his age!”

“If that’s a pre-requisite for suspicion we will have to investigate most of the divorcees who holiday in Thailand… for the diving, obviously.”

He found himself smiling.

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