Whirligig by Andrew James Greig

Author:Andrew James Greig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fledgling Press
Published: 2020-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

XVIII

WEDNESDAY 09:41

Frankie received the first call from a previous orphanage resident at 9:41. A hesitant voice, close to tears, explained how he’d been regularly abused by the minister, that there were other people he could name but he wanted protection. When she’d hesitated, the line had gone dead. The number was unavailable when she tried calling back.

She sat back in her seat, aware of the two constables behind her staring listlessly at their screens. What did they even do all day?

“Have you had any luck with the names on the list?”

Frankie had provided copies of the list of children to the two constables in an effort to move the investigation forward. She was juggling so many balls in the air at once she felt she should have joined a circus. The Fiscal was proving a difficult man to reach and she needed his help to access the reports dating back over twenty years.

“Nothing yet, Frankie.” Lamb at last was starting to take this more seriously. “Apart from another five of them being recorded as dead.”

“Are you sure? The council only had records of three children dying in care.”

“Plain as day. They all died at the orphanage within a six-year period. The last one in the same year it closed.”

“That makes eight deaths, plus a girl who went missing and there’s next to no bloody record of her disappearance.” Frankie was sharing Corstorphine’s frustration. It seemed that every clue they followed turned into a dead end or was so poorly documented they couldn’t hope to pursue it any further. She didn’t hold out much hope that any post mortem reports they turned up would show anything out of the ordinary.

“I’ve got one here.” Bill McAdam interjected. “Simon Battle. Turned up on the VALCRI search. He’s banged up in Barlinnie. GBH.”

“Sure he’s one of our boys, Bill?”

“No doubt about it, unless he shares a NI number with another Simon Battle.”

“Good. I’ll apply to see him, see if at least we can get one person to tell us what went on in that place.”

Her phone rang again, the calls coming ever more frequently as news started to spread further afield. Frankie recognised the French accent immediately and responded before she could be asked for any leads. “Good morning, Josephine. I don’t have any information for you.”

“Actually, Frankie, I called to offer you information.”

“What have you got?” Her voice was resigned. So far the newspaper was leading them by the nose with all the major leads coming straight off the pages of the Courier.

“I had another visit from Margo this morning.”

Oh God, Frankie thought. We need to talk to her before she goes and blethers to the paper again. She waited for whatever was coming next.

“She handed over June Stevens’ notebook.”

“What was she doing with that?”

“I didn’t ask. But it’s what is written inside in shorthand that I think you’ll find of more interest.”

“I’m listening!” Frankie said, more brusquely than she should have.

“She was investigating child abuse at the orphanage and somehow knew Oscar was a victim.

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.