Read Online Breaking Point by Frank Smith - Free Book Online

rest tomorrow.
    â€˜Mary said one of the men told her they’d come to take Mickey to the train, but I checked the local timetable and there’s nothing going either way around that time in the morning. Oh, yes, just one more thing: Doyle’s van was parked behind the trailer. It was unlocked and all his tools were inside.’
    They were in Paget’s office: Tregalles, Molly Forsythe and Geoff Kirkpatrick from SOCO.
    â€˜I’ve sealed the caravan and the van,’ the sergeant continued, ‘and Geoff will be going through both tomorrow. We’ve cleared it with Charlie Dobbs. I couldn’t find a picture of Doyle, but I have a fairly good description, and I think we should get it out along with Newman’s.’
    â€˜Agreed,’ said Paget. ‘And since it appears to be developing into something more than a Missing Persons case, I think it’s time to bring DS Ormside in on this, so have him circulate Doyle’s description. And just in case there is some truth to the story that Doyle has gone to Ireland, I would think these so-called friends of his would be more likely to drive him to Shrewsbury, where there are at least half a dozen trains a day to Holyhead and the ferry. So let’s find out if Doyle
does
have friends or relatives over there. Anything else?’
    â€˜That’s it, boss,’ the sergeant told him as he gathered his papers together and stood up. ‘I’ll go down and talk to Ormside now.’
    â€˜Right.’ Paget turned to Molly as Tregalles left the room. ‘And what did you find out?’ he began, but was interrupted by a low buzzing sound coming from her handbag. She raised an enquiring eyebrow in Paget’s direction, and he nodded. Molly took out the phone and answered it. She began to move toward the door to take the call outside the office, then stopped.
    â€˜Right away,’ she said, and closed the phone. ‘It’s a message from a Mrs Chandler, a woman I met in the village, today,’ she told Paget. ‘She would like me to ring her as soon as possible. Do you mind, sir? It could be important.’
    â€˜Go ahead,’ he told her, turning his attention to Kirkpatrick. ‘And what did you find?’ he asked as Molly left the office.
    â€˜Not much,’ the man said, ‘but it was hard to know exactly what to look for.’ Kirkpatrick was a small, soft-spoken man, who had been on Charlie’s team for a decade or more, and he was known to be painstakingly thorough. ‘At the cottage, I found what I presume to be Newman’s prints everywhere in the room, and I found Emma Baker’s prints pretty much where she said I’d find them, including on the do-it-yourself Ikea wardrobe, which she said she’d helped put together. I also found prints belonging to Foxworthy all over the worktable in front of the window, and one or two from Sylvia Tyler. I got there early in order to get everyone’s prints for comparison,’ he explained. ‘Foxworthy was the only one who objected, saying he didn’t see why he should give them, because he’d never been inside Newman’s room. But he finally let me take them.’
    â€˜That’s what he told us yesterday,’ Paget said. ‘And so did Sylvia. Have you had a chance to speak to them, or were they still away at the college when you left?’
    â€˜Fortunately, they both came home for lunch,’ said Kirkpatrick, ‘so I spoke to them then. Foxworthy’s a touchy sod, isn’t he? Swore up and down that he’d never been in Newman’s room until Emma Baker reminded him that he’d helped Newman carry the plywood up the stairs when Newman was setting up the table. He said he was never more than two or three steps inside the room and left as soon as he set the plywood top down. And that made sense, because the only other prints I found of his were a couple on the door jamb.’
    â€˜And what did