Fatal Connection Read Online Free Page A

notebook?’
    ‘I went through it last night. No fingerprints – which means a careful major ripped the pages out with gloves on, or it was an outer. But there was a hair. Human, silver colour. Short. A bit like mine. Before you ask, no, I’m sure it’s not contamination. It’s not mine.’
    ‘Good find. I hope you’re giving it some welly.’
    ‘I would, but you keep dragging me off to the four corners of the country. I’ve given it to the specialists to analyse the DNA in the root. Waiting for results. They’ll tell us for sure it’s not mine.’
    ‘Did the forensic team find anything else in his flat?’
    ‘Lots, but what’s relevant and what’s nothing to do with it? No mercury except for the tiny amounts in his rock samples. And they didn’t find the torn-out pages.’
    ‘We’re at a crossroads,’ said Troy. ‘But instead of three ways to go we’ve got hundreds.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t want to follow up Richard Featherstone first because the woman who knew him best hardly knows anything. Married, but barely in touch with each other. She’s not going to help much. I think Alyssa’s a better way forward. I’m going to contact the garden centre where she worked.’
    It didn’t take him long to set up a video call to the manager of Pullover Creek Garden Centre and Plant Nursery. After introducing himself and his investigation, Troy said, ‘Alyssa Bending. She worked in your aquatic centre.’
    The manager nodded. ‘Yes. I was very upset to hear the news. We all were. It’s bad enough for us here in the garden centre. It must be awful for her family.’
    ‘Do you use mercuric nitrate for sterilizing bulbs?’
    On-screen, she looked surprised for an instant. ‘Not for ages. No. It’s harmful.’
    ‘Do you still have old stock?’ Troy asked.
    ‘I’d be very surprised. But I’ll check and let you know if we do. What’s this got to do with Alyssa?’
    ‘I heard you sent her on various trips to fish suppliers.’
    ‘Yes. It was part of her job description. She got to go all over the place. She took advantage, mind.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘I’m not complaining. I’d have done the same. If it was somewhere nice or the weather was really good, she’d turn a half-day outing into a day. A day’s worth of work got turned into two days.’ The manager smiled. ‘She tacked on mini-holidays.’
    ‘When was her last trip, where did she go and how long did she take?’
    The manager checked out a monitor on her desk. ‘Yes. She went to a fish breeder in Tight End on Friday the twenty-fifth of April. I put aside a day for it, but she didn’t come back to work on the Saturday. I don’t know what she did afterwards. It might have been because it was a lovely weekend up on the north coast. Like summer. Warm and sunny.’
    ‘Thanks,’ Troy replied. ‘That’s helpful.’ Heterminated the call and turned to his partner. ‘Good lead. Fancy a trip to Tight End?’
    ‘A few hours alone with you in a car? To the fifth corner of the country? Sounds great.’
    He ignored Lexi’s jokey sarcasm. ‘I knew you’d jump at the chance. Plenty of opportunity for you to meditate.’
    Like most majors, Troy had just rested his body with a long period of overnight sleep. Outers like Lexi refreshed themselves with short periods of meditation. Several times each day, she would turn off for fifteen minutes. The distances that they were travelling in this case were ideal for her regular relaxation.
    Lexi clicked the keypad of her computer. ‘There’s a recycling factory there. It deals with batteries and that sort of thing. Worth a visit.’ She hesitated before adding, ‘By the way, no recycling centres have got back to me about thefts or break-ins. No mercury reported missing recently.’ Browsing more tourism information, she said, ‘Thinking about Richard Featherstone, there’s a golf course somewhere near Tight End as well.’
    ‘There’s a golf course somewhere near everywhere.’
    ‘Yeah. True.