Read Online A Box Full of Darkness (Wilson Book 5) by Fee Derek - Free Book Online Page B

in court. Her strategy for Maggie Cummerford was sound; deflect the jury away from the crime and concentrate on the motive. Drag every ounce of sympathy out of the jury for the poor little six-year-old girl who had her mother cruelly taken from her. What did he care whether Maggie went down or not? He did his job and now it was up to the justice system to do theirs. He turned at the junction of Old Channel Road and Queen’s Road and retraced his route. He glanced at his watch when he arrived at his starting point: five-thirty. Two hours to kill before he could start for Dunmurry.
     
    Sergeant Simon Jackson was standing at the door to Wilson‘s office when Wilson arrived.
    ‘You’re an early riser, sergeant,’ Wilson said as he removed the key to his office from his pocket and opened the door. He had found the key on the inside of the door and although he never before locked his office door, something told him that he should do so now in order to maintain a level of privacy. Given his background in Special Branch, he had no doubt that a locked door wouldn’t present an obstacle to Jackson or one of his former colleagues,
    ‘Always was, sir,’ Jackson stood aside. ‘Habit of a lifetime, we don’t usually lock our office doors around here.’
    Wilson smiled and cast a glance in the direction of Sinclair’s office, which had the appearance of being securely locked. ‘We all have lifetime habits, sergeant. One of mine is to lock my office door. Now, please tell me that you have the information I requested of you yesterday evening.’
    ‘Mostly, sir,’ said Jackson holding out a sheet of paper. ‘Mallon’s old man passed away but I’ve managed to locate relatives of both the deceased.’
    Wilson took the paper and looked down the list of names and addresses. ‘Well done, sergeant. We have a pretty full day ahead of us.’
    ‘Shouldn’t we discuss your plan of action with the chief superintendent, sir?’ Jackson asked.
    ‘I don’t think we should bother him with anything as trivial as my plan of action which I assure you is pretty flexible.  I have the impression that Chief Superintendent Sinclair has other more important matters on his mind. Of course, if he said something to you.’
    ‘No, sir,’ Jackson said a little too quickly. ‘The chief superintendent said nothing.’
    ‘OK.’ Wilson consulted the list. ‘I see that Mr and Mrs Lafferty still live in Beechmount Parade.  Let’s drop by and see how they are.’
    ‘Shouldn’t we telephone first?’ Jackson asked.
    ‘No. If they’re not in, we’ll move on to the second name on your list. ‘

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
     
     
    They parked in the same spot they had done the previous day. Wilson wanted to walk the area again. Belfast was a very different place from the day when a car had stopped at the corner of Beechmount Parade and ended the life of two young men engaged in an innocent game of football. Although he hadn’t yet received any communication from McDevitt, he was willing to bet that the two deaths didn’t merit more than a few column inches. In modern Belfast such events were impossible. A lot of innocent people had to die in order for the public to recognise that the perpetrators of such horrors were indeed monsters needing to be removed from society. Wilson and Jackson walked slowly along Beechmount Parade until they reached the house occupied by the Lafferty family. They pushed open the small cast iron gate and walked to the front door. Wilson pushed the bell and waited. He could hear a shuffling inside and when he glanced to the right, he saw the curtain flutter on the window. He waited patiently until the door was finally opened by a woman who looked to be in her seventies wearing a flowery housecoat.
    ‘Mrs Lafferty?’ he said.
    ‘Aye.’ Her grey hair was tied back. She was small and slight and had a curvature of the spine, which caused her to crane her head to look into Wilson’s face.
    Wilson removed his warrant card from