THE ARNOLD LANDON MYSTERIES BOOKS 1–5 five gripping crime and suspense thrillers box set (TOTALLY GRIPPING CRIME THRILLER AND SUSPENSE BOX SETS) by ROY LEWIS

Author:ROY LEWIS [LEWIS, ROY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller, mystery and suspense
Published: 2021-10-31T18:30:00+00:00

2

The return of the Senior Planning Officer from Scarborough was not an occasion for trumpets, eagles and the brazen neighing of warhorses, Arnold thought, but there was certainly an atmosphere in the office that morning. He felt the tingle of expectation the moment he entered the building and he remained sensitive, on tenterhooks, until the moment when he was called into the Presence. The sensitivity then moved to his bowels.

The tirade that was visited upon Arnold was in the spirit of what the Senior Planning Officer called a ‘roasting’. There were adjectives used that were only vaguely familiar to Arnold, and in general, he conceded privately, the language was colourful and forceful, very much to the point.

The point being that the Senior Planning Officer was more than a little disturbed.

‘I have made it clear, Mr Landon,’ he finally summed up when he had regained control of his temper, ‘and on more than one occasion, that this is a planning office where I expect levels of professionalism and objectivity — where we retain a distance from our clients and our political masters, where we do not get involved and where we stay out of scandalous and damaging situations. You have, over the last couple of years failed to maintain the standards we demand.’

A regal turn of phrase, Arnold considered, that reflected the Senior Planning Officer’s view of his own position.

‘This, then, is a final warning.’ The Senior Planning Officer puffed out his cheeks importantly. ‘If you cannot curb the excesses of your enthusiasms and keep your head below the parapet of sensationalism, there is no place for you here in this office. You will be transferred.’ His eyes glittered with portents of doom. ‘Or worse.’

He asked Arnold if he understood. Arnold admitted that he did and, much chastened, went back to his desk. He was summoned to the Senior Planning Officer’s room again later that afternoon.

They were already seated around the miniature boardroom table that the Senior Planning Officer kept for occasions such as these. The Senior Planning Officer suggested that Arnold already knew everyone present. He did.

Councillor Albert Minford sat at the Senior Planning Officer’s left. He was in his usual uniform of neat grey and his eyes were as watchful as ever. His arm was draped carelessly over the back of the chair and he seemed at ease, but there was an inner tension in his body that was barely concealed.

Beside him was the building developer Wilson. He sat squarely in his seat, hands clasped over his spreading belly. He observed Arnold’s entry with a mild curiosity, as though recent events had aroused a little more interest in him than he had previously considered possible, but the glance was still cold in its appraisal, and swift in its dismissiveness once again. Wilson was not a man who dealt with petty officials: he even resented the necessity to visit the Senior Planning Officer.

The visit had probably been at the suggestion of his colleague Livingstone. Arnold inspected the man more carefully now, after the comments made about him by Freddie Keeler.

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.