Philip Brennan 03-Cage of Bones by Tania Carver Read Free Book Online Page B

purpose. She reached the gathering of uniforms and blue suits. Held up her warrant card.
    ‘DS Martin,’ she said, slightly too loudly, ensuring they all saw her ID. She cleared her throat. ‘What have we got here?’
    A plain-suited man she hadn’t spotted stood upright. He crossed towards her. ‘Hello, Rose,’ he said. ‘Good to see you.’ He stretched out his hand for her to shake. She took it.
    Her superior officer. Acting DCI Brian Glass.
    Glass offered her a smile. A small one, as if rationed. A quick flicker across his lips, then gone. Back to business.
    She knew him by reputation. A no-nonsense, by-the-book copper. Always well turned out, but not flashily so. Respectably suited, as if he dressed for court or cameras. Hair short and tidy but not severe, greying at the temples. Methodical, diligent, got results by hard work. Straight-backed, well-built; his aftershave could have been Eau D’Alpha Male. Tanned, healthy-looking. Very tanned, in fact, thought Rose. Not just a copper’s copper, but a copper copper.
    She smiled inwardly at that thought. Noticed his eyes make a quick detour to her breasts. Smiling inwardly once more, she pushed them further out in as unconscious a way as possible. She knew what her weapons were. Wasn’t above deploying them strategically.
    Another smile flashed across his lips. Appreciative, this time. And in that instant Rose knew that this was her case. She could ask of him anything that she wanted. And get it. Because underneath that straight exterior, he was just another bloke.
    She had him. Right where she wanted him. Maybe not immediately, but she could work on him. And that work wouldn’t go unrewarded.
    Yes. This was going to be a good case.

13
     
    P hil walked away from the group, put his phone to his ear.
    ‘Phil? Just a quick call. About Josephina. Wondering what time you’ll be picking her up.’
    He knew the voice straight away. Don Brennan, his adoptive father.
    ‘Hi, Don.’
    Don Brennan picked up on the tone of Phil’s voice. ‘Sorry, you busy? This a bad time?’
    Phil looked around. Orders given, his team were all moving away from him. He put his head down, covered the mouthpiece. ‘Kind of.’
    Don’s voice changed immediately. ‘What’s happened?’
    Don was an ex-copper. Responsible for Phil’s upbringing and for Phil’s career choice. He had also found it difficult to let go. Phil could understand that and tried to keep him informed as much as possible. When he could. He often joked with him, said that telling him about his day at work made him feel like the head of the CIA giving security briefings to a former US president.
    Phil had suggested Don apply to work in the cold-case unit, but Don hadn’t been interested, said it wasn’t real police work, just an approximation of it. Something to appease the old-timers with. Give them a pat on the head and a sticker. Phil felt sure he would change his mind at some point.
    Phil hesitated before speaking. He didn’t want to say too much about an ongoing investigation, but he also didn’t want to patronise the man he regarded as his father.
    ‘Someone been murdered?’
    ‘Wish it was that simple. I’m down on East Hill. We’ve found a child. It’s … not good.’
    ‘Abused?’
    ‘Probably. But alive. In the cellar of a house. In a cage.’ Phil expected Don to ask further questions but he was greeted with silence.
    ‘You there?’
    ‘Yes, yes … I’m still here. In a cage, you say?’ There was now no vestige whatsoever of the doting grandfather in Don’s voice. He was back in the day, back on the force. ‘What kind of cage?’
    Again Phil hesitated before speaking. ‘It’s … bone. A cage made of bones.’
    Phil heard nothing but the taut, static hum of silence.
    ‘Listen, Don, I’ll have to call you back later. Are you OK with Josephina for a while? I don’t know how long we’ll be with this.’
    ‘Yes, yes, fine … ’ Don sounded distracted. ‘You just … just call