Swanton Morley by David Blake

Author:David Blake
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2024-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

AS THE APPROACHING car began crunching its way over the drive, Fletcher pushed himself off his Bentley to wave at the driver, before leaning forward to catch Tanner’s eye. ‘May I see that list?’

‘By all means,’ Tanner replied, handing it over.

‘You say this was given to you by the Editor-in-Chief of the Norwich Reporter?’ he continued, casting his eyes over it.

‘At just after half-past nine this morning.’

‘And that two of them have been found dead?’

‘The bottom two,’ Tanner smiled.

‘OK, well, I’ve no idea why my name’s on here, but if you’ve come to warn me that there’s some deranged lunatic wandering around Norfolk, with the intention of murdering me in my sleep, then I shouldn’t worry. I have a twenty-four hour motion sensitive surveillance system surrounding the entire estate, each camera being monitored by myself, my secretary, and an outsourced private security firm. So if so much as a squirrel farts without asking permission beforehand, it wouldn’t be long before I was told.’

Tanner took a moment to glance around the outside of the building, spotting various security cameras as he did. ‘Even so, it may be wise for us to leave a police squad car at the end of your drive, especially as the gates were wide open when we arrived.’

‘That won’t be necessary,’ he replied, as the sound of people climbing out of their car could be heard. ‘The gates are normally closed. They most definitely are at night, but I’d certainly like to thank you for your concern. Now, if you’ll excuse me.’

‘There was just one more thing.’

‘OK, but can you hold on for one second,’ he replied, looking beyond Tanner’s shoulder to call out, ‘Steven! Mary! Thanks for coming! If you could go through to the conservatory, everyone’s meeting up there.’

Tanner glanced around to see a smartly dressed couple wave back before making their way into the stately home.

‘Sorry about that,’ Fletcher continued. ‘Please, do go on.’

‘We couldn’t help but notice what you were carrying out of your resplendent mansion when we arrived.’

‘You mean, a twenty-year-old computer, one that hasn’t worked in years?’

‘May I ask why you’ve decided to throw it away?’

‘Er…I thought I’d already said.’

‘Only a few days after a newspaper article came out, together with evidence suggesting that you may have had something to do with a child prostitution ring?’

‘Ah, I see what you’re getting at. You think I’m throwing it out because it contains two decades worth of pictures featuring half-naked children. Well, it might have some, but they’d be of my own, probably when they were having a bath together at the age of three. You’re quite welcome to it if you want. It would certainly save me a trip to the dump.’

‘I also wanted to ask about your car?’

‘Right, yes,’ he replied, turning around to cast an admiring eye at it. ‘Rather nice, don’t you think?’

‘I assume you know of another Norfolk resident by the name of George Elliston?’

‘Of course! Why? He’s not on this list as well, is he?’ he asked, glancing back down.

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