When the Evil Waits by M Lee (top fiction books of all time txt) 📕

‘Still here, Emily? Claire Trent has you working late.’

‘Nearly finished, boss. It’s real no-brainer stuff. Tedious.’

She crossed her fingers, hoping he wouldn’t look at her screen.

‘Nothing is tedious if it helps solve a crime. What are you working on?’

He leant in to check her screen. As he did, she could smell his eau de cologne – it was a heavy, woody smell, like the air after bonfire night.

Luckily, her screen now displayed a long list of map coordinates and numbers.

‘She’s got me logging CCTV locations, boss. She’s been asked to provide an up-to-date assessment for the ACC.’

He stretched his neck, turning his head as he did so. ‘You’re right, it is tedious. You’d better be off home, though, it’s been a long day.’

‘Just going, boss,’ she said, logging off her computer.

‘You need to let me know what you’re working on in future, Emily. I checked the log sheets and there’s nothing down.’

‘Sorry, boss, forgot to do the time sheet.’

‘Don’t forget to do them, they’re important. They allow us to see which detectives are busy and which ones are no longer needed in the organisation. They are telling me we’re overstaffed at the moment.’

‘Who’s they, boss?’

He pointed up towards the ceiling. ‘Always looking for savings, aren’t they. So do let me know what you’re doing, won’t you?’

‘Of course,’ she said brightly.

He turned and sauntered back to the office.

The man was a total arse, thought Emily, but an arse who held her future in his hands. ‘I hope Ridpath knows what he’s doing,’ she said out loud.

Chapter 37

After interviewing Irene McMurdo, Ridpath returned home to his empty house. Polly was nowhere to be seen. Or heard. Or felt.

He made himself a sandwich and sat down to FaceTime Eve.

‘Hiya, Dad,’ she whispered.

‘Sorry I missed you last night, I was working.’

‘I guessed,’ she whispered again.

‘Can you speak up? I can hardly hear you.’

‘I don’t want Paw Paw to hear. She thinks I’m asleep.’

Ridpath checked the clock. Where had the time gone?

He had walked the streets after the interview, going over the case again and again in his mind, her final words echoing in his head. ‘He’s evil, evil.’

‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’

‘No, no… Dad, let’s talk now, she won’t mind.’ A pause while she checked her bedroom door. ‘I got your message last night. Sounds like you’re busy.’

‘I am. This case, it’s full of problems.’

‘I know you can’t tell me, but I hope you find him, the man who did it. I spoke with my friends and they’re all scared.’

‘Tell them to be careful at the moment. Don’t talk to strangers and definitely don’t accept lifts from strangers. And always stick together, don’t go off on your own.’

‘You sound worried, Dad.’

Ridpath thought of the criminal profiler’s report. ‘Just be careful, OK?’

‘Will do, I’ll tell my friends. Have you thought about what we talked about?’

Ridpath tried to remember. ‘Yes,’ he answered noncommittally.

‘And?’

‘And I need more time to think.’

‘Dad, I need to move back home soon. Granny is driving me crazy. She wouldn’t let me go out tonight to meet my friends. All she says is “Bad men, bad men”, over and over again. I can’t take it any more.’

‘You can come home soon, dear, as soon as I finish this case.’

‘You promise?’

Ridpath closed his eyes. Could he promise his daughter? Or would he let her down again? ‘I promise,’ he finally said.

A deep, commanding voice from the screen. Eve raised her head and spoke Cantonese. ‘Ho lah, ho lah. Ngo jiu fan gau lah.’

He always loved it that his daughter could switch languages so easily.

‘I have to go to sleep now, Dad, orders from the Granny Dragon.’

‘OK, sleep tight, sweet pea.’

‘Remember your promise, Dad. When the case is over, I can move to live with you.’

‘I remember, Eve. Sleep well and take care.’

The screen faded to black.

Ridpath was left alone in the apartment. On the wall above the television a clock ticked loudly, counting down the hours. Outside the window, Manchester was quiet as the last rays of summer sank beneath the rooftops.

Ridpath rubbed his eyes. He knew he couldn’t break his promise to her again.

Not again.

Chapter 38

He wanted to go hunting again.

He needed to go hunting again.

They were talking to him, the voices from the cellar.

It was time to hurt the boys again.

He hummed his little ditty as he prepared his mother’s cocoa, adding the diazepam to sweeten it.

One day soon, she could sleep forever.

Sleeping Beauty or Sleeping Ugly?

He knew which he would pick.

On the Fourth Day

Friday, August 7

Chapter 39

They met at the Coroner’s Court the following morning.

Chrissy was late as usual, but still wearing her City scarf, while Emily Parkinson had used her own car to drive to Stockfield. Her aching legs couldn’t pedal another yard.

‘Right, Emily, why don’t you start?’

‘I biked around the area near the park looking for CCTV and found quite a lot. I then cross-referenced the locations with those already checked by Turnbull’s team…’

‘And?’

‘There are a few his team didn’t find. I’ll visit them after this meeting.’

‘Great. We need some CCTV, Em.’

‘The techies are working on Daniel’s phone to give us location timings. They should get back to me soon.’

‘Even better, well done.’

‘You owe me a new pair of calves, Ridpath.’

‘Sorry, but it had to be done. Did you check the interviews with the fairground people yet?’

‘Sorry, no time, I’ll do it when I go back to HQ.’

Ridpath nodded and thought for a moment before saying, ‘Yesterday, we had a chat with Michael Carsley and the boy, Daniel. It strikes me there was something they were both hiding.’

‘What do you think it was?’ asked Chrissy.

‘I don’t know, but Mrs Carsley – Irene McMurdo as she calls herself now – was scared of Carsley. So scared she didn’t want to go to her own child’s funeral. Chrissy, did you check up on him? Anything in his past.’

‘I got onto a friend at Police Scotland. Apparently, three years ago, Carsley was charged with assaulting his line manager at a warehouse in Falkirk. Eventually, the line manager withdrew the