Shot of Silence (Justice Again Book 3) by M Comley (best contemporary novels txt) 📗

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them the ins and outs of that. James was a good lad, we got on great. I wish I’d stayed in touch with him, but one minute he was there, and the next he’d gone. I tried to get it out of that Hunt woman, you know, tried to get his address so I could stay in contact with him, but she refused to hand it over. Spouted about data protection which is a load of twaddle. Anyway, I don’t understand what this has to do with you being here today, so please do enlighten me.”

“Earlier today, two people at Zedex were killed.”

“What? You’re kidding me? How?” His eyes widened as it appeared to dawn on him why they were there. “No way! You’re not going to try and pin this on me, are you?”

“If you have an alibi, then no, we won’t. But there is still a grievance we need to look into.”

“Why? I lost a lot of wedge, dosh, mazuma, whatever you want to call it. That’s the end of the line for me. If you think I would take some form of revenge then you’re gravely mistaken. I’ll just knuckle down and make another million to replace the one I unwisely lost. That’s my revenge, so to speak. Fancy them being killed. Who was it, do I know them?”

“The first was Grace Hunt, and the second was her boss, Colin Markham.”

He let out a low whistle. “Wow, do you think someone in a similar position to mine did this to them, is that why you’re here?”

“Possibly. It’s an avenue we need to go down first and foremost. Did you have much to do with Colin?”

“No, not really. I mean, yes, he listened to my complaint and analysed it but he deemed the transaction was above board and that the crash of the companies I backed couldn’t have been foreseen. The usual jargon, I felt at the time.”

“It did nothing to quell the anger you felt, though?”

“Not really. I’ve since learned to live with it. Like I said, I’m the type to knuckle down and get on with making my next million. I’m a quarter of the way there already.” He glanced at his watch. “So, if you’ll excuse me, time is money and all that. Never a truer word spoken, I can tell you.”

“Okay, we’ll leave it there for now. We may have reason to revisit you in the future if we have any more queries for you.”

“Feel free. And for the record, I’m sorry they’re both dead. I wouldn’t want to wish that on anyone, no matter what I personally felt about them.”

“Good to hear. Thank you for sparing us the time. You can get back to making your fortune again now.”

“Thanks. I’ll do just that.”

He showed them out, walking them across the warehouse safely to their car. He then waved them off and turned towards the wagons being loaded.

“What do you think?” Katy slipped back into the car.

Charlie faced her. “Is this another test?”

Katy smiled. “If you want to call it that, yes.”

“I thought he was genuine enough. Did you notice the shock on his face when you revealed who the victims were?”

“I did. Therefore, I’m willing to cross him off our list of suspects after his alibi has been confirmed.”

They drove back to the station, pulling into the car park as Patrick and Stephen arrived.

“Hey, how did it go?” Katy asked.

Patrick shook his head. “Terrible. I mean, we were really compassionate when we told Colin’s wife that her husband wouldn’t be coming home, but she bloody melted down all the same. I don’t think either of us was prepared for her sorrowful reaction.” His eyes watered.

Katy patted his arm. “Sorry you guys had to deal with that. You never know how the grieving families are going to react.”

“Glad that task is usually down to you, that’s all I can say,” Patrick replied with a glimmer of a smile. “How’s the head?”

“The doctor gave me the all-clear to return to work, so let’s crack on.”

Patrick shot Charlie a look. “She did?”

“No, she didn’t. But Katy’s the boss. I’m not about to start telling her what’s right and wrong, I need this job.”

They all laughed and entered the building.

For the next hour, Katy and the team brought the whiteboard up to date and bounced around a few ideas. They listed Gordon Brightman as a possible suspect, then Katy had second thoughts and struck his name off the list again.

“That’s it. Not sure where we go from here until we get word back from the lab regarding any DNA or evidence likely found at the two locations, the murder scene of victim one, and the rooftop where I spotted the killer.”

“Where he attacked you, you mean,” Charlie corrected, shaking her head.

“All right, there’s no need to rub it in. I say we call it a day and pick things up again in the morning. Carry out all the background checks and scour the CCTV footage, to try and find something that might help us. The thing is, even if we manage to locate something, the killer wore a mask, I know that first-hand.”

“But he’ll have needed to have used a vehicle to get to the location,” Charlie piped up.

“True enough. One last thing, if any of you have contacts on the street, now would be a good time to get in touch with them. That weapon must have come from somewhere. All right, come on, pack up and get out of here.”

The rest of the team drifted off, leaving Katy and Charlie to switch off the lights.

On the way down the concrete stairs, Charlie said, “Do you need me to take you home?”

“No. You worry too much. I promise to take a leisurely ride home so I don’t put my brain under too much strain. I know that’ll be a novelty for me.”

Charlie snorted. “You’re nuts. You took two fair old whacks