Definitely Dead by Kate Bendelow (howl and other poems TXT) 📕

Maya had to admit that the fact Ryan Johnson had recent involvement with the pair, and that he was now missing, did not look good at all. She thought fleetingly of Spence. She knew he and Johnson had been very casual acquaintances and she felt relieved for his sake that he was not involved with the likes of Donnelly and Nowak.

The meeting was quickly wrapped up and the scraping of chairs was followed by a hasty exit of the conference room as the detectives filed out, having been issued with their actions. Kym approached DCI Chambers and shook her hand.

‘Good to see you again, Kym. It seems ages since my syndicate last picked up a job on your division. The last one we had was the fatal arson, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, it was. It’s good to see you too. I believe you already know Elaine. This is our newest member of the team, Maya Barton. I’ve asked her to accompany Elaine to the scene. Although it’s only a small, sparse property we’ll get things moving quicker with two members of staff down there. Elaine has got a copy of the forensic strategy. I’m holding the rest of my staff back for now as I’m mindful we may soon be dealing with a body and suspects.’

Chambers nodded. ‘The chances are that Donnelly and Nowak won’t personally have got their hands dirty disposing of Johnson. Nowak’s currently remanded and our intelligence suggests that Donnelly delegates his dirty work to Sydney Barber, aka Lurch.’

Elaine snorted at the mention of the nickname earning her a warning look from Kym.

‘As we discussed earlier, the forensic strategy is going to initially concentrate on examining the carpet in the lounge. Our own lab is on standby to attend with the luminol. Once that has been done and we can see what we’re dealing with, we can devise the rest of the strategy accordingly. A forensic biologist has also been tasked to attend.’

‘Which biologist are we using?’ said Chambers.

‘Derek Billing? Was with the Forensic Science Service, now with Cellmark.’

‘Ah, yes, I’ve worked on a few jobs with him. Surprised he’s not retired. Seems deeply knowledgeable and is very accommodating but bloody awful halitosis. At least he’ll be wearing a face mask so you two should be spared,’ Chambers said to Maya and Elaine.

‘He is incredibly good at his job but the man’s a menace.’ Kym chose not to elaborate any further. ‘I’ll be in touch, ma’am.’ She clapped her hands and lead Maya and Elaine out of the meeting room. Maya noticed Chambers wince at Kym’s double clap, whereas Elaine and Maya shared an eye-roll behind her back. Not for the first time, Maya wondered whether Kym could have been a Victorian schoolteacher in a former life.

‘We might as well head down in the one van if that’s okay with you? I’ll recover the exhibits if you scribe. Your handwriting’s neater than mine,’ Elaine said as they walked back into the office and gathered their belongings.

Maya agreed and grabbed some snacks out of her drawer to take with her in lieu of lunch. She had learnt long ago that a stash of cereal bars and crisps always came in handy when a job came in. It was beginning to look like she and Elaine would be at the scene for a while and would more than likely end up working overtime.

As Elaine drove them to Ryan Johnson’s address, Maya regaled her with details of Andy’s strange behaviour the night before.

‘I don’t get it.’ Elaine frowned, shaking her head. ‘He’s never pleasant to anyone. Maybe he fancies his chances with you,’ she added with a saucy wink.

‘Eugh, a little bit of sick just rose up in my mouth at the thought,’ said Maya as Elaine’s raucous laugh filled the van.

‘Seriously though, just be on your guard. Andy Carr is a slippery fucker. If he’s being nice, you can guarantee he’s up to something.’

Maya nodded in agreement. Andy had unnerved her last night with his change in attitude and his sudden interest in her. She didn’t appreciate or want his attention and sincerely hoped that whatever was going on in Andy’s mind, his ‘friendliness’ wouldn’t be repeated. Elaine was right; she would be on her guard as far as he was concerned. She suddenly shivered with trepidation and a sense of foreboding.

41

Andy pulled up on the derelict pub car park where he usually met Donnelly. The location was perfect – free of CCTV and prying eyes and it wasn’t the sort of area that people would normally venture. Even police officers preferred to patrol this particular location in pairs. The only person Andy had spotted as he pulled into the car park was an old drunk who had scuttled away at the sight of Andy’s scowling face.

Thirty minutes after arriving, Donnelly’s black Mercedes cruised in and parked opposite Andy. Donnelly motioned through the windscreen for Andy to join him and he meekly scuttled towards the car, slipping into the passenger seat.

Donnelly surveyed the man, his lip curling with distaste. ‘Well, what have you got? It better be fucking worth it,’ he said as he jabbed a forefinger into Andy’s temple.

Visibly shaking, Andy pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket.

‘I’ve managed to photograph the contents of her personnel file, Mr Donnelly,’ he said as he unlocked his mobile and handed Aiden the phone with the images ready to display.

‘Meh, meh, meh, Mr Donnelly,’ Aiden mimicked in a girlish voice as he snatched the phone off Andy. ‘You’ve still got a lot of making up to do for not knowing about the raid that got me arrested the other week. Prick,’ he said scathingly. He was silent for several moments as he absorbed the contents, taking in all Maya’s personal details including her and Dominique’s addresses.

‘Anything else?’ he sneered as he thrust the phone back at Aiden.

‘No, Mr Donnelly. Redford and Mitton have been antsy since you were released, but as far as I’m aware they’ve nothing to warrant pulling you