NO KISS FOR THE DEVIL (Gavin & Palmer 5) by Adrian Magson Read Free Book Online Page A

crap?’
    ‘You ingrate.
That’s best Colombian - a grade five. I’ve got some Kenyan, but it’s only a
three. I keep it for any girlies who come round.’ She stood up and went into
the kitchen, returning immediately with a bottle of whisky and two glasses,
already poured. ‘You had me worried, there. I thought you’d gone teetotal on
me.’ She put down the bottle and handed him a glass, and took a deep pull of
her own to lead the way, wincing as the liquor burned its way down her throat.
‘You’ll have to talk to the police, Frank. A DI named Pell seems to be the lead
man.’
    Palmer nodded
and took a sip of his drink. ‘What’s he like?’
    ‘Reasonable.
Professional… but I got the impression he’s a bit of a rebel on the quiet.’ She
explained about being allowed at the crime scene, a favour for a favour between
Pell and his colleague in forensics. ‘He wants to get results, but he’s
thorough.’
    ‘I’ll call
him.’ Palmer twisted his glass, then said, ‘Tell me about it.’
    He listened as
she went through it, leaving nothing out. She began with the receipt of the
phone call from Pell, dragging her out of bed and into the night, with terse
instructions to tell nobody. She described the scene with the SOCO team and the
rain-soaked glare of lights, the position of the body, and the way Helen
Bellamy’s wrists had been tied, the bruising around her face. There was a dull
flatness to her voice, the telling as unemotional as possible, and he knew she
was finding this the most difficult of all.
    He waited until
she finished, making no comment. He had switched on that part of his brain that
was analytical and calm; the part which his RMP training had instilled in him -
the ability to remain detached and objective - seeing the subject of the
investigation as no more than a set of facts, events and figures.
    ‘What do they
reckon?’ he said finally. He meant how did the police think Helen had died.
    ‘Pell didn’t
say. Or wouldn’t. They only wanted me there to see if I could identify her.’
Riley flicked a hand, indicating her face. ‘At a guess, I’d say she was hit.
Hard. There were marks, but it wasn’t easy to tell what they were under the
lights. They didn’t allow me get close enough to judge.’
    Palmer’s
expression was grim. ‘If she was tied up, it was to keep her subdued. She must
have got involved in something. You said there was a car?’
    She described
how the vehicle was buried deep in the undergrowth, adding to the images in his
mind. ‘It looked like a Golf. Was that what she drove?’
    ‘Yes. An old
one.’ Palmer was puzzled. If the car was found by the first walker who came
along, it wasn’t exactly well hidden. Why flag up the location in that way? He
sat back, unravelling the facts in his mind, slicing and dicing until he had
some sense of order. Riley had her way; this was his. He didn’t have all the
information right now – not even a fraction of it – but it was his way of
teasing out all the possible answers until he had something to work with.
    The other
question was why she’d had Riley’s name and phone number in her car. Plans for
a girlie exchange of information, perhaps? Or a work thing?
    ‘There’s
nothing significant about her last assignments,’ Riley told him, ‘at least, as
far as I could tell.’
    ‘You checked
already?’ Palmer lifted an eyebrow. ‘That was quick work.’
    ‘I mentioned it
to Donald and he gave me a lead.’ She shrugged. ‘I thought it best to check it
out.’ She explained briefly what she had learned at Copnor Business
Publications. ‘It was standard work. They don’t cover commercial frauds or
anything like that, unless it has a wider market impact, so they’re not exactly
into anything murky or overtly criminal. But Helen did let drop that she was
hoping to get into something more interesting.’
    ‘Like what?’
Palmer was surprised. From what he remembered of Helen, she had enjoyed her
work.
    ‘The