Brief Cases Box Set by Frazer Andrea

Author:Frazer, Andrea [Frazer, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Accent Press
Published: 2015-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Saturday 17th April, – later

Back at the station, they looked up the records of the names of the four youths that both of them were familiar with, and it was the usual story of the times, for between them they had been brought in for: taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, being drunk and disorderly, breach of the peace, brawling, possession of cannabis, and a bit of shop-lifting, just to add spice to the mix.

Dogger Ferguson had narrowly missed being prosecuted for assaulting a police officer, but as the officer was PC Merv Green, who was soft-hearted underneath his gruff exterior, he had not pressed charges, and the incident merely remained on file.

The two names currently unknown to the police were Darkie Collins and Curry Khan, but Falconer had every confidence that they would pick up their addresses from their mates. The other four all lived on an estate consisting mostly of blocks of flats; not high-rises – only four floors – but even these were a blot on the Market Darley/Upper Darley landscape, and a source of much of the trouble caused by teenagers and tearaways in the town and in the surrounding area.

Their first call was to the home of Spike Ellis, seventeen years old, and with three convictions for shoplifting to his name. The flat was in Robin House, as this was the Wild Birds Estate, and on the top floor, the lift, or course, being out of order. The entrance hall smelt of vomit and urine, and Carmichael clapped his handkerchief to his mouth and nose as soon as they entered.

‘Don’t touch the bannister rail,’ warned Falconer, who had been caught like this before. Some clever individuals, in their cups, found it hilarious to smear bannister rails with faeces, and others, of a more pathological bent, liked to embed bits of broken glass in them, or even razor blades.

The top landing had four doors, all desperately in need of a coat of paint and, from the door with the number sixteen on it, (in drunken brass numerals, their original quota of fixing screws now reduced to one each) blared loud music, the sound of a baby yelling, and a female voice shouting abuse at one of the other occupants.

Falconer left it for Carmichael to use his mighty fist to knock, and when that produced no reaction from within, shouted himself, ‘Open up. Police!’

There was a sudden silence within, with the exception of the wails of the baby, and a woman with dyed blonde hair, her roots almost half its length, and last night’s heavy make-up making an artist’s palette of her face, opened the door and grunted, ‘Wotcher want? My Spike ain’t done nuffink! Whenever it was, ’e was ’ere wiv me. Gottit?’

‘Good morning Mrs Ellis,’ Falconer opened for his side, and immediately had the legs cut from under him.

‘That’s Miss Ellis. Spike’s old man did a runner when ’e found out I was up the duff, and I ain’t seen ’im since, if yer must know.

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.