Cop to Corpse by Peter Lovesey Read Free Book Online

to. Then think of an exit line.
    ‘Is there anyone you’d like me to contact? A neighbour? A friend? I’m thinking somebody should be with you.’
    Those fierce brown eyes rejected the suggestion outright, but she relented enough to say. ‘Someone should tell them I won’t be in for work.’
    An opening. He went for it. ‘Fine. Where is it? What’s the number?’
    She was a supervisor at Playzone, the children’s activity centre, she told him before giving the details. He couldn’t help wondering how small kids fared with this pent-up aggression. Maybe she was totally different with them. He called the place and said Mrs. Tasker had suffered the loss of a close relative and might not be in for a few days. When he finished the call she was no longer in the room.
    He heard a kettle being filled, so he followed her into the kitchen, defying her order to keep out. She had her back to him yet she must have heard his approach because without turning to look she said, ‘I’m just so angry. He’s been on nights all week. We’ve scarcely seen each other.’
    ‘And there are things you wish you’d said?’ He was speaking from painful experience.
    ‘I feel cheated.’
    ‘You have every right. Believe me, we’ll pull out all the stops.’
    She snorted at that. ‘If you want sugar, it’s in the cupboard behind you.’
    While this embodiment of fury busied herself with milk carton and teapot, Diamond was bold enough to seek information. He asked if Harry had been threatened by anyone, recently or in the past.
    ‘Apart from me, you mean?’ she said without a glimmer of irony. ‘I gave him hell on a regular basis. No, he was too easygoing to make enemies. Mind, he didn’t tell me everything. Harry wasn’t much of a communicator. He kept his feelings hidden. If I asked about his job, he’d say there wasn’t anything worth mentioning.’
    ‘I don’t have to tell you police work is like that a lot of the time,’ Diamond said. ‘Loads of boring stuff you wouldn’t want to hear about.’
    ‘You don’t get it, do you, bloody man?’ she said, widening her big eyes, ‘Anything is better than silence.’
    Lady, you’re going to get a lot of that in the weeks and months to come, he thought. ‘I’m asking these questions because we have to be certain he wasn’t shot by someone he knew.’
    ‘He was killed by that madman who’s been targeting policemen, wasn’t he?’ she said. ‘I’ve forgotten what they call him.’
    ‘The Somerset Sniper. That’s a strong possibility. If so, it was almost certainly done because Harry wore the uniform, nothing more. He was a cop, so he was fair game. Doesn’t make it any easier to accept.’
    ‘To come back to your question, I can’t think of anyone who hated him enough to kill him.’
    ‘Did he have any interests outside the police?’
    ‘Fishing.’
    He took this as another rebuke. ‘I’m doing my job. We need to know.’
    ‘I said. He fished, with a rod and line. Is that clear enough for you?’
    He gave a faint, embarrassed smile.
    She added, ‘He didn’t get much time for it.’
    ‘You must have gone out together sometimes. Where did you go? A favourite pub?’
    ‘You’ve got to be joking. If we went out more than twice in the past year I can’t recall it. All he ever wanted was to put his feet up and watch telly. It was the job. It tired him out. If I go out, it has to be with the girls, my buddies. That’s all the excitement I get.’
    ‘This being a murder enquiry, you’re going to have to put up with any number of questions like these. We’ll need to look at everything connected with Harry, bank statements, phone, address book, diary, computer. It’s a huge invasion of your privacy, but necessary. I’m telling you this so that you’re prepared.’
    ‘You’re not,’ she said. ‘You’re telling me so that the copper who gets the job doesn’t get the blasting you’ve just had. You’re shell-shocked. You look worse than I do.’
    Whatever