Read Online One Last Lesson by Iain Cameron - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Iain Cameron
Ads: Link
don’t offer you enough protection.’
In an everyday situation, a comment like that would have been incendiary and lead to an instant red card and an early bath, as she was addicted to cars in the same way an old uncle of his was addicted to booze as there was no way she would ever buy a ‘sensible’ saloon or a sedate hatchback.
What he knew about cars wouldn’t fill a dust cap but he did know that the little sports car s she liked, were too low on the ground and offered little protection from flying debris, stinging insects or mindless idiots throwing stones or lighted cigarettes for a lark, and he had seen at first-hand the damage caused to a small car after it had been in collision with a lorry.
‘You were saved by the seatbelt and air bags , love,’ Phil said. ‘Without the belt, who knows where you might have ended up, maybe in the field across the road.’ He turned to Henderson. ‘I suppose you see a lot of things like that in your line of business, Angus.’
Aged around fifty with a thick crop of slightly greying, black hair and a tanned, lightly lined face that rarely changed from studied seriousness, Phil was a corporate financier with a large Japanese bank in London and spent as much time overseas as he did at home. He was seriously well paid and probably paid more tax than he earned, which allowed his wife to indulge in the many hairdressers, manicurists and beauticians she frequented. It would be disingenuous to suggest it was a facile pursuit and she was simply wasting his money as she was six years older than her husband but could easily pass for a much younger woman.
‘ It’s been a few years since I’ve dealt directly with a traffic accident and nowadays its only if the victim was murdered first.’
‘Sorry, I was forgetting you were in CID. What case are you working on now?’
‘A student from one of the local universities here in Brighton was found murdered on a golf course near Horsham.’
‘ I heard about that one, wasn’t there something about it in our local newspaper, Karen?’
‘Yes there was. That was a girl called Sarah Robson, wasn’t it?’
Henderson nodded.
‘The Robson’s live only a few streets away from us,’ Phil said, ‘and Owen’s in the same Rotary as me although I must admit, I don’t go that often so I don’t know him that well. It’s a terrible business though, to lose a daughter like that. I don’t know how we would cope if we lost Rachel,’ he said, turning to look at her and smiling. ‘How’s the investigation going? Do you have any suspects?’
He nderson blew a frustrated sigh. ‘We didn’t get much from the crime scene and local people didn’t spot anything unusual, so we didn’t get off to a good start. At the moment, we’re piecing together her last evening in Brighton and interviewing everyone who knew her.’
Phil was about to ask something else when Henderson’s phone rang. He apologised and moved out of the room and into the corridor and stood in front of a sign, which warned, ‘Using a Mobile Phone in the IC Unit is Prohibited.’
‘Hi boss, its Gerry. How are things going down at the hospital?’
‘She’s awake now and slowly getting back to her old self. She’s got a broken leg, broken wrist, badly gashed arm and loads of bruises and scratches, but nothing that won’t heal in time or put her off buyin g another two-seater sports car or driving slower. If I have anything to do with it, I’ll make her buy a Volvo estate, they’re built like tanks.’
‘ Glad to hear she’s ok, it could have been so much worse. Have they found out what happened?’
‘It seems she was overtaking on a narrow road when a people carrier came out of a concealed driveway and Rachel ploughed straight into it. The other driver claimed she was momentarily distracted by a screaming child in the back, and didn’t look in the mirror that her husband positioned on the tree opposite their driveway to give them a better view of on-coming
In an everyday situation, a comment like that would have been incendiary and lead to an instant red card and an early bath, as she was addicted to cars in the same way an old uncle of his was addicted to booze as there was no way she would ever buy a ‘sensible’ saloon or a sedate hatchback.
What he knew about cars wouldn’t fill a dust cap but he did know that the little sports car s she liked, were too low on the ground and offered little protection from flying debris, stinging insects or mindless idiots throwing stones or lighted cigarettes for a lark, and he had seen at first-hand the damage caused to a small car after it had been in collision with a lorry.
‘You were saved by the seatbelt and air bags , love,’ Phil said. ‘Without the belt, who knows where you might have ended up, maybe in the field across the road.’ He turned to Henderson. ‘I suppose you see a lot of things like that in your line of business, Angus.’
Aged around fifty with a thick crop of slightly greying, black hair and a tanned, lightly lined face that rarely changed from studied seriousness, Phil was a corporate financier with a large Japanese bank in London and spent as much time overseas as he did at home. He was seriously well paid and probably paid more tax than he earned, which allowed his wife to indulge in the many hairdressers, manicurists and beauticians she frequented. It would be disingenuous to suggest it was a facile pursuit and she was simply wasting his money as she was six years older than her husband but could easily pass for a much younger woman.
‘ It’s been a few years since I’ve dealt directly with a traffic accident and nowadays its only if the victim was murdered first.’
‘Sorry, I was forgetting you were in CID. What case are you working on now?’
‘A student from one of the local universities here in Brighton was found murdered on a golf course near Horsham.’
‘ I heard about that one, wasn’t there something about it in our local newspaper, Karen?’
‘Yes there was. That was a girl called Sarah Robson, wasn’t it?’
Henderson nodded.
‘The Robson’s live only a few streets away from us,’ Phil said, ‘and Owen’s in the same Rotary as me although I must admit, I don’t go that often so I don’t know him that well. It’s a terrible business though, to lose a daughter like that. I don’t know how we would cope if we lost Rachel,’ he said, turning to look at her and smiling. ‘How’s the investigation going? Do you have any suspects?’
He nderson blew a frustrated sigh. ‘We didn’t get much from the crime scene and local people didn’t spot anything unusual, so we didn’t get off to a good start. At the moment, we’re piecing together her last evening in Brighton and interviewing everyone who knew her.’
Phil was about to ask something else when Henderson’s phone rang. He apologised and moved out of the room and into the corridor and stood in front of a sign, which warned, ‘Using a Mobile Phone in the IC Unit is Prohibited.’
‘Hi boss, its Gerry. How are things going down at the hospital?’
‘She’s awake now and slowly getting back to her old self. She’s got a broken leg, broken wrist, badly gashed arm and loads of bruises and scratches, but nothing that won’t heal in time or put her off buyin g another two-seater sports car or driving slower. If I have anything to do with it, I’ll make her buy a Volvo estate, they’re built like tanks.’
‘ Glad to hear she’s ok, it could have been so much worse. Have they found out what happened?’
‘It seems she was overtaking on a narrow road when a people carrier came out of a concealed driveway and Rachel ploughed straight into it. The other driver claimed she was momentarily distracted by a screaming child in the back, and didn’t look in the mirror that her husband positioned on the tree opposite their driveway to give them a better view of on-coming
Similar Books
