Restless Dead (Harry Grimm Book 5) by David Gatward (english reading book TXT) 📗

how little any of them had been able to do to bring back his dad’s flock. And the worst of it was, Harry had a feeling that they’d never be able to, either. But he’d never say that.

‘Just had a message from him, actually,’ Jadyn said, a smile in his voice.

‘And what did it say?’

Jadyn lifted his phone up for Harry to see the screen.

‘That’s a picture of a cat,’ Harry said. ‘A cat wearing a face mask over its mouth.’

‘It’s Bane Cat,’ Jadyn laughed. ‘You know, as in Batman? And it’s a video, not a picture. Want to see? It’s properly funny, like!’

‘Bane Cat?’ Harry said. ‘Who or what is Bane Cat?’

Harry watched Jadyn’s face twist itself in confusion.

‘Well,’ Jadyn said, ‘you know the Dark Knight trilogy, right?’

‘No, can’t say that I do,’ Harry said.

‘It’s Batman, like I said.’

‘Yes, I’ve heard of Batman,’ Harry said. ‘But that’s not Batman, is it? It’s a cat. A cat in a muzzle.’

‘No, it’s Bane Cat,’ Jadyn said, and Harry noticed, much to his well-hidden amusement, that Jadyn had started to talk a little slower now, as though he was trying to explain something to someone who was either very, very young, or very, very old. ‘You see, in the third film in the Dark Knight trilogy, there’s this dude called Bane, played by Tom Hardy, and he wears this mask to give him constant pain relief for some trauma or something. Anyway, he talks in this very—’

Harry held up a hand to stop Jadyn from talking.

‘I think it’s only right to tell you now, Constable, that I’m not really listening to anything you’re saying. In fact, I think I’d stopped listening when you said “it’s Bane Cat.”’

‘So, you don’t want to watch the video of Bane Cat, then?’ Jadyn asked. ‘It’s proper funny, like!’

‘Not really, no,’ Harry said and made his way over to the kettle. ‘Don’t suppose we’ve got any more on what happened out at the farm? Any surprising little titbits of information from forensics?’

‘No,’ Jadyn said, putting away his phone. ‘We haven’t.’

‘Can’t say I’m surprised,’ Harry said with a heavy sigh. ‘Wasn’t really much for them back when it happened, was there? Not that it’s any consolation for Jim and his parents.’

‘That’s for sure,’ said another voice, joining in the conversation, as Matt walked in through the main door.

‘Well now, that’s a rare thing,’ Harry said, staring at the detective sergeant.

‘Is there?’ Matt asked, looking behind himself. ‘What?’

‘You, walking through that door, not carrying a paper bag full of pastries, cakes, and pies.’

Matt laughed and sat down opposite his boss, then reached into a jacket pocket.

‘You didn’t . . .’ Harry said.

Matt pulled his hand back out to reveal a paper bag.

‘Brownies.’ He winked. ‘Nice and gooey. Get the kettle on, Constable!’

Jadyn was over at the kettle in a heartbeat, grabbing three mugs from the cupboard.

‘You didn’t even know I was coming in,’ Harry said, shaking his head in fake dismay.

‘And who’s to say that there’s enough here for either of you, anyway, eh?’ Matt asked.

Leaving Jadyn to make the tea, Harry said, ‘Wish we had more to go on with what happened over at Jim’s farm. Can’t help feeling we missed something, but I can’t see what. There was nothing there to find and that’s all we’ve got, isn’t it? Nothing.’

‘You’re not the only one,’ Matt sighed.

Harry was silent for a moment, thoughtful. Then he said, ‘We’ve not even done a board for it, that’s how little we have.’

Jadyn whipped around from squeezing tea bags. ‘You want me to do a board, Boss? I can, it’s not a problem at all. Happy to, in fact. And it might help, right?’

Before Harry could say anything, the police constable was at the board, wiping it clean of some old notes from a previous meeting, and had a red pen poised and ready.

‘That’s not exactly what I was saying,’ said Harry. ‘I’m not even sure it’ll do much good.’

‘It might,’ Matt said, then looked to Jadyn. ‘Get our heads together on it? Why not? Brews first though, eh?’

Jadyn grabbed the tea, then was back at the board. Harry watched as the young police constable went to write something, then paused, the end of the pen stuck in his mouth like a lollypop.

‘Something wrong, Officer Okri?’ Harry asked. ‘This isn’t an art class and we’re not expecting you to create a masterpiece, I assure you.’

‘Just wondering what to call it,’ Jadyn said. ‘I mean, is it Jim’s Farm, or Metcalf Farm? Or do I put Sheep Rustling? No, wait, what about, The Sheep Rustlers?’

‘You can’t call it that!’ Matt said, shaking his head. ‘You’re not writing a Western starring Clint Eastwood, are you, lad?’

‘What about Jim’s Case?’ Jadyn asked.

Harry rubbed his eyes, not tired exactly, but just on the edge of weary. ‘Put whatever you want,’ he said, ‘but do it quickly, so we can get on!’

Jadyn waited a moment, then wrote ‘Sheep Theft’ on the board.

‘There now, that wasn’t so complicated, was it?’ said Harry.

‘Details then,’ said Matt, watching as Jadyn started to take notes. ‘We’ve got fifty sheep gone from the farm.’

‘Taken at some point either very late Monday night or very early Tuesday morning,’ Harry added. ‘Because they wouldn’t have risked being spotted. Jim’s parents were in bed, Jim was out having a few beers.’

‘And they came up through the fields from the main road at the bottom of the hill,’ Jadyn said, and Harry heard excitement in the young officer’s voice. He was clearly enjoying himself. And it was nice to see, as well. Not that Jadyn was ever anything other than happy and enthusiastic, it seemed. In many ways, Harry thought, he was rather similar to Jim’s dog, Fly, though not as furry, and he didn’t lick you when he was happy or wanted attention. And he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t drop to the floor to roll onto his back and ask for a tummy rub either.

‘We cordoned off the layby down there,’ Matt said.