Rules of Honour - 08 by Matt Hilton

Author:Matt Hilton [Hilton, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2013-02-14T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Melissa Yoshida was sitting opposite the sergeant’s desk as Detective Jones ushered me out of our meeting. I wouldn’t have noticed her had Jones not given her a slight wave, and told her he’d be ready to speak with her in a few minutes.

‘Thank you, Detective,’ Melissa responded. ‘I’m fine here.’

She wasn’t fine; she looked distraught and little wonder. I hadn’t anticipated that she would be called in for questioning, but it was obvious when I thought about it. Jones and Tyler were trying to piece together the killer’s motive and Melissa could possibly tell them something important. I doubted it. If Takumi had been anything like Yukiko then he had kept his secret to himself.

I felt guilty for some reason, as if I should apologise to her for not doing more to save her grandfather, and the shame hit me like a punch to the gut. I averted my face, doing my best to avoid notice. Maybe I’d have got away clean if Detective Jones hadn’t said: ‘Stay in touch, Mr Hunter. Anything you learn, I’d like to hear about it.’ He handed me a card with his telephone number on it.

The gregarious desk sergeant unlatched the flap to let me out, smiling and nodding, and as I moved into the public area I felt Melissa’s gaze on me. I couldn’t help glancing over at her, and our eyes met and stuck.

She was already getting up off the public bench, approaching me. She was dressed in a black trouser suit over a purple blouse, with her dark hair pulled back and barely a trace of make-up. Though I knew her to be in her early twenties, she appeared more mature, and – dare I say it – very pretty, despite her sadness. She was clutching a small purse against her abdomen, her head to one side as she studied me. It was as if she recognised my face, but how was a mystery to me. I’d only seen her that one time when she’d leaped from the taxi and run towards the burning house and she hadn’t looked at me then. I pulled up, casting a glance behind me to check Gar Jones had gone: he wouldn’t appreciate his key witnesses talking. Then again, that could have been his intention. Maybe he’d engineered that we meet. Perhaps he thought I’d share what I knew with the woman and he’d be able to tease the information from her. The best thing I could have done was smile, turn away and walk directly out of the police station.

Her gaze caught mine again though, and I waited for her to speak.

‘Excuse me,’ she said timidly. ‘Are you Joe Hunter? Only I just heard the detective say your name and thought . . .’

There was no getting away now, not without appearing rude. ‘I’m Joe Hunter, yeah.’

She nodded, holding her bag even tighter to her body. Her face tipped down, and briefly I expected it to rise with a look of recrimination. It didn’t; when she looked at my face her dark eyes shone.

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.