Whisper For The Reaper by Jack Gatland (best book series to read TXT) 📕

the CCTV cameras as he entered the pub, walking into the main bar and then storming over to Ilse’s table to confront her.

‘Declan,’ the voice down the phone replied.

‘Guv, you need to get here as fast as you can,’ Billy said, watching the scene on the screen. ‘Karl Schnitter’s just turned up in the main bar.’

‘That’s impossible,’ Declan replied down the line. ‘Karl’s in hospital, and they’re keeping him in until the weekend.’

‘Well then, he’s discharged himself,’ Billy was rising, half tempted to run to the bar in case something violent was about to happen; after all, there was a good chance that either Ilse or her brother had tried to hang Karl the previous day. ‘It’s definitely him, Guv. He’s in the pub, he’s angry as hell, and he’s confronting Ilse Müller.’

Declan swore an expletive down the line and disconnected the call. Billy hovered by the laptop for a moment, unsure what he should do; Declan could be a way away, Doctor Marcos and Joanna Davey were in Maidenhead, Anjli was with the Viking and the Guv was in Berlin. He was the only one who could defuse this.

‘Ah, crap,’ he muttered as he ran to the door. ‘He’d better not have a bloody gun. I’m sick of bloody guns.’

20

Javert / Valjean

Declan had been outside Karl Schnitter’s garage when Billy had called; he’d been patrolling the back of the building, checking for broken spots in the chain-link fence that could have allowed a potential murderer to escape. He wanted to examine the back corridor of the garage again, to see if anything else was there that was connected to his father, or indeed the case against Hauptmann Müller. He’d checked Karl’s office too, working through the file drawers, searching for something, anything that could give him some inspiration on what had happened after his mother had been murdered, and whether Patrick Walsh had indeed killed the Red Reaper and hidden the body five years earlier.

The investigation cut short, however, Declan rushed back to The Olde Bell and a potentially explosive confrontation. It was only a ten-minute journey by foot, less than half a mile, but Declan paused on the High Street, beside the village store as he faced an equally surprised Rolfe Müller.

‘You need to come with me,’ Declan said as a way of introduction. ‘Karl and your sister are having it out right now in the main bar.’

‘What my sister does with that mechanic is nothing to do with me,’ Rolfe said, continuing to walk towards the church and the ruined priory beside it. ‘My investigation no longer involves either of them.’

‘What does it involve?’ Declan asked after him. ‘What have you found out?’

But Rolfe Müller had already left Declan in the street. Muttering an expletive, Declan continued to The Olde Bell, bursting through the main entrance at speed—

To find nothing. No Billy, no Karl, and no Ilse.

Dave, working at the bar, noted Declan’s arrival.

‘Pint?’ he asked. Declan shook his head.

‘I was told that Karl and Ilse had a confrontation?’ he looked around the bar. Dave nodded as he poured a pint for another customer.

‘Yeah, you just missed it,’ he said. ‘Your lad came in at the tail end. I sorted it out, though.’

‘You sorted it?’ Declan didn’t quite understand what had happened. Dave smiled.

‘I’m a landlord,’ he replied. ‘I’m friend, confidant and social worker all at the same time.’

Still confused, Declan walked through the bar and out into the courtyard, walking across to the building beside the pub where one of the function rooms was currently serving as a temporary base camp. Entering the Library, Declan saw Billy at the large boardroom table, avidly watching his laptop screen.

‘Where’s Jess?’ Declan asked, seeing no sign of his daughter.

‘Homework.’

‘She doesn’t have any homework,’ Declan tsked. Jess had thrown a sickie and gotten out of her babysitter’s way. He’d have to check into her in a moment. ‘What happened with Karl and Ilse?’

‘They’re right here,’ Billy pointed at the screen. ‘Karl turned up in the main bar and confronted Ilse. Claimed that her brother was unjustly harassing him, pretty much stopped right before accusing him of the attempted murder in the garage. Ilse in return started shouting back, claiming that Karl had been hiding proof that Hauptmann Müller was still alive, and then I got there.’

‘And?’

‘Well, I’m just the tech guy according to them, remember? They both told me to piss off. Then the landlord got involved, told them to take it outside, somewhere else, he didn’t care. Suggested they use one of the back rooms. I think it was called the Snug? Small room, four tables in total. They went in there and they’ve been arguing for the last ten minutes.’

Declan looked at the screen where the room’s CCTV showed the Snug. However, only Ilse could be seen in the bottom right-hand corner, sitting at a table and facing off screen as she spoke silently, the camera not having sound.

‘I don’t see Karl,’ he said. Billy pointed at Ilse.

‘They’re at the table that’s under the camera,’ he explained. ‘Now and then they pace, and come into shot, but you don’t get an unobstructed view. Probably deliberately.’

As if on cue, Karl appeared, pacing around the Snug as he angrily gesticulated. Declan walked to the door.

‘I’d better step in,’ he mused. ‘Before one of them kills the other.’

It was a quick walk there, but when Declan arrived, he found the door to the Snug locked.

‘Karl, open up,’ he shouted as he hammered on the door. There was a scuffle of noise, as if a chair was moved back, and then a couple of seconds later Karl unlocked the door, opening it to face Declan.

‘Declan,’ he intoned, stone faced and emotionless. ‘Now is not a good time.’

‘This shouldn’t be happening,’ Declan glanced in to see Ilse glaring at him from the rear table. ‘You shouldn’t be alone with her.’

‘I am possibly the only man who should be alone with her,’ Karl replied. ‘I learned recently that she is