Revenge by James Patterson & Andrew Holmes

Author:James Patterson & Andrew Holmes [Patterson, James & Holmes, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2020-04-07T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 38

HARDENED COPS HAD lost their lunch. Scene of crime units had been summoned. Uniformed officers looked pale and drawn as they busied themselves setting up a perimeter and trying not to look at the savaged corpse in the BMW.

In the meantime, Detective Inspector Phillips had arrived. He and Drake were acquainted; the two of them had talked during the Emma investigation, while Shelley, of course, had spoken to DI Phillips on the day of the aborted brainstorming session. That initial contact won them a little more courtesy than they otherwise might have expected, and so far Phillips had treated them all as though they were civilians in receipt of a terrible shock, their friend and colleague Adrian Johnson brutally murdered, and in turn they’d done their best to play up to it, but the pretense wouldn’t last forever. Phillips was already beginning to lose patience.

“You had nothing to do with torching the unit last night. That’s what you’re telling me?” His question was aimed at all four men.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, mate,” replied Shelley.

“If it’s quite all right with you, lad, I’ll wait until my lawyer arrives,” said Drake, who as far as Shelley knew hadn’t even called his lawyer.

They sat on stools at the center island in the kitchen. Gurney had made coffee. “Here’s what I think, officer,” offered Bennett, with a face commendably devoid of expression. “Whoever did this believes that Mr. Drake was somehow responsible for last night’s fire, and they killed our friend in retribution.”

Phillips shook his head at the insult to his intelligence, not even bothering to respond. “Wait there,” he said. A uniform had appeared in the doorway and Phillips walked over to him, keeping an eye on the quartet at the kitchen island who in turn watched him as he bent to hear his officer’s news and then returned and retook his place at the island. “Somebody claiming to be a neighbor reported men with guns, which is why we sent the armed response. Which of your neighbors has a Russian accent, Mr. Drake?”

“Well, I’m quite sure I don’t know all my neighbors, lad,” said Drake. “You’ll have to do a door-to-door, would be my recommendation.”

“Well, yes, we might well have to do that,” said Phillips, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the countertop. “But you know what I think? I think that if we did do a door-to-door, then it would turn up the fact that none of your neighbors have Russian accents.”

“Right, I’m getting sick of this. You.” He pointed a finger at Shelley. “I want a word with you alone.”

“Hey,” said Drake, rising at the same time as Shelley, indignant. “This is my house.”

“This is my crime scene,” said DI Phillips, “and I want a word with a witness. You would have no vested interest in interfering with that, would you, sir? I mean, I’m not misjudging you, am I?”

Reluctantly, Drake sat down. Shelley followed Phillips out of the kitchen and into the entrance hall.

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.