Nothing but Trouble Read Online Free Page A

eventually been reported missing
     by her mother. Hannah Bright, a crack-addicted tom, had failed to notice her daughter’s absence for two whole days.
    ‘Sam’s a cabbie. That’s how I got to know her. She works for one of those all-women taxi firms in Hackney. Anyway, we got
     talking one night and she told me about the murder and about how a year or so ago one of the other girls, Lynda Choi, had
     drowned in the River Lea. The coroner reported a verdict of accidental death, but Sam thought it might have been suicide.
     She reckoned Lynda couldn’t get over what had happened. And that got me thinking about how some people find a way of coping
     with these kinds of trauma and others don’t. I thought it might be an interesting subject for an article.’
    ‘Hang on,’ Harry said, leaning forward. ‘So you’re writing a story about this?’
    Jess gave a sigh. ‘You’ve got that expression on your faceagain. Look, I’m not writing about the original investigation, only about what happened after. There’s not a problem with
     that, is there?’
    Harry considered it for a moment. ‘Except you said earlier that you thought the cops might have got it wrong.’
    ‘I did
not
say that.’
    ‘Not in so many words, perhaps, but—’
    ‘I didn’t say Donald Peck was innocent. I merely mentioned that there could, possibly, have been more to the case than came
     out at the time.’
    ‘Peck had form. He was a known sex offender.’
    ‘Okay, okay, but forget about that for now. Sam agreed to be interviewed and she also pointed me in the direction of the other
     girls who were there that day. Lynda was the only one she’d kept in touch with, but two of the others, Paige Fielding and
     Becky Hibbert, are still living locally.’
    ‘And I bet they were simply overjoyed to hear that the past was going to be raked up again.’
    Jess frowned. ‘I didn’t put any pressure on them, if that’s what you’re thinking. I do have a few scruples.’
    ‘Now who’s the one being defensive?’
    Her forehead quickly cleared and she smiled again. ‘Okay, point taken. Anyway, as it happens, they were both more than willing
     to talk to me. Paige especially. She was mad keen on the idea of having her picture in a magazine. I made arrangements to
     interview them, one in the morning, one in the afternoon – this was about two weeks ago – but the night before we were due
     to meet they suddenly pulled out. Paige called me, said they’d changed their minds and weren’t prepared to go through with
     it.’
    ‘So they had a change of heart.’ Harry shrugged. ‘It’s not that surprising. Maybe they thought it through, decided not to
     open old wounds.’
    ‘Or maybe someone warned them off.’
    ‘That’s a bit of a leap. You got any evidence?’
    Jess delved into the pocket of her jacket and took out her phone. She scrolled through the menu, found what she wanted and
     passed the mobile over to him. ‘Here, take a look at this.’
    Harry stared down at the photo on the screen. It was of a dark blue minicab parked in a street. ‘What am I looking at exactly?’
    ‘It’s Sam’s car. The tyres have all been slashed and someone’s run a key along the paintwork. It was done a couple of days
     ago. She found it like that when she got up in the morning.’
    ‘Could have been yobs.’
    ‘Except it’s the second time in a fortnight.’
    Harry still wasn’t convinced. ‘Or a disgruntled customer. Maybe she overcharged someone or nicked a neighbour’s parking space.’
    ‘Sure,’ Jess said, going into her pocket again, ‘and maybe a disgruntled customer sent these too.’ She pulled out two folded
     sheets of A4 paper. ‘These are only photocopies. The police have the originals. They were sent through the mail to her home
     address. The envelopes were typed and they were posted in Kellston.’
    Harry reached out, took the sheets, unfolded them and flattened them on the desk. The first one read:
Keep yer mouth shut