asked.
‘Heckley. We’re still allowed to make our own tea there.’
While Skinner was being processed I had a toasted tea cake in the canteen then ran upstairs to see if anything was happening in the office that I needed to know about. Maggie was hanging her coat up.
‘Did you get him?’ she asked.
‘Bet your ass,’ I replied with a wink and a jerk ofthe head. ‘But we had to arrest him. We’ll let him settle in, have a word with the duty solicitor, then I’ll put the thumbscrews on him.’
It had worked out well. The evidence was a bit weak, all circumstantial, and the custody sergeant might have thrown it out, so I’d normally have done an initial interview and hoped something would have come from that. We’d arrested him because he wouldn’t cooperate, and that meant that I could now authorise a property search.
‘Have you time to hear about Darryl?’
‘You may not believe it, Maggie,’ I told her, ‘but Darryl is my number one priority. I’m just Makinson’s running dog in this murder case. Fire away – what have you got?’
She tucked her blouse into her skirt and sat down opposite me. Her hair was wet, several strands clinging to her forehead. ‘We went looking for him last night,’ she began. ‘Janet and me, that is. Found him in a town-centre pub. The Huntsman. It was fifties night – you’d have been at home. Darryl was leaning on the bar, chatting to anyone who came to be served. Got the impression that was his technique. It was early, about eight thirty. Looked like we’d have a long wait and Janet was upset, so I phoned for a taxi and sent her home. Hope that’s all right?’
‘No problem. Go on.’
‘Darryl stayed until chucking-out time. He drove home alone and I followed him to a flat in that poshnew block near the canal. The address matched the one on record for the owner of the Mondeo he was driving. He’s called Darryl Buxton and he’s clean, I’m afraid. All the other details are on your desk.’
‘Brilliant, Maggie. We’ll make a detective of you yet. Looks as if you’d better take an afternoon off when things settle down – you heard what Mr Wood said about overtime.’
‘That’s OK. There’s more. This morning I followed him to his place of employment. He works in the town centre, for someone called Homes 4U. That’s number 4, capital U. Snappy, eh?’
‘Speaks volumes about their clientele,’ I said.
‘Quite. They’re some sort of estate agents, specialising in cheap rentals, DHSS work, that sort of stuff. They’re big around Manchester and are just expanding to this side of the Pennines. I rang them up and had a girl-to-girl chat with their receptionist. She sounded a bit dim. Darryl is the local manager.’
We were sitting at Nigel’s desk and I’d straightened most of his paper clips as I listened to Maggie. I pulled at his middle drawer to find some more and saw the Guardian, open at the crossword. My proudest achievement is that I’ve created the only department in the force where officers dare to be seen reading the Guardian. I slid the drawer shut again.
‘Now you’ve sorted that out,’ I said, ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to have a go at this murder case would you? Sort that out, too?’
Maggie smiled and her cheeks flushed, just a little. ‘If you need me, but what I’d really like is a bacon sandwich in the canteen, if you don’t mind.’
I nodded my approval and she asked me if I was joining her. ‘No, I’ve just come from there,’ I said.
When she’d gone I pulled the crossword out and read through the clues. They might as well have been written in Mandarin Chinese. One across was ‘Editor rejected ruse set out (6).’ Possibly an anagram of set out, but nothing flashed into my brain. I put potato. Two lines below was nine across: ‘Comes down, about to fix forest in grand planned development (9,9).’ The second nine referred to twelve across. I wrote apple pies and crocodile in the appropriate squares.
‘Heckley. We’re still allowed to make our own tea there.’
While Skinner was being processed I had a toasted tea cake in the canteen then ran upstairs to see if anything was happening in the office that I needed to know about. Maggie was hanging her coat up.
‘Did you get him?’ she asked.
‘Bet your ass,’ I replied with a wink and a jerk ofthe head. ‘But we had to arrest him. We’ll let him settle in, have a word with the duty solicitor, then I’ll put the thumbscrews on him.’
It had worked out well. The evidence was a bit weak, all circumstantial, and the custody sergeant might have thrown it out, so I’d normally have done an initial interview and hoped something would have come from that. We’d arrested him because he wouldn’t cooperate, and that meant that I could now authorise a property search.
‘Have you time to hear about Darryl?’
‘You may not believe it, Maggie,’ I told her, ‘but Darryl is my number one priority. I’m just Makinson’s running dog in this murder case. Fire away – what have you got?’
She tucked her blouse into her skirt and sat down opposite me. Her hair was wet, several strands clinging to her forehead. ‘We went looking for him last night,’ she began. ‘Janet and me, that is. Found him in a town-centre pub. The Huntsman. It was fifties night – you’d have been at home. Darryl was leaning on the bar, chatting to anyone who came to be served. Got the impression that was his technique. It was early, about eight thirty. Looked like we’d have a long wait and Janet was upset, so I phoned for a taxi and sent her home. Hope that’s all right?’
‘No problem. Go on.’
‘Darryl stayed until chucking-out time. He drove home alone and I followed him to a flat in that poshnew block near the canal. The address matched the one on record for the owner of the Mondeo he was driving. He’s called Darryl Buxton and he’s clean, I’m afraid. All the other details are on your desk.’
‘Brilliant, Maggie. We’ll make a detective of you yet. Looks as if you’d better take an afternoon off when things settle down – you heard what Mr Wood said about overtime.’
‘That’s OK. There’s more. This morning I followed him to his place of employment. He works in the town centre, for someone called Homes 4U. That’s number 4, capital U. Snappy, eh?’
‘Speaks volumes about their clientele,’ I said.
‘Quite. They’re some sort of estate agents, specialising in cheap rentals, DHSS work, that sort of stuff. They’re big around Manchester and are just expanding to this side of the Pennines. I rang them up and had a girl-to-girl chat with their receptionist. She sounded a bit dim. Darryl is the local manager.’
We were sitting at Nigel’s desk and I’d straightened most of his paper clips as I listened to Maggie. I pulled at his middle drawer to find some more and saw the Guardian, open at the crossword. My proudest achievement is that I’ve created the only department in the force where officers dare to be seen reading the Guardian. I slid the drawer shut again.
‘Now you’ve sorted that out,’ I said, ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to have a go at this murder case would you? Sort that out, too?’
Maggie smiled and her cheeks flushed, just a little. ‘If you need me, but what I’d really like is a bacon sandwich in the canteen, if you don’t mind.’
I nodded my approval and she asked me if I was joining her. ‘No, I’ve just come from there,’ I said.
When she’d gone I pulled the crossword out and read through the clues. They might as well have been written in Mandarin Chinese. One across was ‘Editor rejected ruse set out (6).’ Possibly an anagram of set out, but nothing flashed into my brain. I put potato. Two lines below was nine across: ‘Comes down, about to fix forest in grand planned development (9,9).’ The second nine referred to twelve across. I wrote apple pies and crocodile in the appropriate squares.
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