Read Online Dying to Know (A Detective Inspector Berenice Killick Mystery) by Alison Joseph - Free Book Online Page A

of paper out of his pocket. ‘Another in the green ink correspondence, though not green. And ramped up, I’d say.’
    He passed it to Liam.
    Liam scanned the crumpled, lined paper. He looked up at Iain. ‘One down?’
    ‘It means Murdo. “That will show you all you bastards.”’ Iain took the letter back. ‘Our friend seems to think that Murdo’s death is our fault for interfering with the rules of nature.’
    ‘We should show the police.’ Elizabeth reached out for the letter.’
    Iain passed it to her. ‘Are you OK?’ he said.
    ‘What do you think?’
    Liam got to his feet, knocking the table as he did so. ‘Sorry… Um…’
    ‘Don’t leave on our account,’ Iain said. ‘What shall we do about this?’ He pointed at the letter, which Elizabeth was holding between two red-polished finger-nails.
    ‘We’re supposed to be rational,’ Liam said. ‘Scientists. Not people who panic at the first sign of superstitious nonsense.’
    ‘Like the ghost, you mean?’ Elizabeth looked up at him.
    He smiled. ‘Like the ghost. One minute trying to pin down the fundamental laws of the universe, the next claiming that a wounded soldier is walking the corridors like something from Dickens…’
    ‘Neil was convinced,’ Iain said.
    ‘Neil swore blind he saw him,’ Elizabeth said.
    Liam shrugged.
    ‘It’s not like Neil to be superstitious,’ Iain said.
    ‘I think we have to tell the police.’ Elizabeth handed the letter to Liam. ‘Do you want to?’
    ‘OK.’ He put it in his pocket, headed for the door. ‘I’ll check with Moffatt first. I’ve got to sort out this Tobias situation with him as it is. It’s not fair on the lad, to keep him doing lab work. Particularly not now.’
    Liam closed the door behind him. As he left, Elizabeth gave a weary sigh and rested her head on Iain’s shoulder.
     
    ‘One down.’ Clem Voake gave a hoarse laugh.
    ‘He’s really gone?’
    ‘You heard. Pushed off Hank’s Tower.’
    ‘Not the right one.’
    ‘Don’t care. If it puts the wind up them, it’s good enough for me.’
    Lisa sat outside the caravan, her back pressed up against the damp wall. Next to her, Finn passed her a cigarette. Above them, the voices drifted out of the open window.
    Finn produced a lighter, and she leaned into him, drew on her cigarette.
    ‘You get him up there first. Tell him you’ve got to have a little chat with him. Then, thwack, over the edge, death by drowning, all evidence gone.’
    ‘Seem to know a lot about it.’ The other voice was male, older, with a Kentish burr like Clem’s.
    ‘Yeah, well, I’ve thought about it, see.’
    ‘Only thought about it?’
    Clem gave another harsh laugh. ‘Thinking. Doing. What’s the difference? Another of those?’
    Outside Finn whispered to Lisa. ‘You telling me you’re going to stay here?’
    ‘Only home I’ve got,’ she whispered back.
    ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘I’ve got a place at the Archway. They’ll let you in.’
    ‘They’ll send me back home. That’s even worse.’
    ‘It can’t be worse than a freezing car and him going on about all his enemies.’
    ‘He’s my dad.’
    He looked up at her tone. ‘So?’
    She pulled at a thread in her jeans.
    ‘You really telling me he cares about you?’
    She met his eyes. ‘He says he does. And in any case, I ain’t going back to my Mum.’
    The laughter from the window was louder now. ‘That would be the prize, Clem, my friend. Wouldn’t it. Then you could stop skulking out here in this dump.’
    ‘Suits me, this,’ Clem said. ‘People come, people go, no one to ask them where they’ve been, no one to ask them where they’re going.’
    ‘And the kid?’
    ‘Lisa? She’s OK. She’s a great kid. She’s come home to her Dad and she ain’t going nowhere else.’
    ‘Scared of you, is she, like everyone else?’
    Clem’s voice was sharp. ‘Not her. I love that kid. You hear me? Wouldn’t hurt a hair of her fucking head.’
    Under the window, Lisa blew rings