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

half a million people currently online, accessing that site, so the stats boasted at the top of the screen, the figure forever updating, and invariably increasing. The twenty-first century, eh? He said aloud. What would his old Aunt Mimosa have made of that?

DAVID BAKER ARRIVED at Karen’s flat clutching a bottle of Australian chardonnay. He smiled his cute smile, a grin she couldn’t ignore, as they kissed in the hallway.

‘You’re not staying,’ she whispered.

‘I know.... so you said.’

‘Just as long as that is understood. Do you want a drink?’

‘Maybe a little one, I’m driving, and I don’t want to fall foul of the local law.’

‘Quite right too,’ she said, taking the bottle to the fridge. She set it inside and took out a half drunk cold one, and poured him a drink.

‘Ta,’ he said, taking it from her, as she sat on the sofa. She smelt nice, but she always did, expensive perfume, that was obvious, and even though she was dressed in ordinary grey slacks and a plain white cotton blouse, she still looked fab.

‘So,’ he said. ‘David Baker’s famous neck massage.’

‘Yes,’ she said, and she reached behind her and rubbed her slim neck. ‘Where do you want me?’

‘On the sofa, on your tum, and undo the top two buttons of your blouse.’

That made sense, as she assumed position; and he took hold of the blouse collar and gently tugged it back a tad, brushing her blonde hair to one side with his hand, exposing her porcelain like neck. He clapped his hands gently, rubbed his fingers together, crouched beside her, and set them to work.

‘Ooh, that’s lovely,’ she cooed. ‘Yes please.’

‘Good?’

‘Fantastic.’

‘I can tell you’re tense; your neck is not relaxed at all. Just relax, Miss Greenwood, let all your troubles float away. Relax.’

‘Yes, Mr Baker. Ooh, that’s so good, who taught you to do that?’

‘Can’t remember now. One of my many hidden talents.’

‘You have other talents, do you?’

‘Many.’

‘Such as?’

‘That would be telling.’

‘Do you mean in or out of the bedroom?’

‘Both,’ he said, grinning.

Karen giggled. He was good fun, that was undeniable, but he still had plenty of making up to do after he had let her down so badly last time.

‘Don’t stop,’ she said. ‘I could get used to this.’

They talked about her day, though not in any great detail, though he was very interested in everything she had to say, as he always was.

AN HOUR LATER, HE REFUSED a sandwich and another glass of wine; but insisted on another dinner date that Karen happily agreed to, and finally, he helped himself to a far more passionate and lengthy kiss in the hallway, and after that he was on his way, happier than he’d been when he’d arrived, and she was too, that much was obvious.

It was already after eleven and she was bushed. Went to bed, slept well, dreamt better, and got up early, refreshed and relaxed and ready for another busy and very long day. They were going to be so much more productive in the day ahead, she was confident of that. Sometimes great results could be achieved solely through positive thought; she was a great believer in such things. It had served her well in the past, it had served the whole team well on many occasions, and it would do so again. Bring it on.

Twenty-Three

No one had actually said to be in extra early, but everyone was there, not a single soul missing. Mrs West thanked them for their dedication, as the early morning briefing got under way. Walter growled, ‘Overnight reports?’ and Karen said, ‘Quite a few in, Guv.’

‘Well, let’s hear them.’

Jenny read out the toxicology report on Belinda Cooper. It showed that Bel had not been into illegal drugs, in fact she was totally clean, other than alcohol, and even that figure wasn’t overbad, considering she’d apparently dispatched a full bottle of white wine, unless she’d had company while doing so.

‘And one other thing, I could not find her on any dating site.’

‘No, neither could I,’ said Walter.

‘You looked, Guv, did you?’ said a grinning Gibbons.

‘Yes, I did, Darren, purely as research, you understand.’

Gibbons muttered, ‘If you say so, Guv,’ and then he read out the report on the scrapings of mud he and Hector has taken from Crocker’s mother’s old car. It was clear; leastways it was, so far as the ground at the foot of Marigold Lane was concerned. There was definitely no match. Jenny came back with a more detailed SOCO report on the greater Marigold Lane site.

‘There were a large number of footprints in the mud down there, and many of them were downgraded by the heavy rain, but nevertheless a number of recognisable footprints in more shaded positions, were recovered,’ and she pointed to the Hytec screen, ‘and as you can see, the vast majority of those were size 10.’

‘So,’ said Mrs West, ‘If we have a murder down there, and if the killer’s footprints have been recorded, we are saying he probably has size 10 boots.’

‘That’s about the size of it,’ said Jenny.

‘Two too many “ifs” for me,’ she said, coolly.

‘It’s not conclusive,’ agreed Walter. ‘But it might help us somewhere further down the track.’

Jenny switched tack and changed reports.

‘But there is a positive report. We did get DNA from Dorothy Wright for Ellie, and we did a comparison on the incapacitator, and the traces of blood thereon definitely belonged to Ellie Wright.’

‘Why would that be?’ asked Nicky Barr, coming to, after an unplanned late night.

‘Why would what be?’ said Walter.

‘Why is there blood on it?’

Karen jumped all over that.

‘Presumably because Miroslav Rekatic assaulted Ellie Wright with sufficient force to spill Ellie’s blood.’

‘I can’t see it,’ said Nicky, not yet willing to back down.

‘The luminol chemiluminescence can see it, and that’s good enough for me,’ said Walter.

‘I don’t mean that, Guv.’

‘So what do you mean?’ snapped Mrs West, becoming irritated that precious time was being wasted.

‘I don’t know,’ he said, scratching his head. ‘Seems odd, that’s all.’

‘It’s clear enough