What Hides in the Cellar by Graham Masterton

Author:Graham Masterton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Patel & Pardoe
ISBN: 9781801104067
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

*

As he drove them back to Northcote Road, Edge beckoned Jerry to lean over from the back seat of the car so that it would be difficult for Adele to hear what he was saying.

‘We’ve had another AOABH.1 Bloke called Edward Dance, who owns Dance’s the Jeweller’s on Balham High Road. He was stabbed in the jacksy with a carving knife. Almost killed him, but he’s in Guy’s now and the doctors reckon he’s going to recover.’

‘What was the motive? Theft, I presume,’ said Jamila.

‘That’s right. There was two perps, a male and a female, and they took over forty thousand quid’s worth of watches.’

‘So what’s that got to do with me and DS Patel?’ Jerry asked him. ‘We’re right in the middle of chasing after these geezers who aren’t there, or not all there, anyhow. We just rescued this poor girl right out of thin air, and we’re still looking for her brother.’

‘The reason I’m telling you about it is because I was able to question Dance for a few minutes before he went into surgery. He told me that the woman appeared in his shop even though the front door was locked and the alarm was switched on. For the life of him, he couldn’t work out how she had managed to get in there.’

‘What about the male?’

‘Before he appeared, Dance had unlocked the door and turned off the alarm and told the female to sling her hook. But he still had no idea how this bloke got in either, because he didn’t hear the doorbell jangle and he didn’t hear him coming up behind him – not until he’d grabbed him by the throat and practically throttled him.’

‘Did this Dance fellow give you descriptions?’ asked Jamila.

‘Well, this is what makes this whole investigation even more up your street. The shop has CCTV but neither the woman nor the bloke who stabbed him actually appear on it. Dance does, and his name’s rather appropriate because it looks like he’s dancing.’

‘That is weird. But he saw them himself – or says he saw them.’

‘I’m pretty sure he’s telling the truth. There’s no way you could stab yourself up the arse like that, even if you wanted to. But he never saw the bloke who stabbed him. All he could say was that he was wearing some kind of bobbly sweater. But here’s the interesting thing. He said the woman looked like she’d stepped right out of a 1940s film. You know, like Greta Garbo or Jane Russell or what’s-her-name, Rita Hayworth. Her dress and her hairstyle, he said you’d never see a woman these days looking like that. He promised to do me a sketch of her when he came out of surgery.’

‘Nineteen-forties?’ said Jamila. ‘Yes, Edge, you were right to tell us. I think we need to go to Guy’s and have a talk with him ourselves.’

She turned around to Adele, who was staring out of the car window as if she were making sure that they stayed

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.