The Hard Way by Duncan Brockwell (electronic book reader .txt) 📗

“So, how about it, Mr Fisher? Can you tell us where you were late Monday night, early Tuesday morning?” Hayes wasn’t sure of his willingness.

“What’re you waiting for, Richard? Tell them!”

Richard Fisher stared at Hayes for a moment. “I was at my workshop until around one in the morning. And before you ask if anyone else was there, Vanu, my second-in-command, was there until around nine. After that, I was there alone.”

Miller wrote it down in her notepad. “With cases like this, we ask if you can verify your whereabouts another way. So, does your workshop have cameras in or around it that will corroborate your alibi?”

“There are cameras on the way into the business park, sure. And my computer will show what time I switched it off at least, won’t it?”

Miller asked for the address of his workshop. “I’ll get onto that.”

While her partner was busy, Hayes asked Mrs Edwards where she had been. Having exhausted the alibis, she decided to dig further. “It’s such a shame we can’t ask Mr Curtis some questions. I don’t suppose your brother spoke of any conflict at work? Did he have any fights with colleagues, anything like that?”

“Colin was loved by all his co-stars, everyone. The gay community loved him for everything he did to include them on the station. If you’re asking did he have enemies? Maybe, he’d been a violent drug addict years ago, so sure, he must have. There must be people out there he beat up for their wallets, or what have you, but I don’t know who they are.”

“Okay, Mrs Edwards.” Hayes tried to calm her down. “Let’s look at this from a different angle. There’s a rumour circulating that Colin had debts outstanding with Melodi Demirci. Do you know if there’s any truth to them?” She asked both brother and sister.

Fisher sat back in his seat. “My brother was an addict, detective. It could be true, I don’t know. He had an addiction to pretty much everything at one time or another.”

“So, it could be a possibility?”

“With my brother, anything’s possible. All I know is that we made amends just before he married Henry, and since then, Colin hasn’t put a foot wrong. Henry’s the best thing that ever happened to him.”

Miller took over, aiming her questions at the sister. “But you were still on talking terms with your brother, right, Mrs Edwards? Is there anyone from his past who sticks out? Previous boyfriends? Anyone at all you can think of?”

“No! Nothing like that. He was on good terms with everyone he worked with. He never mentioned any altercations to me.”

Hayes thought she seemed genuine enough. Becoming more frustrated by the second, Hayes grew restless. They were getting nowhere with Fisher’s siblings. She had a few more questions to fling at them, but she wasn’t hopeful. It still looked more likely that Brandy Reid was the main target.

19

Miller smiled at her text message from Walker, who’d asked her how her shift was going. The five hearts made her chuckle inside like a seventeen-year-old. She tried not to show it to Hayes, who sat next to her driving the Peugeot.

“Something funny?” Hayes glanced over at her.

“Hmm?” Miller looked up from her phone. “Oh, no, nothing important. A text from my mum.” She started typing her reply.

“Give me a break. You’re sat there with a great big smile. It’s not your mum texting. Let me guess: you bumped into Luke Walker last night, am I right?”

The mere mention of his name made her look at her partner. “What? No!” Her tone belied her words. “What would make you say that? This is my mum.”

“Where’d you meet him?” Hayes wouldn’t drop it. “Come on, we’re partners, remember? That means sharing information. Come on, where’d you meet him?”

When she wouldn’t play along, Hayes decided to play by herself.

“Let me see! Walker works out, a lot, judging by those bulging biceps. You like working out, too. I’m going to hazard a guess and say you bumped into him at the gym last night. How’s that? Am I right?”

She hated Hayes’ smug grin. “How could you even know that?”

Hayes chuckled to herself. “Trade secret. A friend saw you two talking in there. So, how’d your first date go? Did you kiss him?”

Hayes slowed the car to a stop at some traffic lights.

“What? I’m not answering that.”

She finished the text with a flurry of kisses. She liked Walker, a lot. The night they shared together was nothing short of heaven. If his texts were anything to go by, they would have round two tonight. The thought excited her. All she had to do was get through the afternoon. “And you’re wrong about him, by the way.”

Miller put her mobile away, determined to focus on the job at hand. “So, what did you make of Fisher?”

Hayes stared straight ahead. “I think meeting Fisher’s brother and sister was a waste of time. We should’ve made them wake Curtis. He’s the key. He’ll know what’s going on in his husband’s life more than they do.”

As they entered a run-down part of town, Hayes brought the car to a stop outside a row of terraced houses. The estate was covered in graffiti and everywhere Miller looked, kids stood on street corners, rough-looking kids, all between the ages of around ten and eighteen. They would rob their car given half the chance, she thought, unbuckling her belt.

A group of kids of varying ethnicities crowded their car as Miller opened her door. She took out her warrant card and showed it to the teenagers. “Metropolitan Police, lads. Back off!” And as she stood, taller than them, they backed up. “Thank you! Now, can one of you tell me which house Brandy Reid’s mum lives at?”

“She lives over there.” A kid of no more than ten said, pointing.

“Thanks.” Hayes joined her.

“Hey, I know you. You’re that pig who arrested Martin’s dad.”

Miller grabbed the twelve-year-old boy’s shirt. “Don’t ever use that term in front of us again. We’re police officers,