THE TATTOO MURDER an addictive crime mystery full of twists by LEWIS ROY

Author:LEWIS, ROY
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and mystery
Published: 2020-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Charlie Spate’s ego was bruised. The fact that he had been instructed to delve into the killing of Michael Podro meant that he felt he had been sidelined, but since he was still expected to maintain an oversight of the police investigation into the organisation of illegal entrants in the area, he used this as an excuse to hold more than just a watching brief. It also meant that he could insist that Detective Sergeant Start reported to him on a regular basis.

He was perversely annoyed, nevertheless, when she came into his office on the Monday morning with the comment that she had taken it upon herself to do some work on the Podro killing in her spare time, over the weekend. He glowered at her for a few seconds.

‘I thought you’d been instructed by Charteris to concentrate on the illegals,’ Charlie muttered.

She stared at him, raising a challenging eyebrow. ‘You’re complaining, sir? I thought you might appreciate a little help on the matter.’

She knew Charlie’s enthusiasm about the Podro investigation was not great. His scowl deepened and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. ‘So what’ve you got?’

She stood in front of him in his office, a bulky ring binder clasped to her bosom. ‘I went to see my dad this weekend,’ she explained. ‘Haven’t seen him for a while: since my mother died, he’s been living alone in a cottage up at Bolam, you know, near the lake country park. It’s nice there: he can go for walks, used to do a bit of shooting but that’s not possible since the new gun laws came in. It’s the innocent guys like my dad who suffer then isn’t it? The bloody villains can still get their hands on whatever shooters they want.’

Charlie waited impatiently, not sure where this was all going.

‘Anyway, we went for a walk in the woods around the lake, and we got to talking about the past and then he told me something I’d really forgotten. He was a bit of a sportsman in his younger days, before he got married. He did quite a bit of wrestling: north regional champion or something. I was never really interested, so it had sort of slipped my mind. But we got talking this weekend and somehow or other we got around to the topic.’

Charlie ostentatiously stifled a yawn. ‘There’s a point to all this, is there?’

She smiled, in confidence. ‘Oh, yes, there certainly is, sir. You see, although it was the wrestling he was interested in, he used to do a lot of weightlifting in the gyms, to make sure that he put on the necessary muscle and poundage to compete. And he got to know quite a few people on the circuit here in the north.’

‘So?’

Her eyes glinted in triumph. ‘One of them was Michael Podro.’

There was a short silence. ‘Your father knew Michael Podro?’ Charlie muttered. ‘I don’t believe it.’

‘Hasn’t seen him for years,’ she countered, ‘but my dad knew him back in the Seventies. Shortly after he came to this country.

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