Severed by Peter Laws

Author:Peter Laws [Peter Laws]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780749023263
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2019-03-25T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Matt sat at his desk in the warmth of his cabin, and clicked on a video-call. He heard Skype beeping out it’s jaunty tone. The screen flickered into life, and Jill Bowland sprang onto screen, sitting in front of a row of filing cabinets.

‘Hi,’ Matt sat back into his chair. ‘Is this still an okay time to talk?’

‘Yes, but my word, Matt …’ she said. ‘I heard about what happened this morning in Chesham.’

‘I’m fine,’ he said. ‘Nobody got badly hurt, thankfully.’

‘Having quite the forty-eight hours, aren’t you?’

‘You could say that … hey, is that your daughter? The one who lives overseas?’

She turned her head towards a photograph, sitting on the cabinet, of a young woman holding a laughing baby. ‘That’s Sara, yes, and my granddaughter, Bethany. She made me this,’ she lifted her wrist and her thin little wristband jiggled. ‘Wear it every day.’

‘I noticed it. How cute … and how old’s Bethany these days?’

‘Oh, she’s much older now, but I haven’t … I haven’t spoken to her in …’ She trailed off and tugged her sleeve over her wrist.

He saw her face change, and he tilted his head. ‘I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to pry.’

‘It’s complicated, but then most things are … but anyway, back to it. What did you want to talk to me about?’

‘Firstly, how’s David East doing?’

She swung a little on her chair, looking more Uhura than ever. ‘He’s actually making remarkable progress. They’re hoping he’ll be out of the coma soon.’

‘So maybe we could talk to him, together? Get to the bottom of this Micah thing.’

‘Potentially, yes.’

‘And what’s the latest on Micah? Any new theories?’

‘So far we’re still classing it as a domestic. Or at least not some big satanic conspiracy. We found more stuff in his locker at school, but it was very pro-Church. Old paintings torn from books of Jesus healing the sick, walking on water. The usual stuff.’

‘And were the eyes torn out?’

‘Jesus, no. The disciples, yes. The Pharisees too. Everyone but him, basically.’

Matt blinked. ‘So, he’ll piss on altars and upturn crosses, but he leaves Jesus as he is.’

‘It’s rather inconsistent, isn’t it?’

‘And he uses an ancient biblical language when he tries to kill his dad.’

‘Which he learnt online. We found it on a thumb drive in his school locker. Mostly Jesus stuff. His files were like a shrine to the guy.’

‘Any other pictures on there?’

‘A few. Some celebrities. Quite a few politicians.’

‘Don’t tell me, he’d scribbled the eyes out.’

‘Not quite. He’d just pasted a black rectangle across their faces.’

Matt started tapping a rhythm on the side of his desk. ‘Okay, so he smashes his laptop, takes out the fuses to his TV and XBox …’

‘Ahem … you’re assuming he cut the cables. What if his dad did it? Did you consider that?’

Matt blinked. ‘Actually, no. I didn’t.’

She waited. ‘Look, maybe this is more than a domestic issue and maybe it isn’t. We’ll find out when Reverend East wakes up. Until then, it’s not like anyone else is in danger.’

Matt ignored her.

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