Death and Deception by B. A. Steadman Read Free Book Online

entered through the lower door, experiencing a small thrill in the pit of his stomach. As a teenager he too had harboured dreams of being in a band and becoming famous. He and a group of lads from school had played in a band for a while, called rather embarrassingly, ‘Kids eat Free’ , but they had split up when university beckoned and their parents made them choose a more reliable method of earning a living. But, Dan still played guitar and would have loved to have the opportunity to record in a proper studio with the lads. Who knew where they might have ended up?
    He looked around. The place was large with a roomy reception area furnished with two enormous in-trend, battered leather sofas and a slate coffee table holding music magazines.
    ‘Can I help you?’
    The Welsh accent belonged to a tiny girl/woman with short, black, spiky hair and dramatic eyeliner. She seemed to be wearing several tee shirts of various colours and sleeve lengths, stripy leggings and Doc Martens. Fashion student earning a bit of extra cash, Dan guessed.
    ‘Only you’ve taken five minutes to get down the stairs. Don’t think anyone has actually looked at those photos for years. Is it someone in a photo you’re looking for?’
    ‘No,’ said Dan, showing his warrant card. ‘I need to speak to Jed Abrams. It’s urgent.’
    The girl took a step forward to read the card. She only came up to the middle of his chest.
    ‘He’s recording at the moment. I’m due to take them in a cuppa, though, so I can interrupt them then. What’s it about?’ she asked, heading for the compact kitchen behind her desk.
    Dan hesitated. He wanted Abrams to hear the news first. He needed to judge his reactions before he had a chance to work out a cover story. On the other hand, he had a few minutes now to gather some useful information.        ‘What’s your name?’ he asked, following her into the kitchen.
    ‘Chas Lloyd’, she replied, ‘short for Chastity. Laugh and I’ll never speak to you again. I’m the product of Welsh Presbyterian lay preachers.’ She lifted one corner of her mouth up into half a smile, ‘but my brother is called Ezekiel, so I guess I was lucky. Tea or coffee?’
    Dan remembered he’d eaten nothing since the night before, and his stomach, betraying him utterly, rumbled loudly enough for Chas to hear it and smile.
    ‘Biscuit?’
    He smiled too, ice broken. ‘I’ll have coffee with milk, please. Ms Lloyd, did you know about the recording session won by Carly Braithwaite?’
    ‘The schoolgirl? Yeah, course. Call me Chas, by the way, everyone does. Jed’s been going on about this girl for ages, said she has a good voice and he’s hoping to manage her once she leaves school.' She made air quotes as she spoke. 'He’s always looking for the next big thing.’ Turning, she measured coffee into four mugs and emptied half a packet of plain chocolate digestives onto a plate. ‘He’s just got one guy in there this afternoon,’ she explained. ‘Does most of his band work later in the day.’
    ‘Did Mr Abrams say anything about the session with Carly on Sunday evening?’
    She nodded. ‘Yeah, he was furious, said she didn’t turn up and he was hanging around for an hour waiting for her.’
    ‘Were you here then?’
    Chas shook her head. ‘No, I’m usually off on a Sunday unless we’ve got a really busy day. He doesn’t exactly like paying me overtime, so if he’s just got one punter in, he manages by himself. Suits me. Pile of talentless tossers, most of them. I’m only here to earn a bit of cash so I can go to Design school next year.’
    ‘Fashion?’
    She laughed and looked down at her stripy leggings. ‘Is it that obvious?’
    ‘How do you get on with Mr Abrams? Is he a good boss to work for?’ Dan saw a wariness enter her eyes, as if she’d suddenly remembered that he was a police officer.
    ‘He’s OK.’ She turned away, filled the mugs with hot water, gave each one a vigorous stir, and re-arranged the