Read Online Czech Mate by Elizabeth Darrell - Free Book Online Page B

the toilet or take a group of boys there during the evening?’
    â€˜I’m not stupid,’ Rowe said forcefully. ‘The women took that on, and I used the one at the back of the storeroom. I had the key because I put all the equipment there overnight.’
    Piercey seized on that. ‘Where was the key overnight?’
    â€˜In Headquarter Company office, where it always is.’
    Piercey smiled. ‘Unusual for a young lad like you to give up a Saturday night to entertain tinies, when your mates were surely all in town having a good time. What did your girl think about losing out to a kids’ party?’
    â€˜She’s on UK leave right now. Back just before Christmas.’
    â€˜Serious, is it?’
    â€˜What’s that got to do with the attack on that boy?’ Rowe asked, reddening with a mix of anger and embarrassment.
    â€˜Nothing,’ lied Piercey, fairly certain now that Rowe was not homosexual. ‘Just interested.’
    â€˜Is that all?’
    â€˜Just one more question. During the party was the storeroom unlocked?’
    â€˜Of course. I had to change the equipment over at the end of each game.’
    â€˜So anyone could have gone through there and out again by the loading door at the back.’
    â€˜I suppose, but . . .’
    â€˜Thank you, that’s all.’
    Piercey drove off filled with satisfaction. Someone at the Recreation Centre on Saturday had gone through the storeroom, circled the building and entered by the front door, to climb the stairs, snatch the club provided to smash the glass of the fire alarm and clout Kevin with it. A swift return by the same route before absence had been noticed. Yes, it had definitely been an inside job, and he had just sussed out how it had been executed.
    Heather Johnson was waiting outside Lucy Farmer’s office when the subaltern returned from giving a lecture. Heather had called in at the Section’s new headquarters after lunch and before driving to Hedley Company’s offices. The heating system was at last sluggishly underway, but it was still much warmer here. She decided there was no need to hurry the coming interview. Although it was merely to get confirmation of what Lieutenant Farmer had said immediately after the attack on Kevin, Heather was sure she could spin it out a bit.
    The disadvantage of previously having their headquarters equidistant between the two bases they served was that they only knew the personnel they had dealt with on cases. Now they were living on one of the large military establishments they would soon be familiar with many more. Lucy Farmer was unknown to Heather. She hoped the officer would not be as supercilious as one or two women she had come across.
    In fact, Heather was filled with envy on meeting the tall, graceful redhead who had every attribute for a career as an actress or model. Whatever was this beautiful young woman doing dressed in khaki and heavy boots, giving lectures on how to disarm booby trap mines? She herself was short, inclined to be top heavy, and with hair the colour of peanut butter, and she could only dream of looking like Lucy Farmer. To add salt to the wound, the subaltern had the brand of unaffected cordiality people of her class often extended to whoever they met.
    â€˜Come in, Sergeant Johnson. Take a seat,’ Lucy said with a smile as she reached her office along the corridor. ‘Lovely weather for skiing. Not so good for working.’ Becomingly flushed from the outside temperature, she placed the files she carried on a side-table and sat behind her desk. ‘Captain Rydal indicated that someone would come to corroborate what I told the Redcap corporal on Saturday evening.’
    â€˜We’ve taken over the case, ma’am, so there are a few points we need to clarify.’
    They ran through the statement far too quickly for Heather. Ten minutes only had passed. Lieutenant Farmer was fast talking and very assured. In