First Frost by Henry James Read Free Book Online Page B

up. ‘Yes?’
    ‘Super, sir, it’s Sergeant Wells, at the station.’
    ‘Yes, Wells?’ prompted Mullett.
    ‘Sorry to bother you at home,’ continued Wells.
    ‘This had better be good,’ said Mullett. He hated the autumn, the dampness, the dark – the fairways were in a terrible state today. And he hated being disturbed at home, when he was off duty, even more.
    ‘It’s just that, well …’
    ‘Spit it out, man.’
    ‘I still can’t get hold of DI Williams. To be honest, his wife hasn’t seen him since yesterday morning. His car’s missing as well.’
    ‘I imagine that’s something of a relief for her.’
    ‘Oh no, sir. She’s sick with worry. She wouldn’t want me to be saying any of this, not to you – the last thing she wants is to create a fuss. Or get Bert into trouble. Apparently he’s been off the booze for some time now.’
    ‘Why are you even telling me all this?’
    ‘I thought perhaps we should put out an alert to all units.’
    ‘For God’s sake, DI Williams is a grown man. OK, he should have reported for duty this morning, and I’ll take issue with him about that when he does turn up, but it’s not as if, by all accounts, he hasn’t gone AWOL before. We’ve got enough trouble trying to locate a missing girl, and now these new developments, as it is.’
    ‘Fair enough, sir,’ said Wells. ‘I just thought I’d pass it by you. And there’s something else. A couple of things, actually …’
    ‘This is all highly irregular, Wells.’ Mullett was beginning to fume. ‘Where’s Frost right now? I thought I’d left him in charge.’
    ‘Last time I saw him he was off to Forest View. A nipper’s been attacked.’
    ‘Attacked? What the hell do you mean, attacked? By whom?’
    ‘A fox.’
    ‘A fox? And this is a matter for CID?’
    ‘Sunday staffing, sir. A lot of doubling-up is going on. We’re all rushed off our feet.’
    ‘Is that so, Sergeant. Well, keep up the good work.’ Mullett slammed down the receiver, and quickly took another sip of his tea, but it had gone cold.
    DC Arthur Hanlon followed directions up to the manager’s office. He didn’t quite understand what Frost was playing at, leaving the little girl at the hospital – seemed a risky ploy. Rabies. Still, he was the boss, for now at least. He felt on safer ground quizzing the Aster’s store manager about the missing girl.
    ‘Ken Butcher?’ said Hanlon, walking into the manager’s office and extending his hand.
    ‘Yes, that’s right,’ said Butcher, a smartly dressed, bearded man in his early forties. ‘Found your way up OK?’
    ‘A lad showed me, thanks. A lot of staff about for a Sunday, considering the store’s closed.’
    ‘We’re stocktaking.’
    ‘Oh yes, your wife said so on the phone,’ said Hanlon. Frost had detailed Hanlon to make arrangements for them to interview Butcher as soon as possible.
    ‘We’re getting ready for Christmas. Now, if you wouldn’t mind getting to the point. We’ve still got a lot to do before the end of the day.’
    ‘Yes, yes, of course,’ said Hanlon.
    But Butcher didn’t seem too frantic – there was an open copy of a Sunday paper on his desk. ‘It’s just you, is it?’ he said, leaning forward, and trying to cover the paper with his arm. ‘Only, I was told a couple of detectives were on their way.’
    ‘My colleague DS Frost is still downstairs, talking to some of the staff.’
    ‘Hope he learns something useful. Not sure what help I can be. This is about a missing girl?’
    ‘Yes, last seen on these premises, yesterday afternoon.’
    ‘Do sit down, Detective.’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Hanlon, squeezing into a small plastic chair. He immediately regretted doing so. Aside from the discomfort, he was now having to look up at the bearded store manager. ‘I’ll need a list of all staff present yesterday,’ he said firmly.
    ‘Oh, really?’
    ‘And perhaps you can outline to me your security arrangements, and which store detectives were on duty.