Beyond Innocence Read Online Free Page B

one was firmly implanted in his mind.

Chapter 4
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    Harry Thompson was out walking with his dog, Lady. Lady was a tri-colour border collie and she had been a family pet since she was eight weeks old. She was now ten years of age and, as often as he could, Harry walked her three times each day in and around Eastham woods and Nature Park. This was something which they both enjoyed, especially Lady, and more so if he could find a stick to throw for her. On this walk they soon found a suitable stick and he threw it for her to chase just off the nature trail. Lady chased after it, her sleek coat flowing like silk along her body. After picking up the stick she walked a few yards before sitting down with it between her front paws. Lady sat patiently; eagerly awaiting the next throw, her eyes shone with excitement, and as Harry bent down to retrieve it he noticed the watch lying half hidden in the long grass. He could see immediately this was quite an expensive item and, as he put it in his pocket, he resolved to hand it in at his local police station in Bromborough. He felt sure the owner would have missed it and reported the loss. ‘Who knows?’ he mused, ‘there might even be a reward?’ After he’d taken Lady home, he went down to the police station to report his find and it was duly entered in the lost property book. He was quite a regular visitor owing to the disappearance of Diane, and, by now, his was a familiar face to most of the officers on the desk. With a minimum of fuss, the formalities were completed, and he returned home satisfied that he had done the correct thing. Despite his public-spirited action, he was still unhappy because there was still no news about Diane and it was now almost three weeks since she had disappeared. That same evening there was an announcement on the evening news stating that the body of a young woman had been discovered in the woods at Eastham. The body had been discovered by a local man named Eddie Simpson who had been taking his dog for a walk in the woods. No further details were given in this first bulletin and he prayed that it was not the body of Diane that had been found.
    Events proved it was not the body of Diane Wilson but the body of a Liverpool prostitute named Angela Clarkson. Later, there was a further announcement saying that the woman had been strangled with a pair of her own tights and it appeared that she was the victim of a sexual assault. He shuddered as the announcement continued with an appeal for help from the police, asking local people from the surrounding parishes of Eastham, Hooton, and Childer Thornton, to donate voluntary samples of DNA for checking against samples taken from the body of the dead woman. The public were assured that, once checked, all the samples donated would be destroyed. He picked up the telephone immediately and rang the number given, in order to enquire about the voluntary sample testing. His call was put through to a person on the desk who assured him that it would be quite in order to attend any time the following day.
    There was a knock on the door just as he was replacing the receiver and his adoptive mother, Sally, went to answer it. When she returned to the room her face was ashen as she solemnly announced “Harry it’s the police again. You know the two who were here recently….” She didn’t finish the sentence Sergeant West did it for her. In a very firm and in his authoritative voice he said,
    “Harry Thompson, we are police officers investigating the death of a woman found recently. My name is Detective Sergeant West and this is Detective Inspector Taylor and we want you to accompany us to Bromborough police station in order to assist us in our investigation into the death of Angela Clarkson.”
    Sally couldn’t not understand, let alone believe, what was happening, “Are you arresting him?” she asked the Inspector who replied “No, Mrs. Thompson, not at the moment. As my sergeant just said, we are asking him to