A Silent Death: The brand-new thriller from Number 1 bestseller Peter May by Peter May

Author:Peter May [May, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2020-01-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

At the end of the hall in the Marviña police station, a door opened into a large meeting room that was also accessible from the street. Mahogany desks and leather seats stood arranged in a semicircle beneath a drop-down banner at the far end of the room. They faced rows of hard plastic seats set out for an audience. The local council held public meetings here, and one wall was lined with paintings of the men and women who had at one time or another filled the honoured post of mayor. Light flooded into the room from two large windows on the outside wall, and it was already packed by the time Cristina and Mackenzie arrived. They took seats at the back.

The Jefe was leaning, half-sitting, on one of the desks, his arms folded across his chest. Another man was addressing the assembly. He was tall, thin and bald. Sweat patches darkened the armpits of his white shirt. His suit jacket lay draped over a chair behind him.

Mackenzie leaned towards Cristina and lowered his voice. ‘Who is everyone?’

‘The man speaking is the Juez de Instrucción from Estepona. The examining magistrate. I guess, nominally, he’s in charge of the case. But really it’s homicide in Malaga who’re handling it.’ She nodded towards a group of plain-clothes officers lounging on seats near the front and breathed her derision. ‘These guys think they’re starring in a Hollywood movie. All designer suits and sunglasses.’ She turned her gaze towards the other side of the room. ‘That’s UDYCO over there, also from Malaga. They specialize in drugs and organized crime.’ Then she leaned forward to look along the back row towards a group of young men in jeans and T-shirts. ‘Instituto Forense de Malaga. Forensics. But these ones are from Marbella.’ She cocked an eyebrow at Mackenzie. ‘Notice how many women there are among them.’ She sat back. There were none. ‘The rest are Policía Local from here in Marviña. But we’re just the foot soldiers.’

The examining magistrate was perspiring freely. ‘We have established that the boat in the marina at Puerto de la Condesa did indeed belong to the criminal Cleland, under his alias of Ian Templeton. But he doesn’t appear to have been sleeping there. We’re assuming he risked a visit to the boat perhaps to get money, or weapons, or drugs. It’s anyone’s guess. But at any rate, he was interrupted by the British investigator Mackenzie who failed to apprehend him.’

Mackenzie felt the hackles rise on the back of his neck, and without looking at her was aware of Cristina’s eyes turning in his direction. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and a sharp pain in his ribs reminded him of his encounter with Cleland.

‘UDYCO report that sources are telling them the rumoured handover of drugs is scheduled within the next two days, and that the merchandise is already in the country. Somewhere in this area. But we have no intelligence as yet on where and when the exchange is going to take place.

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