Dig Two Graves by James Harper (best inspirational books txt) 📕

‘The night there was a fight? More like a scuffle, I suppose.’

‘That’s right.’

Evan worked an incredulous look onto his face.

‘You came all this way just to talk to me about that? Surely it’s out of your jurisdiction?’

O’Brien found it harder to coax a smile onto his face this time, the patience-wearing-thin look on it too well embedded. As if he already suspected Evan was being deliberately obtuse.

‘No. I wanted to talk to you about the woman you were with.’

‘Kate Guillory? What’s she done now?’

If he’d been O’Brien, he’d have arrested him on the spot for wasting police time. Or being an idiot in a public place. Except if that were a crime, Guillory would’ve said he wouldn’t see the light of day very often. O’Brien’s voice was more strained when he spoke again.

‘No. The other woman you were talking to immediately before the fight broke out. Arabella Carlson.’

‘Bella, you mean?’

‘Yes, Bella.’

Evan shook his head, a look of regret dragging his face down.

‘Sorry. I only spoke to her for a couple minutes. I never met her before.’

At this point he wished he hadn’t told O’Brien that he’d been in Boston the previous day. He guessed O’Brien believed in coincidence about as much as he did. Which he now proved.

‘So that’s not why you were in Boston yesterday?’ Before Evan had a chance to reply, he raised a long thick finger that looked as if it would do serious damage to wherever he chose to poke it. ‘I’d think carefully before answering that.’

He leaned back, crossed his arms. Let the threat hang in the air between them.

‘How about you tell me what this is about first?’

‘How about we continue this at the local police precinct?’

‘Sounds good to me.’ He pulled out his phone, held it towards O’Brien. ‘Detective Kate Guillory is speed dial number one. Give her a call, ask her to get an interview room ready. No sugar in my coffee.’

They stared at each other, O’Brien making no move to take the phone, Evan hoping Guillory’s reply to his text didn’t come in now. Then O’Brien held up his hands.

‘Okay. Let’s back up a bit.’

Evan slipped the phone into his pocket, leaned away to mirror O’Brien’s pose.

‘I’m all ears.’

O’Brien looked like he wanted to suggest something else he was, kept it to himself.

‘We want to talk to Arabella Carlson. We followed her to the Jerusalem Tavern. I was waiting for her to finish talking to you and then I was going to approach her. Then the fight started and she ran out the back door. I went after her but I lost her. By the time I got back you were gone.’

‘What time was that?’

‘I don’t remember. But I was only outside for a minute or two before I gave up and came back inside.’

Evan thought about it. He’d followed Guillory out onto the sidewalk as she chased the two men who’d been fighting and the man with the knife. How long had they stayed outside? Two or three minutes? It was possible O’Brien had come back during that window.

‘And that’s when you asked Kieran about me?’

‘No. It only struck me the next day that they might know you in there. I was hoping you’ve got a way of getting in touch with her.’

‘I just told you. I never met her before. But it’s possible I can help you if you tell me why you want to talk to her.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘You’ll have to make it quick.’

O’Brien did his best to keep the scowl off his face and the resentment out of his voice when he spoke.

‘We’re investigating a complaint that Ms Carlson has been stalking somebody.’

‘Who?’

O’Brien hesitated. Evan glanced at his watch again.

‘Gerald Bloodwell. He’s an extremely wealthy man . . .’

Evan tuned him out as he droned on about Bloodwell’s company and what an important man its founder was, his mind awash with the connections and implications. Blair had told him about the bitter rivalry between Bloodwell and her father, Thomas Carlson. Had Carlson’s other daughter, Arabella, come home to take up that fight on behalf of her ailing father, take it to a new and bloodier level?

‘That doesn’t sound like such a big deal. Has she attacked him?’

‘No. Not yet.’

‘And you’ve come all the way from Boston? I know Bloodwell’s an important guy, but there must be more to it.’

He felt like a fisherman who’d cast his lure to where he’d seen a big fish roll, breathing on hold, willing it to bite.

‘There is. Twenty-five years ago, Mr Bloodwell’s son, who also happened to be Ms Carlson’s brother-in-law, died in suspicious circumstances. At the time the Boston PD were very interested to speak to her about that death. I don’t want to go into too much detail but it had something to do with her father’s will. There was a lot of money at stake. However, she disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. Now she’s resurfaced and we still want to talk to her. In light of her brother-in-law’s death and the current stalking complaint, it appears she’s got a problem with the Bloodwell family. A big problem.’

Evan’s mind went spinning out of control. What O’Brien was telling him partially answered a lot of the questions his discussion with Blair had not. How her husband had died. And the reason Bella disappeared. Except Bella’s being involved in Blair’s husband’s death was not consistent with Blair’s reaction to the photograph of her and her sister. Then O’Brien unwittingly answered a few more of his questions.

‘We believe she’s dangerous. She has a history of mental illness. She spent some of the time she was missing in a mental institution in the UK. Before she disappeared, she was in the Marine Corps but was discharged on mental health grounds.’

Now Evan felt as if he was drowning in answers. None of them were anything he wanted to hear. All of them raised more questions. He understood now the reason he’d felt that