Man in the Shadows by Peter Corris Read Free Book Online Page A

called. I’ve got his voice on tape.’

10
    G REENWAY brandished the tape and looked around. He noted the phone, with its receiver replaced but obviously not in its usual place on the bench. He put the tape in his pocket.
    â€˜Where was she?’ he said.
    I pointed.
    â€˜The word in the street was accidental overdose. Is that right?’
    â€˜No. At least not without some help.’
    We went through to the kitchen which was dim now that the afternoon sun was low in the west. Greenway leaned against the sink while I made coffee. ‘Was Annie . . . what happened to her, connected to this other business?’
    â€˜Your case, you mean?’
    He nodded.
    â€˜I don’t know. Do you? I see you’re carrying your gun. Does that mean you’ve got some ideas?’
    He shook his head.
    â€˜No,’ I said. ‘Guns usually mean no ideas. Have some coffee and let’s hear the tape.’
    The voice was slow and deep; the background noise was an intermittent hum:
When I can talk to you in person I’ll give you instructions for the delivery of the photographs.
    We played it through five times. I drank two cups of coffee. Greenway kept glancing at the place where Annie had died as if he wanted to see her there and bring her back to life. ‘I thought of changing mymessage,’ he said, ‘leaving something specifically for him. But I decided that was being too clever.’
    â€˜Good. You were right. Same voice, no difference?’
    â€˜The same. Can you make anything of the background noise?’
    â€˜That’s for the movies. I haven’t got voice-printing apparatus either and I can’t tell a southern Hungarian accent from a Romanian.’
    â€˜I’m sorry. I know it’s a mess. I didn’t know what I was doing.’
    I felt guilty for the sarcasm. ‘All right. It happens. We have to work out what to do. Where to look for him.’ I got a bottle of brandy which Helen had left behind. It was from her husband’s tiny vineyard, Chateau Helene, and it wasn’t bad. I put a shot in my third and Greenway’s second cup of coffee. It was after four o’clock; that’s late enough when there’s been a death or a birth or a marriage or a horse has won or lost. I felt like working on the bottle itself, Greenway sipped moodily; booze wasn’t one of his problems.
    â€˜Have you ever had a phone call from someone who seems to know you but you’ve never heard of them?’ I said. ‘Just a quick call that leaves you puzzled about how the caller got on to you or even got your number?’
    â€˜Mm, I suppose.’
    â€˜This is a bit like that. You have to sit down and build up a story that hangs together. Like—well, he must’ve known so-and-so and got my number that way.’
    Greenway grunted, unimpressed. I finished my coffee and poured some more brandy into the cup. I added the few drops of coffee that were left. ‘That’s what we have to do,’ I said. ‘If we assume whoever hired you got to Annie somehow and killed her, or helped, how could that be? What circumstances make that possible?’
    We both stared at the walls for a while. Greenway sighed; I drank my spiked coffee.
    Greenway shrugged. ‘I’m sorry. Nothing comes.’
    â€˜Try this: Mr X was watching you from the minute he made the approach. He saw you come to me, saw us go to the hospital and followed me back here. Then he saw Annie come here. He’d seen you and Annie in company before and figured she must . . . ’
    â€˜Must what?’
    â€˜It gets harder here. Must . . . know something, or have seen something. So he waited until I left and made a move. He used the smack to talk his way in.’
    â€˜Well, it fits,’ Greenway said slowly. ‘But where does it get us?’
    â€˜If we knew what he wanted from Annie we’d be on our way. Assuming it’s about the hospital,