Read Online Fatal Connection by Malcolm Rose - Free Book Online Page B

that you were struck by falling masonry, suffered many burns and breathed in too many toxic fumes. For your bravery and selfless acts of the highest order, the state …’ Troy hesitated, sniffed and blinked. ‘I really hope you can hear me, Dad.’ He took a deep breath to get him through the final two sentences. ‘The state pardons you of all crimes. You are a free man.’
    There was silence in the room, apart from Gran’s sobs and the beeping of Winston’s heart monitor. Then, after seven seconds, the monitor stopped and let out a continuous, forlorn howl. The regular spikes on the screen came to an abrupt end.
    Troy lowered his eyes, ashamed. The state had forgiven his dad before he had.

SCENE 19
    Sunday 11th May, Midday
    Considering her partner’s fragile state, Lexi did not make a cutting comment about his choice of meatballs for lunch. In The Hungry Human, she watched him eating them without his usual relish. ‘So, your grandma almost threw you out the house?’
    ‘Sort of. She needs some time and space on her own and she said she was fed up of me moping around. Said Dad would want me to get on with it.’ Troy smiled weakly. ‘She’s not a ghost any more.’
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘She looked like a ghost on Friday and yesterday. She looks more like Gran today, even though she’s putting on a show of strength for me.’
    ‘There’s no such thing as ghosts,’ Lexi said, ‘but I guess I know what you mean.’
    ‘She’s trying to battle through, so I should as well.’ Troy drank some blueberry juice. ‘Has your spreadsheet joined the dots yet? You’d better bring me up to speed.’
    ‘The chief offered me a new partner. Huh. Know what I said?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Yeah. That’s exactly what I said. I said no. I don’t know what came over me. I told them I’d only work with you.’ She shrugged. ‘I must be crazy. I said I’d wait for you because no one’s in immediate danger – as far as we know.’
    The deep-fried spiders had been placed on her plate so that they appeared to be chasing each other in an endless circle. The legs of each tarantula were crunchy but the abdomen oozed bitter brown goo.
    ‘You’ll have carried on with the forensics, though.’
    ‘Yeah. The Switcher squirrel squatters first. They picked up some mercury for sure, but a fully grown major would have to eat about ten of them to get a lethal dose.’
    ‘Maybe the last lot had ten times more, so one in a pie would be enough.’
    ‘But ten times more would kill a squirrel pretty quickly. I’m not ruling it out, but it’d have to run back to the farm and get slaughtered before the mercury finished it off.’
    ‘Okay. It’s south of certain but it’s still our best shot – unless you’re about to tell me something that beats it.’
    ‘Tight End Crime Central reported in on Jon Drago Five. They’ve been through medical records and asked around. No evidence of any of his contacts getting ill – not with symptoms of poisoning anyway. And they’ve drawn a blank with him running a black market in mercury.’
    Troy tried to stay focused. ‘I need something positive to make me feel better.’
    Lexi smiled and tucked into another tarantula, making him wait. Then she said, ‘We’ve done the isotope analysis on that hair. We can’t use the result in court, but it’s interesting.’ To turn up the tension yet more, she took a few seconds to drink some wine. ‘Whoever it belongs to, they’ve been eating and drinking way up north. The hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios match very well. Easily within error limits.’
    ‘You mean the person who probably ripped the pages out of Keaton’s diary could live in Loose End or Tight End?’
    She nodded. ‘Or other places up there.’
    ‘That’s another reason to get a DNA sample from Jon Drago Five.’
    ‘The locals have already done it.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘You said you only wanted positive results to make you feel better.’
    ‘Oh.’
    ‘Yeah. It doesn’t match the