Read Online Chris Collett - [Tom Mariner 01] by The Worm in The Bud (txt) - Free Book Online

demotion, about three years ago, back on to the local desk; writing fillers for the main pages.’
    ‘Things were getting too much for him?’
    ‘In a way, but not at work. He had a forced change of circumstances. He lost both his parents very suddenly some time back, and there’s this brother, he’s mentally handicapped or something…’
    Mariner touched his nose. ‘Jamie. We’ve met.’
    Moloney smirked. ‘Oh, I see. Yeah, well, he’s been here once or twice. Bloody liability. Anyway, he needs a lot of looking after, someone there all the time. He goes to some day-care place and in the early days Eddie had some arrangement with the neighbours, too, but suddenly all that changed. He struggled on for as long a he could but eventually he asked for a move to nine till five. I tried to negotiate something, but whatever Eddie takes on he throws himself into one hundred per cent. It was like that with the boy. For the big stories, we need someone who can go where the action is any hour of the day or night, and Eddie said he wasn’t prepared to do that any more.’
    ‘So it was his decision?’
    ‘Eddie knew the score.’
    ‘And did he seem unhappy about it?’
    ‘He was more philosophical. I think he felt that there wasn’t a choice. There is a sister around somewhere, but there didn’t seem to be any question that Eddie would take on the kid brother. Sure, he must have found the change frustrating, but he was never the sort of guy to whinge on about things. Ironically, although he was working regular hours then, we saw less and less of him. He did his job then went home. Either way, he still made his deadlines, so it didn’t bother me. He never stopped being reliable.’ The original Steady Eddie.
    ‘And would you have known if things were getting too much for him?’
    It took Moloney several seconds to meet Mariner’s eye.
    ‘The man was a pro. He wouldn’t have found it acceptable to have his home life interfere with his work.’
    Mariner let him off the hook. ‘Who were Eddie’s close friends?’
    ‘I’m not sure that he had any what you’d call close friends. Eddie got along okay with most people, but he was a bit of a loner. Not much choice given his domestic setup.’
    ‘Did he have a girlfriend?’ Mariner asked.
    Moloney shook his head. ‘I never got the impression that there was anyone because of the boy, but I suppose there could have been.’
    ‘Do you know a girl called Sally, possibly Sally-Ann?’
    ‘No, can’t say I do.’
    ‘When was the last time anyone here would have seen Eddie?’ asked Mariner.
    ‘Friday, he was in for work as usual, as far as I know.
    He’d have been working with Darren Smith, one of our photographers. They’d got to be quite a team. They worked together on a regular basis.’
    ‘I’ll need to speak to Darren. And I may want to look at Eddie’s workspace and check the files on his computer.’
    ‘Sure.’
    The interview had run its course. ‘Well, thanks for your time Mr Moloney,’ Mariner said.
    ‘No problem. Anything we can do.’
    Mariner stood up and even though it was only a few paces, Moloney walked him to the door. Something was still bothering him. ‘We can run this as a story?’ he asked at last. So that was it.
    ‘It’s news, isn’t it?’ said Mariner, drily.
    ‘So what can we print?’
    ‘Let’s go for novelty. How about the facts?’
    His sarcasm went unremarked. ‘Which are?’
    ‘That Eddie Barham was discovered dead at his home late last night. Police are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with his death, but would like to speak to a woman who may have been at the scene, and who made the emergency call.’
    Moloney nodded, sadly. ‘Eddie was a good bloke,’ he said. ‘A lot of people round here will miss him. And I think we’ll all feel bad that we didn’t see this coming.’ He sounded entirely sincere and for some reason Mariner was surprised. A press man with a conscience was a new phenomenon.
    On the