Echoes of Justice (DI Matt Turrell Book 2) Read Online Free

time to get back on track. ‘Can you tell us where Mr James is, Mrs James?’
    ‘I haven’t seen him for years, not since he was arrested and escaped.’
    ‘And he hasn’t been in contact?’
    ‘No. And I hope it stays that way.’
    ‘So he doesn’t know about his son’s death?’
    ‘I suppose not.’
    ‘Will you tell us if he gets in touch?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Thank you. Now it’s important we take a look at Jonathan’s room as it may give us some insight into what happened to him. While DC Meadows is doing that, why don’t I put the kettle on?’
    Mrs James nodded and stood to direct Jane to Jonathan’s bedroom. By the time Matt had placed a steaming hot mug of tea in front of Mrs James, she had returned to say the bedroom yielded nothing but a laptop. With Mrs James happy for them to take it, Jane wrote out the receipt while Matt handed over his card, stressing Mrs James should call day or night.
    Driving back to the office, Jane ran over all the information they had, plus the gaps they needed to fill in. ‘She doesn’t seem to know any of Jonathan’s friends. Except this Noddy fellow.’
    ‘He should be easy to track down. Uniform will know. Did you believe her when she said she didn’t know where her husband is?’
    ‘Yes, and I don’t think she wants to. Sounds like she’s better off without him.’
    Matt agreed. He remembered reading about Vincent James when Jonathan was on trial. As far as he could remember, he was a violent career criminal. Jane interrupted his thoughts.
    ‘Wouldn’t she have known if Jonathan had been into drugs?’
    ‘I’d have thought so. She certainly seemed convinced that he wasn’t.’ Even as he said it, Matt realised he would have a hard time convincing McRay.

Chapter 6
    Sam jumped up in anticipation as they walked into the office. ‘What do we have, guv? Want me to start the board?’
    ‘Best hold your horses, Sam. I’ve got to talk to McRay first.’
    ‘This might help. I phoned Slim.’
    ‘Thanks, Sam.’ Matt took Sam’s scribbled notes of the pathologist’s preliminary thoughts, scanning them as he walked towards McRay’s office. He wasn’t looking forward to trying to convince the DCI something wasn’t right in the death of Jonathan James.
    McRay saw him coming. ‘Come in, Matt.’ McRay waved him to a seat while studying his face. ‘I’ve got a feeling this isn’t going to make me happy. Right?’
    Matt sat down, marshalling his thoughts to get McRay onside. ‘Initially, sir, I did feel, like you, that this would be a self-inflicted drugs overdose. But there are one or two things which don’t add up.’
    McRay gave a sigh and settled further into his seat.
    ‘First of all we have no indications Jonathan was a drug user.’
    ‘According to?’
    ‘Slim found no evidence the victim…’ Matt stopped as McRay gave a grunt of disgust at the word, and waited until he gave an ill-natured nod for him to carry on. Matt read from Sam’s notes. ‘The victim showed no indication of regular drug use. Death appears to be due to a massive overdose of a morphine-based drug. Toxicology report has been fast-tracked.’
    McRay groaned.
    Matt continued. ‘If we wait for the full toxicology report, valuable time might be lost, sir.’
    ‘Trying to tell me how to do my job?’
    ‘No, sir.’
    ‘I should hope not. What about the mother?’
    ‘Adamant her son wasn’t a user.’
    ‘Well, she would say that, wouldn’t she? Did DC Meadows believe her?’
    ‘Yes, sir. We both did.’
    ‘Well, there must be a lot of people happy to see the back of Jonathan James. Take a quick look. How long has he been out of custody?’
    ‘About two months.’
    ‘Might be worth checking with them – they would know if he was a user. And, Matt, I don’t want a lot of time wasted on this but, while we haven’t anything serious on the go, it won’t hurt.’
    ‘Thank you, sir.’
    Matt left, giving the thumbs up sign to Sam, who moved to start the incident board. By