Death's Cold Hand by J.E. Mayhew (good romance books to read txt) 📕

Vikki looked shocked. “Who leaves a Jammy Dodger behind?”

“I know! I nearly had it myself, but I thought, ‘No Madge, that Andrew Kinnear is going to be a dad. He’ll need to keep his strength up.’”

“Okay,” Vikki said, taking the plate.

Madge gripped it and looked at Vikki with a steely gaze. “They’re for Andrew. Don’t you go munching them all.”

“Madge! What do you take me for?” The plate was released, and Vikki placed it on her desk. “I’ll put them on his desk just as soon as I’ve done this.”

“Make sure you do,” Madge said, giving Vikki a stern look.

Vikki watched her leave and then bit into the Jammy Dodger, whilst dialling Nicola Norton’s number. She was doing the poor man a favour, the women down on Reception seemed to be hellbent on feeding him up.

“Hello, Nicola Norton. How can I help?”

Vikki almost choked on the biscuit. From the slickness of the website, she’d half expected some kind of secretary to filter Norton’s calls. “Hi, my name’s Detective Sergeant Vikki Chinn of Merseyside Police. I wondered if it would be possible to chat with you…”

“Is this about Paul Travis?”

“Not exactly, I was reviewing the case of Richard Ince and wondered if I could pick your brains about it.”

“Richard Ince. I see. Gosh. That was about six months ago, I’ll try my best to remember. Fire away.”

“Thanks. You told the investigating officers that you were saddened by the news of Ince’s death but not surprised. Can you just elaborate on that for me a little?”

Nicola Norton gave a sad sigh. “On the face of it, Richard was a cheerful, fun-loving guy but like a lot of young men I meet, he put on a front. He was actually full of guilt and anxiety…”

“Why did he feel guilty?”

“For surviving,” Norton said. “He’d been in a number of close calls in Afghanistan and lost mates there. He blamed himself. He thought better men than him had died.”

“That must have been difficult for him…”

“Understatement of the year. Just to keep going every day, to get up for work and not let the whole thing consume him required a Herculean effort. In the end, it got him. He was strong to have lasted as long as he did.”

“Did you share your concerns with anyone else?”

“I wrote to his GP, with Richard’s permission. He increased his medication, and I was meeting him regularly through Pro-Vets for talking therapy. We weren’t aware that he was taking heroin but then that isn’t something people often reveal willingly unless it’s got them into some kind of trouble. Oh, I also instituted a buddy system, whereby Richard could talk to someone who had been through the same kind of experience. I don’t think we can imagine half of what some servicemen experience in the line of duty, Sergeant, I’m sure you can appreciate that.”

“Absolutely,” Vikki said. “And who was it that you teamed him up with?”

“I can’t recall off the top of my head, Sergeant,” Nicola said, her voice faltering slightly. “It was a few months ago and I’ve worked with so many other people since.”

“Did you keep a record of who it was, by any chance?” Vikki said. “It might be very useful…”

“Is there some suspicion around Richard’s death, Sergeant?” Nicola sounded worried. “I mean, as far as I remember, he left a suicide note. The previous investigating officer said it was pretty conclusive.”

“No, it’s just that I don’t recall seeing any mention of a buddy system being set up in our records and it’s important to ensure thoroughness even in what appears to be an open and shut case.”

“Right,” Norton said. “I see.”

“So, would that be possible?”

“Would what be possible?”

“For you to consult the notes and call me back? I want to progress this case as quickly as possible,” Vikki said, trying to reassure Norton.

“Yes, yes of course.”

“Should I call you or you call me?” Vikki said, pushing her luck.

“I’ll call,” Nicola said, sounding deflated. “I’m sorry, Sergeant, obviously, with the terrible news about Paul, I’m feeling a little raw and now you’re dredging up memories of Richard Ince. You’ll have to forgive me.”

“Completely understandable,” Vikki said. “You knew Paul well then?”

“Professionally,” Nicola said. “He hired me to do the counselling a couple of years ago, so we got to know each other. He was a good man. I can’t quite believe what’s happened to him. His poor family…”

“Indeed,” Vikki said. “Did Paul have any enemies?”

“Not that I’m aware of, Sergeant. My interactions with Paul Travis were on a business level, apart from the odd casual conversation before or after meetings. If someone did want to harm him, he never confided in me.”

“And you never noticed any kind of tension at Pro-Vets at all? No atmosphere between any individuals?”

“Not really. It’s a friendly place to work on the whole.”

“But not always?”

“It’s just that there was a bit of tension between George and Paul sometimes,” Nicola said.

“How do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing much. Paul called me in to coach a couple of lads and George made a fuss about the cost. It was well known that they argued about stuff like that. George was always watching the money and Paul was always trying to find ways to spend it.”

“Was it serious, do you think?”

“I honestly don’t know, Sergeant. Listen, I’m a little uncomfortable talking about this. I hardly knew Paul and I thought you rang me to talk about Richard Ince,” Nicola said, a hint of anxiety in her voice.

“Forgive me, Ms Norton, you’re quite right. I’m just covering both cases. I’ll leave it there. If you could call me back with the name of the buddy assigned to Richard, that would be great.” They said their goodbyes and Vikki hung up, frowning. “So Paul and George had their differences but where does Richard fit in?” Vikki said to the dead phone.

*****

There comes a time in your life when you have to acknowledge that you just aren’t going to outrun a seventeen-year-old, even if he spends most