The Museum Murders by Brookes Dawn

Author:Brookes, Dawn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oakwood Publishing
Published: 2023-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

18

Tony Hadden walked with a limp since his brush with death and he was a shadow of the man he had been before the accident. Still, Carlos admired him for getting back on his feet after months of rehab, and for the determination it must have taken from him to return to work. The accident and what he had discovered about Nicolae remained a taboo subject, but if Tony was going to follow this story through, he might have to face his demons.

Lady jumped up and demanded his attention before her old friend sat down. Tony willingly obliged.

‘Still a beauty, eh, Lady?’ He ruffled her silky coat.

‘What can I get you?’ Carlos asked.

‘A pint of bitter would go down nicely. Have you eaten?’

‘Not really.’ Carlos thought back to the half-eaten greasy bacon butty he’d left a few hours before, pretty certain Henry Cutter would have finished it after he departed the café.

‘In which case, I’ll have a steak, well done. Can’t stand any visible blood. The landlord knows how I like it.’

‘Pleased to see you haven’t lost your appetite.’

Tony parked himself down at the table while Carlos ordered meals for them both, a bitter for the reporter and another pint of lager for himself. He would sleep in the flat above the office tonight, where he kept spare clothes.

The two men exchanged small talk until they had eaten, after which Tony pushed his plate away and wiped his mouth.

‘Let me get you another before we get down to business.’ He took Carlos’s empty glass to the bar. Three pints were on the cusp of Carlos’s limit, so he would sip the one Tony placed down.

‘What have you got for me?’ Tony’s eyes met Carlos’s, not the first Carlos had seen today with dark lines underneath them. Despite the enthusiasm, Tony seemed older and more worldly worn.

‘It’s about Christina Sand.’

‘Did she find her boyfriend?’

‘He was her boyfriend when they were at university.’

‘Was? Is he dead?’ Tony took a notepad from his pocket. He was old school and liked to use shorthand when gathering news stories.

‘I don’t know, but I’m afraid Christina is.’

Tony’s brow furrowed. ‘We haven’t heard of any new bodies, especially a young woman. Did she die out of the area?’ Despite the hangovers from the trauma he’d suffered, Tony was still sharp, Carlos was pleased to note.

He shook his head. ‘Did you cover the story of the homeless woman found dead at the end of October? Apparently, it only got a paragraph in the paper.’ Carlos reiterated what Bethany had told him about the lack of coverage.

Tony whistled. ‘Carrie Clark? Yes, we covered it, but what’s that got to do with Christina? Are the deaths linked?’

‘You could say that. Carrie Clark was Christina Sand. And obviously she wasn’t homeless.’

Tony glugged a mouthful of bitter. ‘Well, I’ll be blown. I didn’t see that one coming.’

‘Was it you who covered the original story?’ Carlos was looking for a fair exchange of information, and Tony was usually a reliable source.

‘No, I was writing a piece about a historical Halloween murder.

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