Death's Cold Hand by J.E. Mayhew (kiss me liar novel english txt) 📗

Otherwise, interruptions aren’t very helpful.”

Kinnear continued. “What kind of leaves did it have? Small? Large? Was it a thick bush, or just twigs?”

Bobby glanced over at his father who nodded. “A thick bush with small leaves.”

“And you crouched behind this, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. What did you see?”

“Two guys dressed in black. They had hoodies on and scarves over their faces so I couldn’t really see them. I could hear them, though and they were shouting that ‘Ally Akbat’ thing they shout, you know.”

“I see,” Kath said, grimacing. “Do you mean ‘Allahu Akbar’ Bobby? What were they doing while they shouted this?”

“They were hitting him with baseball bats…”

“How many baseball bats? Did they have one each?”

“Yeah. That Travis guy was on the steps. I mean he must have been dead already, but they kept on hitting him and shouting…”

“Then what happened?”

“I kept hidden and they ran off but they left the bats behind…”

“Both bats were on the ground?” Kath said, scribbling a note. She noticed Lex’s leg bouncing up and down, he was getting agitated. He could see she was going to tie Bobby in knots any minute.

“Yeah.”

“Which way did they go, Bobby?” Kinnear said, pulling Bobby’s focus from Kath.

“Up the road past the garden centre. I think they might have been going to the station.”

“It’s possible, I suppose,” Kinnear said with a smile. “What did you do then?”

“When they’d gone, I sneaked out and went to have a look.”

“And what did you see?”

Bobby paled. “Loads of blood,” he whispered. “Loads. It was horrible. Anyway, I picked up the baseball bat and ran.”

“Why did you pick up the bat? Bobby?”

“I dunno,” Bobby said. “It was just kind of… cool, you know? Like it had been used for a murder.” He lowered his head. “That sounds a bit sick, doesn’t it? Sorry.”

“See?” Lex said, his voice a threatening rumble. “He’s telling the truth.”

“Oh I believe some of it, Mr Price,” Kath said. “Have you got the tablet, Andrew?”

Kinnear produced an iPad with Google maps already loaded up. “So you say you were here Bobby, yeah?” Kinnear pointed at the spot on the map.

“He’s already said that,” Lex muttered.

“Yeah,” Bobby said.

“The trouble is, Bobby, look,” Kinnear said, holding up the streetview of the memorial area. “There’re no bushes on the side of the road. In fact, the wall that hems in the gardens there is so low, you’d have had a real job hiding behind it at all.”

“Maybe he was mistaken,” Lex said.

“Bobby was very clear about the type of hedge, Mr Price and I’ll say it again, if you think I’m overstepping the mark, just say but otherwise, could you let Bobby answer? So, where were you hiding, Bobby?”

Bobby looked down. “I dunno, do I?”

“Okay, mate. Don’t worry,” Kinnear said in a soothing voice. “We’re just trying to get a full picture of what actually happened that night.”

“So, the other problem I have is that from where you say you were hiding, Bobby, you wouldn’t have been able to see a thing.”

“What?” Bobby looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming juggernaut.

“Paul Travis was found dead on the opposite side of the memorial to your alleged hiding place. If you’d been there, you wouldn’t have seen anything, would you?”

“That’s it, let’s go,” Lex Price said. “I knew this would happen. You lot just don’t want to face the truth. This country’s under attack and you’re letting it happen…”

Bobby didn’t move. “I didn’t see nothing,” he muttered.

“What, Bobby?” Kinnear said.

“I said I didn’t see nothing. I was pissed, wasn’t I? I’d been sitting by the Art Gallery and walked down to the memorial. I found Travis lying there already dead. I took the baseball bat. I dunno why. I’d had a skinful.”

“Bloody hell, son!” Lex hissed and stormed out of the room.

“I-I’m sorry,” Bobby said. “Dad said it was probably Muslims or something and I went along with him. I didn’t mean it. I just wanted to say the right thing for him.”

Kath rubbed her forehead. “You know what perverting the course of justice means, don’t you, Bobby?”

Bobby’s eyes widened. “I’m not a pervert, honest!”

“No, but you’re in big trouble, now.”

“Wait, I do remember something and I’m not making this up. When I was walking down from the Art Gallery and there was a woman running towards me. She bashed into me, like. Sent me flying but didn’t stop.”

“What time was this, Bobby?”

“Dunno. Maybe round midnight, something like that. I didn’t get a good look at her, but she was in a real hurry.”

Chapter 32

A sense of quiet desperation gripped the Major Incident Room. Some people were tapping away at computers, other staring at screens as though willpower alone could force the solution to the case to appear before them.

DI Kath Cryer, DS Vikki Chinn, DC Kinnear and DC Manikas all sat around Blake’s desk, updating him on the scant progress they’d made. “It looks like Terry White managed to get away from the search teams around the crime scene, sir,” Alex Manikas said. “It’s like he’s vanished. The only thing I can think is that he was given a lift.”

“He could be anywhere, then,” Blake murmured. “What about Bobby Price’s ISIS invasion?”

“Popped that particular balloon, boss,” Kath said, “but Bobby reckons he encountered a woman running away from the scene about midnight. I believe him. Thing is, she’d have been running in the direction of Travis’s house.”

“D’you think it could be his wife, Ma’am?” Kinnear said.

“He described her as being tall. Rachel Travis is short,” Kath said.

“Plus, I can’t see how she’d be involved in the murder of Ufford or Ince. It keeps coming back to Terry White. We’ve just got to find him,” Blake said, tapping his pen on the desk. “But it might be worth getting Tasha Cook to check with Rachel, discreetly. This woman might have witnessed something. Put a request out to the public and reassure anyone who might be afraid of coming forward, especially if they think it’s terror related.”

“Do you think he’s likely to strike