Read Online Dead on Demand (A DCI Morton Crime Novel) by Sean Campbell, Daniel Campbell - Free Book Online

account.' Edwin had not got around to changing this yet.
    'Any activity on her cards?'
    'None, but she doesn't really trust cards. She tends to stick to cash when she can.' Edwin had pulled up their online banking statement before the call.
    'So I'm guessing she isn't on benefits?' The woman carried on down the checklist.
    'No. Well, not unless you include child benefit.'
    'We don't. Do you have a recent photograph?'
    'Yes.'
    'Do you have email access?'
    'Of course.'
    'Email one to us. [email protected].'
    'OK. I'll do that at the end of this call.' Edwin scribbled down the email address.
    'We'll also need your consent to search your home.' Edwin paled. Did they know something? Of course they meant the townhouse, not his flat.
    The policewoman continued. 'It's standard procedure, sir. We will also need a DNA sample; a toothbrush or hairbrush should suffice. We'll collect that when we conduct the search. I assume you are happy to consent to publicity too. The media can be helpful.'
    This question shook Edwin. A search was one thing; they wouldn't find much at the townhouse, but if he started going on television to plead for her to come home... Well, that was another thing entirely. It might get him caught in a lie.
    'I'll think about it. It's only been a day, and she might have just vanished for personal reasons, right?' Edwin hoped this sounded plausible.
    ***
    The laptop message indicator was still lit. Some were nonsense. Even Edwin couldn't decode 'I wn2 hlp u bt nd drg muni irtn. wl dnefin.' And one of his undergraduate modules had been on cryptography.
    Others were far more straightforward.
    'Will eliminate your problem if you sort mine.'
    The time limit for the hit he had agreed to was fast approaching. What if he let another one of these crackpots carry it out for him? Then he'd have no link to either kill. He could even be sure to have a firm alibi just in case.
    He picked the most promising message, and typed out a brief reply: 'Happy to oblige. Let me know details.'
    Maybe he wouldn't have to kill anyone after all. If he just stiffed the second guy he could get away with it all.

CHAPTER 10: A BROKEN MAN
    Barry Chalmers stared at his lap. His waiter came by every few minutes asking if he was ready to order yet. Each time, he said no in a small voice.
    But after three hours, the waiting staff were beginning to talk. His date wasn't turning up. He wished he knew what he was doing wrong. His mother always told him to be the perfect gentleman: to buy dinner, to open doors. It never did him any good.
    When he'd met Jessica at a music bar in Basildon, she'd seemed cute. She was a bit coy, and it took him most of the night to work up the courage to say hello.
    She wasn't even conventionally beautiful. Barry could understand when the supermodel types turned him down.
    When he'd finally got to the end of the night, Barry jumped the gun and went for the kiss a bit too fast, clumsily bumping into her neck.
    Somehow, she agreed to go out again. To Barry's amazement, they spent most of the summer together. He didn't even mind that he somehow ended up paying for everything.
    Half of the restaurant bill or the whole thing made little difference, and he had asked her out so he gladly paid. Only then she came to expect it, as if he owed her.
    Still, he spent the money. Tonight was the night he intended to ask her a question. His friend, for he only had one, had told him it was too soon, but Jessica felt like his last chance at finding love.
    Barry absent-mindedly turned the ring box over in his pocket as the clock struck ten. Three hours.
    Where was she?
    ***
    Barry learnt the ugly truth the following weekend. He was out of London to visit his mother in hospital when Jessica called and said they needed to talk, urgently, face-to-face. He figured it was serious, and rushed back to Basildon.
    He took her out to a nice restaurant, expecting there to be news. He half wondered if she might be pregnant. He pulled out her chair