No Time for Sorrow: A DCI Will Blake Novel (DCI Will Blake Crime Mystery Thrillers Book 7) by J.E. Mayhew

Author:J.E. Mayhew [Mayhew, J.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Obolus Books
Published: 2021-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

It was with a heavy heart that Blake forked Serafina’s food into her bowl. It smelt pungent and fishy in the hot morning air. There would be a storm soon, surely, Blake thought. Maybe that would cool things down. Oblivious to his mood, Serafina tangled herself around his ankles and growled at Charlie who wagged his tail eagerly at the prospect of breakfast. Ian Youde, Blake’s neighbour and friend leaned against the doorframe, his arms folded. He was an older man, thin with cropped hair and a letterbox mouth. At first glance, he wouldn’t strike you as the kind of person who would regularly walk Blake’s dog for him or watch out for the cat, but Ian was often saving Blake’s bacon. Quite literally once.

“I’ve heard a little bit about the Leekies,” he said. “They live over the other side of the by-pass. The house is a bloody mess. I don’t think either of them work for a living.”

Blake looked down at the cat. “That’s neither here nor there, really, if the cat belonged to them in the first place. Do you think it’s possible that my mum saw the cat and somehow mistook it for one she’d owned when she was a small child?”

“I don’t know, mate,” Ian said. “Didn’t you say Serafina turned up before your mum started having her problems?”

“Yeah but it’s hard to pinpoint when the dementia really took hold. Maybe in some moment of confusion she thought she was a little girl again and picked up Serafina or Smoky and brought her home. If that’s the case, then the Leekies have every right to demand their cat back, even after all this time.”

“But it was years ago, Will,” Ian said.

“You don’t keep stolen goods just because you’ve had them for a few years,” Blake said. “Of all people, I should know that. I don’t know what I’d do without her, though, Ian. Serafina is my link to the past, to my mum…”

“From what I know, they’re pretty strapped for cash,” Ian muttered. “Why not see if they’d consider some kind of settlement.”

“I’d feel awful. It’d be like trying to bribe them. And what would that say about my view of the Leekies.”

Ian Youde shrugged. “I dunno but money talks, sometimes. I wouldn’t rule it out, that’s all.”

“Money might talk,” Blake said, morosely, “but the number of times people who are paid off and yet come back for more is staggering.”

“You’ve considered the other option, right?”

“A hit man might be too extreme for this situation, Ian, much as I’m tempted…”

“What if your mum genuinely had gone to a rescue centre and picked Serafina because she reminded her of the childhood pet?” Ian said. “It’s just as feasible.”

Blake nodded. “That’s a fair point. I wonder how long these places keep records.”

“Five or six years mightn’t be an unreasonable time to expect them to,” Youde said. “You just have to work out which cats home she might have gone to.”

“It probably wouldn’t have been far away,” Blake said.

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