The Inspector Walter Darriteau Murder Mysteries - Books 1-4 by David Carter (best finance books of all time .txt) 📕

least was something, thought Walter, for he knew that Mrs West was bound to find out about the whole sorry business sooner or later, and it would be better, marginally better, if it came from him, and soon.

‘I’ll get my team on it.’

‘You do that; just don’t go public. Understand?’

Walter grunted.

‘Got your exey’s chit by the way.’

‘And?’

‘Fucking ridiculous, if you ask me.’

‘It was only actual costs incurred.’

‘Yeah, thought you’d say that, signed it off for payment, anyhow.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Don’t mention it, just find Jessica Stone. You tell me the moment you unearth something, understand?’

‘I hear you.’

‘Good! Seems like the Twelfth Apostle is not dead yet after all,’ and with that DCS Melvin Leslie Wortley was gone.

WALTER WENT BACK TO the general office and sat down. Karen was talking to someone on the phone about Sadie. When she’d finished Walter said, ‘Anything new.’

‘Not yet.’

‘Have you spoken to Mrs West yet about Kit Contrick?’

‘No! And if you call him that in public I might have to sue you.’

Walter grinned and said, ‘You could try.’

‘And I’d win.’

‘Debateable. How’s it going anyway?’

‘Unbelievable, Guv. I’ve already signed up two new people, don’t suppose you’d be interested?’

‘Pass.’

‘And with some book sales and course sales I’m starting to believe it could really work.’

‘The fool and his money, Greenwood.’

‘Her money...’

‘It’s all the same. Anyway, I have to speak to Mrs West about something, I’ll fix up an appointment for you to see her later.’

‘Thanks, Guv, thanks a bunch.’

Walter stood up and limped across the office and tapped on Mrs West’s ajar door. She glanced up and saw his bulky shadow lurking in the doorway, threatening her domain, and she knew who it was, and removed her pink trendy spectacles and set them down on the desk.

‘Walter?’ she cooed.

Walter pushed the door open and bobbed his head and nodded down.

‘Ma’am?’

She’d been busy writing yet another report, not a staff appraisal job for once, but her take on the staff’s safety and well being, taking into account the recent fire drill and evacuation procedure. Fact was, she had been giggling, something she rarely did, but for some reason the picture of her staff queued up outside in the rain clutching vitally important records and paperwork saved from the blaze, only for Gibbons to produce cheese sandwiches, deemed to be the most valuable thing in the office, well, that had tickled her fancy.

‘Why is it, Walter, that when you come stealthily to my office in this way with that hangdog look on your face and your tail obviously between your legs, I just know that you’re in trouble?’

‘Not trouble, exactly, ma’am.’

‘Come in, sit down, spit it out!’

Walter entered her large office, it wasn’t his favourite territory, and slumped into the visitor chair set before her desk, a chair used more often than not for pep ups and dressing downs.’

‘When you were away, ma’am...’

‘Yes, Walter, Yes?’

He took a big breath and told her all about it. Everything he knew, and when he’d finished she put her pink specs back on and peered across the desk and said, ‘So what have we got here, exactly?’

Walter went to speak, but she held up her hand.

‘A dead Oriental girl, dumped outside the swimming baths like a sack of rotten potatoes, a missing supermodel who has been bunking down at your place, a girl who just happens to be the star witness to potentially the biggest criminal case of the year, a police officer, one of our own, shot dead in your fucking house, and a senior officer from Witness Protection, who, unbeknown to me, has been ordering my staff around?’

Walter could never remember Mrs West swearing before, that was a first. He bobbed his head and said, ‘That’s about the size of it, ma’am.’

‘God, give me strength! And are we supposed to be investigating the death of a police officer on my patch?’

‘No, ma’am. Their officer, they have dealt with that matter, D7 business and all that, they’ve tidied that up, the only thing DCS Wortley wants is help in finding the girl.’

‘I’m not happy about this, Walter.’

‘Sorry ma’am, but I was expressly ordered not to divulge a thing.’

‘That would not include me!’

‘Sorry, ma’am.’

‘Have you got this DCS Wortley’s number?’

‘Ma’am,’ and he reeled it off as best as he could remember.

‘The Chief Constable is going to have to be told about this.’

‘Whatever you think best, ma’am.’

‘Do the others know anything?’

‘Not about Jessica...’

‘Jessica, is it?’

‘Well, not about Cliffe’s murder, and not about Jessica’s abduction either, but I did ask them what they knew about her in general, that’s all.’

‘And what did they know?’

‘Not a lot.’

She took her glasses off again and slapped them down on her notepad.

‘I want you to find the killer of the Oriental girl first. Is that clear? That’s the priority.’

‘Yes, ma’am. We’re working away on that now.’

‘I’ll have a word with Wortley and give him a piece of my mind, and not a very pleasant piece it will be either!’

‘Whatever you think best, ma’am.’

She glared across the desk. ‘Is that it?’

‘I want to tell the team what’s happened, bring them up to speed.’

‘If you must.’

‘And Karen, DS Greenwood, she needs to talk to you about another small matter.’

Mrs West blew out. ‘She’s not pregnant, is she?’

‘No, nothing like that. God, I hope not. She’ll tell you herself.’

‘Not more dark secrets of operations about which I am totally unaware?’

‘Nothing like that, ma’am. No.’

She pursed her lips and nodded fitfully like his old teacher used to do when Walter failed to spell “received” correctly in grammar school a couple of centuries before, and she said, ‘Well don’t sit there like a pissed pumpkin, on your way, man!’

Another incidence of language he had never heard uttered from her thin lips before. Maybe she’d had a crap holiday. Walter eased from the chair as Mrs West said, ‘Send Karen in!’ and as Walter made to close the door behind him she said, ‘And Walter?’

‘Ma’am?’

‘Tell Gibbons he’s a plonker!’

‘I think he knows that, ma’am.’

‘Good! Shut the door.’

Walter closed the door and limped away.

Mrs West grinned and giggled.