And None Shall Sleep Read Online Free

in.’
    â€˜No one saw him go?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜What does his wife say?’
    Mike tapped his lip thoughtfully. ‘She doesn’t seem too upset. She’s convinced he’ll turn up – somewhere,’
    â€˜But there’s no sign of him?’
    Mike shook his head. ‘He really has disappeared, Jo. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything’ He stole a glance at her arm. ‘Colclough would be furious if he knew I’d even mentioned it. He’s convinced you have major injuries and won’t be fit to work for months. Forget it,’ he said, now eyeing the plaster cast with undisguised hostility. ‘That thing’ll take weeks to heal. I’m sure we’ll have found him by then.’ He aimed a kick at the foot of the bed. ‘Dead or alive.’
    But already the adrenalin was coursing through her veins. It dissolved the pain, gave her energy, made the mummy shape of her arm nothing but a bulky nuisance. She sat bolt upright.
    â€˜Who was he?’ she asked. ‘What was his name?’
    Mike smiled grimly. ‘Was, Joanna? Was? Jumping to conclusions? After all you’ve said to me about being impulsive.’
    â€˜Well, that’s what you think, isn’t it?’
    She looked closer at him. ‘You think he’s dead, don’t you, Mike?’
    â€˜You do,’ he accused.
    â€˜Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘I do. Yet,’ she mused, ‘I wouldn’t have called myself a pessimist. And people do get stressed in hospitals – do strange things. Sometimes they wander off.’ She frowned. ‘But the circumstances are unusual, aren’t they? You say the IV line and machines had all been turned off?’
    He nodded. Her curiosity was alight now. ‘Tell me more about him.’
    Mike sank into the chair. ‘His name is Jonathan Selkirk,’ he said. ‘He’s a solicitor here, in Leek. He specializes in criminal law.’
    A sudden image of a hard-eyed, humourless man with a toothbrush moustache edged into her memory. ‘I know him,’ she said. ‘Sly old Selkirk and that crooked partner of his.’ She looked at Mike. ‘What’s his name?’
    â€˜Wilde. Rufus Wilde.’
    She closed her eyes and struggled with something.
    â€˜Aren’t they under investigation? Fraud Squad job?’
    â€˜That was months ago. I haven’t heard anything about that for ages. Solicitors,’ he said disgustedly. ‘Some of them are more bloody crooked than half the villains they’re defending.’
    â€˜That’s a bit of a sweeping statement, Sergeant. Most of the solicitors want justice every bit as much as we do.’
    â€˜It depends on your interpretation of justice,’ Mike said darkly.
    Joanna moved her plaster cast across the sheet. It felt cold, heavy, unfamiliar. Inside it her arm ached. ‘Let’s not get into prolonged discussions, Mike. Is there anything else I should know about Selkirk?’
    â€˜Now hang on a minute,’ he said quickly. ‘You’re off sick. I just came to pick your brains.’
    â€˜Really?’ And even Mike knew she was laughing at him.
    He paused before shrugging and adding, ‘OK, I admit it. I mean you’ve only got a broken arm haven’t you. His wife did mention something about him receiving a letter through the post yesterday morning. She thought it could have triggered off his heart attack.’
    Joanna looked up. ‘What sort of letter?’
    â€˜It advised him to make a will.’
    And Joanna jumped to exactly the some conclusion that Sheila Selkirk had jumped to only the day before. ‘It was probably just a circular,’ she said, ‘or Make a Will Week. I’m always getting letters advising me to make a will.’
    But Mike shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘It was a typewritten note which told him to make a will, and it rattled him. I’ve seen