The Butcher of Whitechapel (A Dead Cold Mystery Book 12) by Blake Banner

Author:Blake Banner [Banner, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-25T22:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

I called Harry on the way back to London the next morning, and he met us in the lobby at the hotel. He looked embarrassed and kept saying, “Right!” like he was gearing himself up to do something. I pointed to a nest of chairs and a sofa in a quiet corner and guided him over. As we sat, he said, “So, do anything nice yesterday? Sorry I didn’t call.”

Dehan grinned and said, “Yeah, we went down to visit Chiddie and Fi. It was a scream, wasn’t it, Stone?”

He laughed like he should know what we were talking about, but didn’t. I said, “Lord Chiddester and his wife invited us down to Sussex, for dinner and a chat.”

The laughter melted out of his face. “You have to be bloody kidding me. What are you like? How’d you manage that?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you later. But first, you have something on your mind, Harry. What is it? Unburden yourself.”

He sighed. “I’m getting a bit of flack, to be honest. The people upstairs are asking questions about the direction this case is taking. It started out a clear cut case of murder, and now suddenly we have senior political figures getting dragged in…”

I raised my eyebrows. “We do?”

His look of embarrassment deepened. “Well, Lord Chiddester…”

Dehan was frowning. “I’m confused. Isn’t he the victim’s father? That isn’t exactly getting dragged in, Harry. He’s not her father because somebody came up with a crazy theory. He’s her father because Chiddie and Fi begat Katie.”

“Yes, I know that, but…”

“But all the clues keep leading to politics instead of guys in tinfoil hats.”

He sighed again. “Something like that.”

Dehan made a face and leaned back in her chair. “You’re not wrong…” She glanced at me and I nodded. She went on, “Chiddester and his wife believe that Katie was investigating ties between the Labour Party, Marxist groups and Al Qaeda cells in London.”

He rubbed his face with his hands. “Bloody hell, I was dreading as much.”

I said, “It gets worse, Harry.”

He looked away and shook his head. “How?”

“She thought the trail led back to a shadow cabinet minister… Justin…?”

Dehan said, “Justin Caulfield.”

“The Shadow Foreign Secretary.”

He had gone the color of wet ash.

I spread my hands. “If she was right, it could be your chance, Harry. Pull it off, close the case, write the book, get rich and save your marriage.”

He showed me a face that said I was out of my mind. “You have to be joking.”

“C’mon, Harry! What happened to your killer instinct? If she’s right, you have a son of a bitch poised to become Foreign Secretary, or worse, Prime Minister; a bastard who is prepared to foster terrorism and murder a young woman to save his own neck. Go get this bastard!”

He sighed. “Do you give credence to it?” He turned to Dehan. “Do you?”

Dehan made a face. “Right now, I don’t see any reason not to. Plus…” She glanced at me.

I said, “Harry, if you’ll forgive me, I think you are looking at this the wrong way.

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