Robbery with Malice by Barrie Roberts

Author:Barrie Roberts [Roberts, Barrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2015-08-02T22:00:00+00:00

19.

It was still snowing in the morning and I tried to persuade Sheila that she really didn’t need to go to London for her research. She insisted, announcing that if the snow hadn’t broken by tea-time she’d stay overnight in London. I tried to dissuade her by reminding her of the threatening call.

‘I’m not going to get mugged in the Public Records Office,’ she grinned, ‘except by some other researcher who wants what I’ve got.’

‘Just take care,’ I said. ‘That threat was against you as well as me. Don’t take any stupid chances, OK?’

I went into the office with a list of things to do. I had no morning appointments so I called John Parry and told him about Saturday night’s threatening call. He came over and listened to the tape.

‘And you don’t know the voice?’ he asked, when he had heard the recording twice.

‘No. I think the accent is somewhere around the Potteries, north Staffordshire.’

He nodded. ‘And what do you propose to do about it?’

‘Isn’t that what I’m supposed to ask you? Except that I know that there’s not much you can do about it.’

He looked at me expressionlessly. ‘There’s nothing the police can do until someone tries to implement the threat apart from advising you.’

‘And what are you going to tell me? I can’t give up the case. I can’t stop working in this office. I can’t stop going to courts. I can’t change where I live.’

‘He sounded serious,’ said Parry, looking at the cassette. ‘Nothing melodramatic, just a straight threat.’

‘After last summer,’ I said, ‘you don’t have to teach me to take threats seriously, but what can I do?’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘you’re not going to give up the case, so you’ll have to be extra careful — keep away from lonely places, stay in company if you can, maintain security here and at your home.’

‘This place was resecured after last year’s adventures,’ I said. ‘The house could do with a bit of thought.’

‘I’ll come and look it over,’ he said, ‘make a few recommendations.’

‘Thanks,’ I said. Tell me, John, where do you think that threat comes from?’

‘You want the theoretical answer? Logic says that, if someone’s cage is rattled by you reviving Walton’s appeal, then Walton may be innocent. If he is then there’s someone out there who got away with murder and robbery. That’s who threatened you?’

‘And who might that be?’

He shook his big head. ‘Now you’re asking, boyo. You say that headquarters screwed up the appeal hearing, so it looks like someone in the force has got an interest in it, but you know us — we don’t go about issuing anonymous threats. We issue official threats and then lock you up if you upset us.’

I knew too damned well — that was exactly what Saffary had tried to do to me last year.

‘The Payday Gang?’ I said.

He pursed his lips. ‘Why should it be? On the face of it they didn’t do Belstone.’

‘What about the other three who were tried for conspiracy to rob the Mantons van?’

He looked blank.

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