Retribution by Gwen Moffat

Author:Gwen Moffat [Moffat, Gwen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2019-02-13T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

At Bailrigg workmen drilled out the lock in order to repossess a studio flat and found the decomposing body of a woman with massive head injuries. She was identified as one of the former occupants and a search was started for the husband who hadn’t been seen for weeks, neither by the neighbours nor at his workplace. The police were overstretched but fortunately the Lamberts’ MG had been recovered and its inspection could go ahead because the technicians involved weren’t needed for the Bailrigg murder.

Short-handed then, and with Sewell occupied as he was with questioning Walter, Rosie was sent back to Borascal, in plain clothes and driving her own silver Puma. Her instructions were to find out if Isa had been involved with another man and to try to ascertain Walter’s movements on Wednesday night.

‘Oh my,’ Honeyman breathed as she approached the bar in the Fat Lamb. ‘That’s what I call a sexy car.’

‘Pretty, isn’t it?’ Rosie’s smile accepted the innuendo as a compliment, knowing that in Honeyman’s book sexy cars meant sexy owners. He was leering at her, his eyes like currants in puff pastry.

‘Day off?’ he asked as she ordered a beer.

She nodded. ‘I like this village. I thought I’d rent a cottage later in the year, bring my folks up for a holiday.’ She tasted the beer, raising an eyebrow in appreciation. ‘I’m looking at some empty places this afternoon.’

His mother came in from the back with a tray and a plate of hamburgers oozing fried onions. Honeyman added drinks and napkins and carried it to a family at one of the tables outside. No one was indoors except Rosie.

‘You’ll not find any cottages empty this time of year,’ Dorcas told her.

‘I can walk round and check them from the outside. I have the agents’ particulars.’

‘You’ve done your homework.’ Dorcas was sardonic. ‘You reckon Borascal will suit you?’

Honeyman came back with the tray and eased his bulk behind the bar. He wasn’t leering any longer but he was intent on Rosie’s reply.

‘If I was a journalist I’d say Borascal was unspoiled: pretty, affluent, friendly; that is, everyone’s got good manners.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s a world away from what I’m used to: poverty, drugs … crime.’

The last word hung in the air. The Honeymans seemed to be expecting more. ‘What happened here is in a different league from urban crime,’ she insisted.

‘We’re premier league material.’ Honeyman was trying to make a joke.

She ignored it. ‘I suppose, even in a village, there’s a lot of domestic – er – irregularity? Not real crime though.’

Dorcas uttered an exclamation of either contempt or disgust and went back to the kitchen. He waited until she was out of earshot when he said slyly, ‘You don’t call murder a crime?’

‘Like you said, it’s in a different league. What I’m saying is you can’t compare a deprived urban area with a prosperous village. Although,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘sex crimes would be a common factor. There are prostitutes everywhere.’

‘She weren’t no prostitute!’ His fury was startling.

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.