Shadow of the Beast by Michael Fowler

Author:Michael Fowler [Fowler, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910720646
Publisher: Caffeine Nights Publishing
Published: 2016-10-06T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

The hospital corridor to the wards was busy. Hunter weaved his way past streams of people visiting their loved ones, avoided the queues for the lifts, and made his way up the stairs to the ICU ward. He met Dawn Leggate inside the entrance leaning against the wall, sipping from a cardboard cup.

She met his gaze and issued a weak smile.

‘Hello boss, is everything okay?’ He chinned in the direction of the ward where Michael Robshaw lay.

She sprung her shoulders off the wall. ‘Yes, Mike’s fine. I’m just getting myself a coffee. His daughter, Rachel, has come up from Bristol. I’m giving her some time with him.’

‘Has he come round then?’

‘Not fully. They’ve taken him off the ventilator and he’s opened his eyes a couple of times, but he’s not registering anything. The nurse says that’s normal. He could be like this for a good couple of days. The main thing is he’s breathing on his own now and the swelling to his brain has started to go down.’

Hunter caught what he thought was the sound of her suppressing a sob. He saw that her eyes had filmed over and, feeling a tinge of embarrassment mixed with sorrow, he diverted his look to a poster on the wall about infection control. At that moment a flashback jumped inside his head of his and Barry’s clandestine meeting with Shaggy. He had a sudden urge to tell her what he was doing to help catch her partner’s attacker, but at the same time he recalled that she’d already ordered him not to do anything that would prejudice the enquiry and he pulled himself up. Masking any emotion he said, ‘I only called in to see how he was. I’m glad to hear that he’s turned the corner. I’m not going to stop if his daughter’s here as well – three’s a crowd as they say.’ He started to turn.

‘Okay, no problem. If he comes round I’ll tell him you’ve been. I know he’d appreciate what you’re doing.’ After a brief pause she said, ‘I forgot to say at briefing, good job today Hunter. I was so much in a rush to wrap things up so I could get here that I forgot to mention it.’

He looked over his shoulder and saw that her eyes now glistened; she’d blinked away the film of tears. He replied, ‘Oh thanks boss.’

‘No. Credit where credit’s due. You and Grace did a good interview today. You got some good information. I certainly think now that we need to be looking at Braithwaite in more depth. In fact, I want you and Grace to go and interview him.’

Hunter threw a questioning glimpse. ‘Oh?’

‘There’s not enough to arrest him yet but following your meeting today I think we should be talking to him about where he was and what he was doing during his time on the run in nineteen-eighty-four. I certainly think we’ve got enough to invite him in for a chat so I want you to fix that up tomorrow.

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