The Man in the Corduroy Suit by James Wolff

Author:James Wolff [Wolff, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2023-06-24T18:29:26+00:00

4

“If I wanted to know something, why didn’t I simply ask you a straight question? Is that really what you just asked me?” says Remnant to the window. He can’t bring himself to look at Leonard. “You little shit. You have no idea. You stupid little shit.”

A minute or so passes.

“Yes, yes,” Remnant says impatiently, as though he’s had enough of the voice in his head. “There is more to this than you have been told. When is that not the case in our line of work? When is anyone told all the facts? Those classifications on every single piece of paper in this building, the ones saying ‘Secret’ or ‘Confidential’ or ‘UK Eyes Only’ – what do you think those are if not signs saying ‘Keep Out’ and ‘Mind Your Own Fucking Business’? Are you going to tell me you’ve worked here for seven years and you don’t understand that? You think I don’t trust you? Of course I don’t trust you – I don’t trust anyone. That’s my job.” He shakes his head in disgust. He shoots his cuffs. “That’s my job,” he mumbles. “That’s my job.”

Leonard starts to get up.

“Sit down,” Remnant barks at the window. A military man to the end, he can accept that surrender is sometimes the correct strategic decision. But he will walk out with his shoulders back, with his head held high. “It is imperative that what I tell you stays in this room. Is that understood?” Accustomed to being obeyed, he doesn’t wait for an answer. “I had no choice,” he says. “I had no choice, do you hear me? This office is facing a crisis on a scale so unprecedented that it’s difficult to communicate its magnitude. At one end of the scale, and only if we manage to contain the worst of it, I would guess a dozen or so senior officers will lose their jobs by the end of the year. But that’s nothing compared to the other end of the scale, which will see this entire organization pulled down and a new one built in its place, free of the rot that has set in.”

The draught has picked up. Remnant lifts a stiff hand in a salute towards his ruffled hair. Although he knows it is impossible, Leonard feels as though the building is swaying.

“When Willa was poisoned just over a month ago we launched an urgent investigation into every aspect of her life,” says Remnant. “On day eight we found old CCTV footage of her boarding a train to Norfolk, and on day nine we tracked down the taxi company she used to take her from the station to the hotel. When we broke into their booking system, we saw she had been a regular visitor for over ten years. So we sent in officers posing as guests, set up a surveillance ring around the hotel and began to dig into the background of every single person who worked there. It was on day fourteen or

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