When the Evil Waits by M J Lee

Author:M J Lee [Lee, M J]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 42

Ridpath met the new assistant coroner, Helen Moore, as he was going into the Coroner’s Office and she was coming out.

‘Hi there, I wanted to have a chat since our meeting, but I haven’t seen you around much.’

‘I’m on secondment from GMP, and still have to do work there. How are you settling in?’

‘Not bad,’ she smiled and leant in towards him, ‘but between you, me and the lamppost, Mrs Challinor scares me a little, she’s so stern. Does she ever let her hair down?’

‘I’m sure she does, but not when she’s at work.’ He pointed up the steps. ‘I need to get in, I’m late again.’

‘I’m off for a coffee, do you want to come for one?’

‘Perhaps another time, Helen, I really need to go in.’

‘OK, no worries – but all work and no play makes Tom an awfully dull boy.’

Ridpath climbed the steps to the office. Was she flirting with him? Surely somebody must have told her about Polly? He shook his head. The last thing he needed at the moment was an entanglement.

Sophia was waiting for him. ‘The man of my dreams… actually more like nightmares. We have a shitload of work to get through, Ridpath.’

‘Great, set it up, Sophia, I’ll have a quick chat with Mrs Challinor.’

He knocked on the office door and heard a loud ‘Come.’

Mrs Challinor was in her usual position; sat at her desk, poring over a case file. ‘Ah, Ridpath, the man I want to see.’

‘I seem to be in demand at the moment.’

‘I wanted to ask you how the investigation is going? You’re due to report back to Claire Trent tomorrow?’

‘That’s why I wanted to update you. Our client, Michael Carsley, is going to be taken into custody for questioning.’

Her eyebrows rose, touching her grey hair. ‘Really? I was told this morning that the undertaker had already removed the body from the mortuary and taken it back to his funeral home.’

‘He’s not been charged with anything yet, but apparently there are anomalies in his statement.’

‘You’ve met the man, Ridpath, do you think he murdered his own son?’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. There’s something not right there. The pathologist found bruising on the boy’s arms and the mother is scared of even meeting Michael Carsley, but I don’t think he murdered the boy.’

‘Will he be charged?’

‘I don’t know. There has to be enough evidence to convince the Crown Prosecution Service. I don’t think Turnbull has the evidence.’

‘Why interview Carsley, then?’

‘It’s a fishing trip. A chance to question Carsley at length, put pressure on him. They can hold him for twenty-four hours before he has to be released.’

‘When’s the funeral?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘And what happened to the other son, Daniel Carsley?’

‘I don’t know that either, Coroner. I presume he has been taken into care by the local council. He’s a vulnerable child.’

Mrs Challinor’s face hardened. ‘My agreement with Claire Trent was that you investigating this case would not jeopardise your work with our clients, nor would it compromise your commitment

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