Tangled Web by Ken McClure Read Free Book Online

it. It’s horses for courses really. Some people can handle it, some can’t.’
    ‘I suppose,’ agreed Gordon.
    ‘Right then, I’ll be on my way,’ said Walters.
    Almost on impulse Gordon asked, ‘Do you think I might be allowed to see the body?’ he asked.
    Walters appeared surprised. ‘The body? I think you’ll have to ask the police pathologist about that, Doctor,’ he said.
    ‘It’s Charles French, isn’t it?’
    Walters nodded and said, ‘He’s probably on his way to the mortuary right now.’
    Walters left and Gordon changed his mind about going inside. Instead he walked back up the hill to the surgery to get the phone number of the forensic service. He saw by the light under her door that Julie was still there. ‘Only me!’ he called out, knowing that she would have heard the outside door open. ‘Burning the midnight oil?’
    ‘Paperwork,’ replied Julie. ‘Can’t put it off any longer.’
    Gordon entered the room that had been her father’s and found her sifting through a pile of government forms on top of the old mahogany desk. She had decided to keep everything in the room as it had been in her father’s day. There was a preponderance of dark wood and leather and an old brass microscope sat on the windowsill, ornamental rather than practical. ‘Where the hell is G49?’ she complained.
    Gordon remained silent and Julie looked up. ‘Everything all right?’ she asked. Her voice trailed off as she saw that it wasn’t. ‘What’s wrong?’
    ‘The police have found Ann-Marie Palmer. She’s dead and John Palmer has confessed to her murder.’
    ‘Oh my God, how awful.’
    ‘Unbelievable,’ said Gordon, shaking his head. ‘I just came in to get the number of the police forensic lab. I want to see the body.’
    Julie was surprised. ‘Why?’ she asked.
    Gordon had difficulty finding an answer. He felt suddenly desolate. ‘You know, I’m not sure,’ he confessed. ‘I suppose I imagine it might help me come to terms with it. At the moment it all sounds like some … horrible mistake. I won’t be able to believe she’d dead until I see her with my own eyes.’
    ‘Did they say how he did it?’
    ‘They don’t know yet. I think if he took her in his arms and gently smothered her while crying his eyes out I might be able to accept it but even then … As for anything else? Not John Palmer, no way.’
    Julie looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, ‘I’ve got the number here.’ She opened a desk drawer and took out a well-thumbed indexed notebook before writing the number down on a Post-It note and handing it to Gordon. ‘Is there anything else I can do?’ she asked.
    ‘You get on with your paper chase and I’ll call this number, see if I can view the body and then I’ll go over and check on Lucy Palmer. She could probably do with some help in the way of sedation and maybe even a shoulder to cry on.’
    ‘Something tells me there will be a lot of talking and crying in Feli tonight when word gets around,’ said Julie.
    ‘No more sleepy backwater,’ said Gordon with a resigned shrug. ‘No more the place where nothing ever happens.’
    ‘Do you think the press will have heard by now?’
    ‘Gordon nodded. ‘If not, they soon will have. It’ll be on everyone’s breakfast table come Monday morning.’
    Julie looked sad. She said, ‘This is the kind of story that causes emotions to run riot. Everyone’s going to have an opinion.’
    ‘A lot’ll depend on how they treat it. If they take a sympathetic line towards the parents we should be okay. If they go for sensation we could be in for a rough ride.’
    ‘Close-knit community stunned by baby murder,’ intoned Julie. ‘Baby’s death rocks sleepy village. Father slays crippled child.’
    ‘Well, there’s not a damn thing we can do about it,’ muttered Gordon. They parted company and he walked through to his room to call the police forensic service. After saying who he was, he inquired about the whereabouts of