The Mersey Ferry Murders by Brian L. Porter

Author:Brian L. Porter [Porter, Brian L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Next Chapter
Published: 2021-07-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

A Bolt Hole

“Escaped? How in the name of God could she escape from the back of a locked police patrol car?” Ross’s fury was more than evident as his voice could be heard not just in his office and the adjoining squad room, but virtually everywhere on the fifth floor of police headquarters, where the Specialist Murder Investigation Team was based.

Facing the full force of his temper, as he stood by the window of his office, were PCs Thomas and Willis, from whose car Angela Ryan had made a sudden and unexpected escape as the car was held up in traffic by a red light at roadworks on Dale Street. Standing behind the two PCs was Izzie Drake who couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the two officers, who were both young and she thought, perhaps inexperienced.

“Well, I’m waiting,” Ross thundered. “Come on, one of you tell me what happened.”

The two constables looked at each other and after a slight hesitation, Willis spoke.

“We’re really sorry, sir. We were told the woman wasn’t under arrest and was being brought in to assist with inquiries. And, when we drew the car from the car pool we assumed everything was ready and working. We didn’t know the rear door locks hadn’t been activated.”

“For God’s sake man, didn’t either of you think to check things out for yourself?”

“No sir. Sorry sir. I was the one who put her in the car, so I take full responsibility.”

“That’s not right sir. We were both responsible,” PC Thomas spoke up, in an accent which immediately identified him as being of Irish parentage, refusing to allow his colleague to take the blame by himself.

“Just tell me exactly what happened,” Ross demanded, and Willis responded.

“Well sir, we were proceeding along Dale Street, and there were some roadworks ahead, with temporary light controls. The lights turned red, and we were forced to stop, in a line of traffic. As we were stationary, and before we knew what was happening, the back door flew open and Miss Ryan leaped out and took off running back the way we came and, well, she’s not very tall, sir, and even though we leaped out of the car right away, she’d simply disappeared into thin air. She could have gone anywhere, and we couldn’t just abandon the car, so we returned to it and radioed in with a report on what had taken place.”

Ross shook his head, unable to believe they’d had Ryan in their grasp and somehow allowed her to escape. He also knew that the two PCs couldn’t really carry too much blame, as Ryan hadn’t been under arrest or in handcuffs which would have made escape far less likely. Before he could respond to Willis’s words, there was a knock on his office door, followed by the entry of Sergeant Paul Ferris, who walked up to Ross’s position by the window, and spoke in a virtual whisper to the DI.

“Sorry to interrupt, Boss, but I thought you’d want

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