Morning Frost by Henry James Page B

landlord. He was a veritable ox of a man with a full, yellow beard.
    ‘Evening, squire. What’ll it be?’
    Mullett viewed the taps on offer. He seldom visited public houses and plumped for the only name he recognized. ‘Three pints of IPA, please, landlord.’
    Having pulled the pints, the landlord, in response to a gesture from Hanlon, thrust his hand towards Mullett as though inviting a handshake. The superintendent thought it peculiar behaviour but reciprocated. The big man’s grip was firm – Mullett felt a pronounced pressure from the man’s thumb above his own.
    ‘That’ll be one pound twenty.’
    Back at the table Mullett raised his pint. ‘Cheers,’ he said.
    ‘Should’ve let me get that, guv,’ Hanlon murmured quietly, taking his seat. ‘Wouldn’t have cost.’ Hanlon and Wells exchanged furtive glances.
    ‘I’m sorry – I’m not with you,’ Mullett replied after a mouthful of beer. Then it suddenly clicked into place – the very issue that had been troubling him all day. ‘Are you saying he’s … that you …?’
    They both nodded ever so slightly. Good Christ, Mullett thought, whatever next!

Thursday (7)
    ‘I’ve checked the missing-persons lists as far afield as Reading. No males under thirty reported missing in the last two weeks.’
    It was gone seven and Simms had been about to jack it in when Frost had wandered into the CID office, wanting the lowdown on the day’s developments. ‘Apart from Rimmington, that is, where they couldn’t tell me. Their computer’s swallowed the list.’
    ‘Well, I don’t think we need alarm ourselves just yet about a hand and foot; anyway, I fobbed off the press, to buy us a bit of time,’ Frost said, slurping his coffee noisily.
    ‘So I heard; old Sanderson was pretty nonplussed at having uniform wandering all over his farm.’
    ‘He should keep his cakehole shut, then, instead of blabbing to the Echo . But nevertheless, leave no stone unturned. Might find something nasty in the woodshed. Now’ – he coughed – ‘the Coconut Grove.’
    As confidently as he could muster, Simms told him what they had, which wasn’t much. The ballistics report would be in by the end of tomorrow.
    ‘The question is, how did she get there?’
    ‘I told you, nobody saw a thing.’
    ‘If she’d come by car then surely someone would have heard her pull up. Baskin, for example – his office overlooks the car park.’
    ‘Sounds a bit risky.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Frost confirmed. ‘So, maybe she parked some distance away. But it’s a narrow lane, no lay-by, and no parking on the main road either, so she’d either have had to leave her car somewhere really conspicuous …’
    ‘Or come by foot,’ Simms suggested. ‘But if she did it’s a bloody long way – out of the lane and then a good two miles down the Bath Road, back to Denton central …’
    ‘So, she either walked or got dropped off.’
    ‘So we might be looking for an accomplice,’ Simms concurred.
    But Frost had drifted off in thought. The room was oddly quiet.
    ‘Err … how is Baskin?’ Simms asked.
    ‘He’ll survive.’ Frost shrugged. ‘Not so sure about the boy.’
    ‘Don’t you think we should request that the super unlock the cabinet?’
    ‘No, we are not tooling up.’
    Simms knew Frost was anti-gun, but he nevertheless persisted: ‘But there’s someone out there armed and dangerous – a wo—’
    ‘A woman too, I know.’ Frost rubbed his jaw anxiously. ‘A further cause for concern, I agree, but until we have a fix on a suspect I see no reason to start dishing out shooters to you lot. That would only add to my worry.’ Frost looked him in the eye. ‘No, we’ll follow procedure – unusual move, I know – and when we find who’s responsible we’ll call in those who know what they’re doing: the firearms unit. Then and only then, if necessary, will we take the dubious step of arming ourselves.’
    Simms knew it was pointless to argue and changed tack. ‘I couldn’t