Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone #10)(89)

‘He took the whole file?’ she asked.

He nodded. Oh, she could not count the levels of shit this man was in and about that she couldn’t give a flying fig. Her boss’s entire childhood was in that file and it was no longer contained in a safe environment. Away from prying eyes and hungry gossipmongers. If that file got into the wrong hands…

Okay, she needed to leave right now.

She pushed back her chair and stood.

‘Wait a minute,’ Tweedy protested. ‘You haven’t told me what link you have to Ernest Beckett.’

‘I’m sorry, but as it’s part of an active investigation, I’m unable to share the details.’

He sighed heavily. ‘Can you at least tell me if you have him in custody?’

Stacey considered his question and nodded. They had most of him in custody.

‘Can you give me any idea of the nature of the charges against him?’

Why was the man assuming that he was a suspect in something?

‘You seem awfully nervous about our dealings with Mr Beckett,’ she observed.

‘I just need to know something, officer. I need to know if your business is linked to a complaint received about Mr Beckett this week. A very serious complaint indeed.’





One Hundred Fourteen





‘There’s a definite smell,’ Kim said, raising her head from the letterbox. ‘I don’t think it’s a body but it’s not Chanel N°5 either.’

‘You reckon he’s our guy in the cube?’ Bryant asked, looking around.

Kim knew what he was doing and followed. They both smiled at the row of three plant pots beneath the front window.

‘Which one?’ Bryant asked.

‘Far right,’ she said, without hesitation.

‘I say middle,’ he smirked.

She crossed her arms while he did the honours. First, he lifted the left. Nothing. He lifted the middle and groaned. He lifted the far right and the metal sparkled up at him.

‘How do you do that?’ he asked, shaking his head and retrieving the key.

‘The middle is too obvious. Everyone would try that first.’

‘Thanks,’ Bryant mumbled.

‘The left is too close to the actual door, which is too close for the subconscious, so the only one remaining is the one on the right. Simples,’ she said as he opened the door.

‘Jeez, you’re right about the smell,’ he said, pulling a face.

She leaned down and picked up the small pile of post on the floor as her phone began to ring.

She took out her phone and groaned. ‘Frost, get the message. I can’t speak to you. Boss’s instructions,’ she shouted at the screen before cutting off the call.

‘You being the guv, I’ll let you check out the kitchen and I’ll do the lounge.’

‘Cheers,’ she said, pretty sure that’s where the smell was coming from.

‘Jesus,’ she said to herself as she entered the space.

Ernest Beckett was clearly a man who cleaned and tidied only when he’d run out of things to use.

The sink and surrounding area was awash with plates, bowls, cups and glasses still containing leftover food and drink. A few flies rose from the carnage as she approached. They hovered frantically before heading towards an area of the work surface where the man had clearly been preparing himself a snack. A block of cheese had been left out in the path of direct sunlight next to the kettle that was spottled with grease stains.

A tub of margarine sat beside a dirty knife.

To leave everything out had to mean the guy had left in a rush but there were no signs of a struggle. The door had been locked and a spare key in its normal place.

‘Never gonna win cleaner of the year,’ Bryant said, joining her.

He glanced at the mess by the sink as he swatted away a fly from in front of his face.

‘And there’s more of that upstairs on his bedside cabinet.’

‘Ugh,’ Kim said.

‘Wife won’t even let me take a slice of toast to bed,’ he moaned.

‘Surprising what some men get up to when left to their own devices.’

‘You know, I did it once,’ Bryant said, opening and closing cupboard doors. ‘Wife went with her sister to a weekend spa in Cheshire. Remember the film Home Alone where Macaulay Culkin is tearing round the house doing whatever he wants? That was me that was. Spent all day Saturday in my pyjamas, ate what I wanted, drank what I wanted, downloaded every mindless action movie I could find.’

‘Turned into a ten-year-old boy,’ she observed.

‘Exactly that, but by the next morning I was over it and spent Sunday cleaning up the evidence. She still knew I’d had toast in the bed, though.’

‘Your missus sounds like a better detective than—’

‘And I’m gonna stop you saying something right there that you can’t unsay, guv.’

‘So, what’s this tell us about the man?’

‘Tells us he either didn’t care or had stopped seeing the mess around him,’ Bryant answered. ‘Also tells us he probably wasn’t expecting any visitors.’

‘Doesn’t tell us if he’s the man in the car,’ Kim grumbled.

‘No, but the computer in the lounge might.’