Witchmoor Edge by Mike Crowson Read Free Book Online Page A

the fire?"
    "The drowning victim was with a missing boy
and Koswinski on Saturday evening, and we have a probable
identification of Koswinski by the woman who reported the fire. It
was probably him climbing out of the canal at half past midnight,
dripping wet." Millicent said.
    "It sounds involved and does look to be connected. I
think you'd better go ahead." Cooke decided. "Who have you in mind
for the team?"
    "I thought DS Turner and DS Gibbs, DC
Hammond, DC Goss and maybe DC Bright," Millicent suggested.
    Cooke nodded again. "Don't take more uniform
staff than absolutely essential," he ordered, "God knows we're
short staffed as it is. Use the new girl, Gail Downing, on your
reception the experience will be good for her - but take a civilian
secretary and a civilian IT person."
    "Okay," Millicent agreed, "Now, what about
the press. They'll only just be onto it, of course."
    "Hmm. But this murder victim will probably
catch the attention of the nationals in the silly season. I can
just see the headlines - poisoned, battered, drowned!"
    Millicent took his point.
    "Well," Cooke said, "The Witchmoor Argus
carried the fire as a story last night, but it only mentioned the
deaths in passing. By tonight they'll have the autopsy report, so
the nationals will pick it up tomorrow. I'll stonewall them for a
day or so, but we may need a press conference by Thursday."
    "Okay," Millicent said. "We'll need some
progress by then, so I'd better get on with it."
    Cooke nodded again as she left.
     
    On the way back to her office she went via
the canteen to collect a coffee and then put her head round her
secretary's door and reminded her about the figures for the Chief
Inspector's report and told her to assemble her little team in the
incident suite in a quarter of an hour. Then she went with her
folders on the case and coffee to the suite and settled herself in
the tiny office reserved for whoever was in charge. Her coffee was
only half drunk when the team started arriving.
    "Morning Lucy," she said, looking up as DS
Turner walked in.
    Lucy looked around. "This must be bigger than
an elephant's ass if we've got a separate incident room," she
remarked.
    "It’s big," Millicent agreed. She was just
going to add a quiet word about the cross examination of Shirley
Hunter the day before, when Tommy Hammond and Gary Goss wandered
in, so she left it.
     
    When everybody had gathered, Hampshire filled
the team in with the position as it stood. "Okay," she said,
looking up from the folder she was reading. "The preliminary report
from the scene of crime staff on the picnic area is in already.
They found a jar of jam, a jar of pickles and two full yogurts
amongst the undergrowth round the picnic site, all lending some
support to the story, to judge from the locations in which they
were found. They’re all being fingerprinted still, but the story
looks as if it might be essentially true."
    "The wide wheeled vehicle which left tyre
imprints at the site is almost certainly the Porsche. It went much
further into the picnic area than the other vehicles, but there's
no evidence either way as to whether the accident took place as
described. For now we'll very cautiously assume that it probably
did."
    "There was no sign of a tablecloth or any
picnic gear, so they must have gone back into the Porsche assuming
they were there as stated, but SOC confirm that the two other
vehicles left before Simon Hunter's car."
    "Any ideas from them about the other
vehicles?" Tommy asked.
    "They think one was a substantial, perhaps
sporty, saloon and the other probably a light commercial vehicle.
They confirm my own quick impressions but suggest no solution to
the puzzle."
    Inspector Hampshire closed the folder.
"Tommy," she said, "This afternoon you can pick up Koswinski on
suspicion of murdering Hunter and Musworth, and try and scare some
further information out of him. You can come with me for the
morning and do that later. DC Goss, you go to the Youth Centre now
and try and