Corpse in Waiting by Margaret Duffy Read Free Book Online Page A

some kind of blunt instrument and knocked about generally,’ he reported tersely. ‘We’ve checked the neighbours at the address on the driving licence but no one can remember a woman by the name of Imelda Burnside. It’s hardly surprising with such a fluid population. The nephew’s address is in this area, at Claverton. He’s abroad, New Zealand according to his neighbours, but due back at any time. He’ll find me, camping on his doorstep.’
    I thanked James, who had no requirement to update me like this, and went into the hall just as Patrick came through the front door.
    â€˜Any luck?’ I asked when, as usual, he dumped everything he was carrying either on to the hall table or the floor.
    â€˜No, Alex didn’t like any of them. She still wants the one you’ve set your heart on and is going to put in a higher offer.’
    â€˜What, even though a corpse was found there?’
    â€˜She doesn’t seem to care about that.’ Patrick gave me a humourless smile and went in the direction of the stairs, saying over his shoulder, ‘May the best woman win.’

FOUR
    M ichael Greenway rang Patrick at seven thirty the next morning and I took the call as he was in the shower.
    â€˜That find of a body in Bath yesterday . . .’ he began.
    â€˜No names were mentioned in the papers but it was me who found it,’ I interrupted.
    â€˜Why didn’t I guess that? Well, we’ve done our usual trawl through records and it would appear that a woman by the name of Irma, not Imelda, Burnside was known to have lived in Bath for a short while. She is, or was, the girlfriend of a man I’ll describe as a crime lord who right now is behind bars. You may know how they’re getting messages to their cronies by using code words on Internet chat lines and by utilizing PlayStations. The Prison Service insists that inmates are not permitted to have consoles with Internet access but, believe me, it’s happening. Now whether this is the same woman or not I don’t know but it’s a coincidence and in my experience coincidences sometimes have a habit of delivering the goods.’
    â€˜Did this Irma have a criminal record?’
    â€˜Yes, for handling stolen property and drugs dealing. I was wondering if Patrick wanted a quiet little number when he returns to work next week and without him having to come to London by tracking down any dental records or other stuff on this woman that might be knocking around down there so we can compare them with those of the remains. I’m very keen to keep tabs on sonny boy in the slammer – who is a sort of refugee from the Italian Mafia as someone out there wants to put a bullet between his eyes – as I think he, and others, are planning something big.’
    â€˜What’s his name?’
    â€˜Martino Capelli.’
    â€˜We’ve come across a Capelli before – when we were with D12. Tony Capelli. It’ll be somewhere in the records that Patrick gave you but was sort of unofficial because it was James Carrick who stumbled across a case when he was on holiday in Scotland involving Kimberley Devlin, the opera singer, and Patrick gave him a hand. But Capelli has to be a common Italian name.’
    Not all the records had been handed over; only those involving ordinary criminals. The sensitive MI5 information, some of it State secrets, is either locked up in a government strongroom or inside Patrick’s head.
    â€˜Do you know any more about him?’
    â€˜Only that he was the bona fide agent for several top opera singers and in his spare time endeavoured to import crooks into the UK for profit. Someone cut his throat when he forgot about a family feud and returned to Italy.’
    â€˜Thanks, I’ll look into it and see if there’s any connection.’
    â€˜And we’re back at home, by the way.’
    â€˜Oh, perhaps you’ll get Patrick to give me a