Malice in London by Graham Thomas

Author:Graham Thomas
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9780804118408
Publisher: Fawcett
Published: 2000-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

When Powell got back to the Yard, there was a message from Sir Reginald Quick, the Senior Home Office Pathologist, waiting for him. He rang back but got the engaged signal. He swore silently. He was debating whether he should pay a visit on spec to the Forensic Science Service Metropolitan Laboratory in Lambeth Road, where Sir Reggie presided in splendid isolation, when Detective-Sergeant Evans walked into his office.

“Well, Evans?” he asked.

She proceeded to fill him in on yesterday’s conversation with Tess Morgan. “She’s a woman on a mission, there’s no question about that. And who can blame her? Besides the prospect of losing her home, she’s got a teenage daughter to worry about. Frankly, I don’t know how she does it: raising her kid, holding down a full-time job, leading the campaign against Dockside.”

“A woman’s work is never done,” Powell remarked dangerously.

Evans glared at him.

“Would you consider yourself a political animal by nature, Evans?”

She looked surprised by this question. “What do you mean?”

“Are you a card-carrying member of a political party? A true believer in the dogma of either the right or the left?”

“With all due respect, sir, that’s between me and my cat.”

Powell smiled. “You’re quite right, of course. However, I will share my thoughts on the matter with you, fresh as they are from my recent encounters with two members of one of our local councils. I am going to let you in on a secret, Evans, the dirty little secret that lies at the heart of our democratic system. Politics as we know it is essentially a contest between conflicting versions of the truth; since by definition there can be only one truth, the entire system is based on a pack of lies. In the House of Commons, you can call a member a whore, a poltroon, or a drunk, but never a liar. Because that would expose the whole bloody farce for what it is.”

He noticed the bemused expression on her face. “Why is this relevant, you ask? Because I’ve come to the conclusion that Charles Mansfield and Adrian Turner are both liars. They are each fanatics in their own right, and they hated Richard Brighton for what he was and what he stood for. The question is: Is there any more to it than that?”

“Is that a rhetorical question, sir?”

Before he could make an appropriate reply, Sergeant Black lumbered into the office. He wore a solemn expression on his face.

“Excuse me, sir, but I just got a call from someone claiming to have the inside track on Dockside. He says he has evidence that Charles Mansfield, the local councillor, has a secret financial interest in the project, placing him in a conflict-of-interest position.”

“What evidence?” Powell asked sharply.

“He didn’t say, sir. He rang off before I could press him.”

“Did you recognize the voice?”

“Sorry, sir.”

Powell sat in silence trying to grasp the potential implications of this anonymous phone call. He looked at Evans. “I rest my case,” he said.

Before confronting Charles Mansfield with what was,

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.