THE SECRETS MAN: a gripping murder mystery full of twists by John Dean

Author:John Dean [Dean, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Folks British crime fiction and murder mystery publisher
Published: 2018-02-05T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter fifteen

As darkness fell over the scrapyard on the city’s east side, Morrie Raynor sat in the back office – the small heater failing to dispel the deepening chill – and stared expectantly at the four men sitting in front of him. None of them returned the gaze.

‘He’s still letting his mouth go,’ said Raynor. ‘I thought this was supposed to be sorted.’

‘Geoff was going to sort it,’ said one of the men.

‘Well, we all know what happened to him.’ Raynor gave a thin smile.

The men shifted uncomfortably in their seats; no one dared ask what Morrie Raynor knew about the death of Geoff Bates. There were some things you did not say to Morrie Raynor, ageing gangland figure or not. Des Fairley’s death had taught them that many years previously.

‘So,’ continued Raynor, ‘is someone going to sort this once and for all?’

The men noticed that the temperature in the office seemed to grow even colder.

* * *

‘This is ridiculous,’ said Colley, tossing a student file onto the desk and looking across at Heather. He glanced up at the clock, which read 5:25pm. ‘Maybe you were right. Maybe you did chase down all the angles last time.’

‘Not that Blizzard’s in the mood to believe it,’ replied Morrison gloomily. ‘Do you not think that he was a bit unfair to me earlier today?’

Colley held up both hands.

‘Hey,’ he said, ‘you keep me out of this.’

The sergeant walked across to the pile of folders still waiting to be checked. He picked up the top one and found it empty.

‘What’s this then?’ he said. ‘The Invisible Man enrolled?’

‘I’ll see if any of the secretaries are still in,’ said Morrison, walking over to the door into the main office.

She returned with a middle-aged woman to whom Colley handed the file.

‘This is empty,’ he said.

‘It shouldn’t really be there,’ said the secretary, glancing down at the name. She seemed uneasy. ‘Her details will have been shredded.’

‘Why so?’

‘They always are with former students. Quite often folks forget to throw the folders out.’ She gave the sergeant an anxious look. ‘You won’t tell the principal, will you? He’s a real stickler for us getting the paperwork right and it’s one of his big things.’

‘It depends what her story is.’

‘She left last term,’ said the secretary.

‘And why did she leave?’ asked Colley.

‘It’s not really my place to say. She was a nice girl.’

‘I am sure she was an absolute angel on earth,’ replied Colley, letting his eyes stray to the larger pile of documents. ‘But why did she leave Queen Mary’s?’

The secretary gave him an unhappy look.

‘I don’t want to get her into any trouble,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I should even be talking about former students.’

‘Will you just tell us what happened?’ The sergeant’s voice had a hint of irritation.

The secretary looked round the room, as if hoping that salvation would appear. Returning her attention to the sergeant’s stare, she sighed.

‘The principal kicked her out because she was taking drugs,’ she said. ‘They were found in her locker.

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