The Killing Ground (DI Crow Book 2) by HJ Reed

Author:HJ Reed [Reed, HJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Published: 2023-07-22T23:00:00+00:00

It’s just after five by the time Grace drops me back home on her way to West Hill, with a promise to return later in the evening to help me break the news to Larson of our plans for his immediate future and, assuming he agrees, fill out the details. I make myself busy in the kitchen, mulling over all the things that could possibly go wrong, and how I would ever be able to look Rosie and Chrissie in the eye again if any of them did. When Larson finally gets back an hour and a half later, my brain is about as stewed as the casserole I’ve reheated in the oven.

I manage to sit through my son-in-law’s report reasonably calmly. Nothing has been picked up by the cameras in Weston. Of course, that doesn’t mean ‘nothing’ in the literal sense. We only have surveillance set up on the back garden and shed. Anyone coming into the bungalow from the front might easily be missed. Grace has already checked on the possibility of using CCTV from one of the shops opposite. The only system is on the minimarket, and unfortunately for us, the images don’t extend to the other side of the road. Nevertheless, George has arranged for Larson to check it regularly, just in case.

‘Rosie’s fine,’ Larson informs me, pushing back his half-empty plate. ‘I dropped in on my way back. Ben got a gold star in his computer programming class.’ I almost see his chest swell with pride.

‘Computer class?’ I stare at him, remembering my own schooldays and the nightmare of daily recitation of times tables. ‘He’s only six! They do computer programming at that age?’

He laughs. ‘Of course – there are special teaching methods these days. After all, technology is supposed to be the future …’ He hesitates and then says quietly, ‘Although sometimes, you know, I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing – with all that’s going on in the world …’

‘But you’re a geek,’ I remind him. ‘Isn’t nerdy stuff your reason for living? I would have thought Ben following in your footsteps was pretty high on your wish list.’

He gives me a frank look. ‘Would having Rosie join the police force be high on yours?’

He’s got a point. ‘No,’ I admit. ‘I suppose not.’

‘Have you ever read E M Forster’s short story – The Machine Stops?’

I shake my head. ‘I didn’t really have time for literature – too busy catching villains to catch up on my reading.’

He smiles. ‘It was way ahead of its time – a cautionary tale about the fate of the human race if it places too much reliance on computers. I read it as a teenager, but didn’t really pick up on the message until Rosie was expecting Ben. I started off as a games programmer, but when I met Rosie, I was getting offered work programming smart home applications, and that’s when it hit me that by the time Ben is my age, we could be really

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