Death in the Beginning by Beth Byers

Author:Beth Byers [Byers, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-17T05:00:00+00:00

10

ROBERT AARON

When Robert hunted up his brother, he found him at Scotland Yard only by chance. Joseph had stopped into his office for paperwork or some other such nonsense and Joseph heard the story, paled at the realization that Eddy might be blamed and then shook his head.

“I can’t do anything about it,” Joseph said. “Rogers hasn’t even asked for the Yard yet. He has to ask, but my supervisor won’t assign me. Not now. One of our detectives was wounded, one has left for America having married some girl from California, another was fired after being involved in criminal activity. I’ve got more cases than I can handle, and one is particularly bad. Even if Georgette is right about this being a murder, they won’t assign me.”

Robert leaned back and sighed. On the morning train he had heard enough of Joseph’s comments about his case to have guessed he couldn’t help, but he was worried. “What do I do for Eddy?”

Joseph leaned back, unconsciously mirroring his brother. He frowned deeply and said, “I have little doubt that Eddy did not hurt that boy.”

“Of course he didn’t,” Robert said instantly. “But if those boys lie—”

“Even if they don’t,” Joseph said. “What school do they go to?”

Robert shook his head and then Joseph said, “Go visit the school. Rogers will tell you where they went to school. The case needs to focus on the boys when they aren’t in Harper’s Hollow.”

Robert nodded. “Eddy isn’t at that same school. If there’s a history of issues between the boys, perhaps we can at least show that one of them is far more likely than Eddy.”

Joseph nodded and wrote a name down on a card for Robert. “A good solicitor for Eddy is necessary from the start if the case turns toward him. It might be better if Rogers doesn’t ask for help from the Yard. If he doesn’t and takes the case on himself, he won’t be turned against Eddy from the beginning, maybe?”

Robert nodded, knowing it would seem as though they were trying to manipulate Constable Rogers if they did that. Neither of the two brothers wanted to do such a thing. Robert stood, clapped his hand on Joseph’s shoulder and said, “It won’t always be this bad.”

“I’m a newlywed,” Joseph sighed. “My biggest hope is that Marian doesn’t leave me before we get to a reasonable normal.”

“She won’t,” Robert said easily. He considered hunting up Evelyn since it was time for her to return to Harper’s Hollow, rejected the idea, and then knew he could do nothing else. He quickly found his way down to the file room where she worked and waited for the clock to turn to 5:00 p.m. She didn’t even see him until she left the office Then her eyes widened, though her expression stayed calm.

“Hello,” she said without inflection.

“Hullo.” He tried for bright and was afraid he sounded like a croaking toad. “I stopped by to talk to Joseph and thought you might like to ride back to Harper’s Hollow together.

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.