Syn (The Merseyside Crime Series Book 2) - Malcolm Hollingdrake (world of reading TXT) 📗

was Lloyd who suggested they take a walk. ‘I fancy a flutter on the penny slots!’ His face beamed as he said it. ‘Silcock’s Funland down by the pier, I need a bit of light relief in my life! Some gambling! Let’s go wild and be free!’

Carlos laughed out loud. ‘Penny, Lloyd? When did you last put anything less than ten pence in one of the slots at Silcock’s?’

It brought a strange reaction from Lloyd who moved away, his expression changing immediately as he scowled.

Carlos, realising his words sounded rude and crude, tried to swallow them back as soon as he had uttered them. ‘Sorry, that didn’t come out like I meant it to, but you know what I mean.’ He laughed hoping to bring the smile back to his new friend’s face.

Lloyd laughed loudly. ‘I know. How about we say, “in for a penny, in for a pound”?’

Carlos nodded and they set off down Coronation Walk. Within minutes they approached the covered Gallopers Carousel standing outside the amusement hall; it was busy. Myriad lights sparkled and flashed, a siren to the carefree and the foolish. They stood and admired the painted carousel. The beautiful, colourful horses were still visible but were now trapped behind the steel mesh for the evening. Lloyd noticed the camera protruding from the amusement building roof that was focused just on the fairground ride. He turned and grabbed Carlos.

‘Smile, you’re on camera!’ They both looked up, posing.

‘Cheese,’ Carlos responded before turning to point towards a bronze male figure atop a column, who looked as if he was about to dive into a pool. On closer inspection, he realised the diver had only one leg. He wore a helmet of sorts and an old-fashioned bathing suit. ‘I’ve seen this statue so often but I’ve never studied it. One leg! See, I hadn’t noticed that.’

‘Let’s not go in and gamble away our ill-gotten gains, let’s just walk and I’ll tell you all about this character.’ Lloyd pointed to the diver. ‘It might be apocryphal but you’ll love the tale. What do you say?’

Carlos nodded his agreement. ‘Apocryphal? Sorry but you’ve lost me already.’

Lloyd slipped an arm into the crook of his elbow and moved him along turning back the way they had come but dropping down towards the privacy of the lower promenade.

‘Apocryphal, Carlos? Tonight, my friend, I might just be telling you a whole pack of lies!’ He glanced sideways searching for a reaction but none was forthcoming. ‘That man, my dear boy, is allegedly Professor Gadsby. Now what do you know about the one-legged pier divers?’

Carlos laughed out loud. ‘Like the word apocryphal, I know absolutely nothing, but I feel I’m going to find out and have my leg pulled anytime soon.’

He had been listening but Lloyd wondered if at all he had been heeding.

April,

I hope your evening was as profitable as mine. I did enjoy the files but whether a miracle has been performed is for you to decide. If so, I shall expect to see an increase in my monthly salary! All has been updated.

You need to speak to Taylor and Gaskell about the parties held at the apartment. They both appear in the photographs but they were never at the same party. I’ve organised the pictures to show the different dates. When they were present, they seem to be chatting to many of the guests but I can’t find one picture that includes both men. Secondly, when we do see them, both are observed using their phones as a camera and we’ve not requested those images. I’ve taken the liberty of submitting the request. To ensure co-operation, I’ve organised for officers to ‘read’, I think that’s the terminology, their phones early tomorrow in the hope we can prevent the deletion of any content. We might be too late for that … we’ll see.

We also have our missing man; the one spotted at the back of the group shots taken around town. He’s in one picture where we can see a clear side profile, and in some others too, but they’re rear head shots. The hair, however, is of interest as it clearly shows signs of premature male patterned baldness. I’m aware some people have a skill of avoiding being captured on film, my wife has it. I feel that like her, he’s such a person. However, that clearly contradicts the fact that he openly sat and watched photographs being taken of the group and I suggest he’d have known that his face would be captured. Whether he thought we would go to such lengths in analysing the images is another matter.

Finally, did some checking at Jaguar regarding Trevor Thomas. He resigned. He wasn’t sacked. He’d had mental issues since his mother was diagnosed and found it hard to concentrate and then it was impossible for him to leave her. He became her part-time carer. He’d taken a good deal of leave on compassionate grounds by the time of her death. They had told him he was welcome to return to work when he could meet the demands of the job. I’ve attached the contact details of an Emma Barnes with whom I spoke last night.

I’ll leave that with you.

Michael

Chapter 23

Walking away from the pier, the privacy and emptiness of the lower promenade suddenly became apparent and Brian suddenly felt vulnerable and frightened for the first time. He realised Lloyd had directed the whole evening and he had followed. For some strange reason the nursery rhyme flooded his mind: ‘Would you walk into my parlour?’ said the spider to the fly. He stopped walking.

‘Are you alright, Carlos? You’ve gone very quiet.’

His words were calm and reassuring. His smile diffused the sense of danger.

‘I’m fine. I could kill a coffee.’

‘You are dying for a coffee? So, coffee it will be. As we walk let me finish the tale. Our man on the pole was a pier diver. After the First World War there were a number of amputees. Some bright spark