The Galician Parallax Read Online Free

you know what Don was up to down in Vigo?’ He looked at Jerry Fulton. ‘God, Jerry, you two were mates together. Surely you must’ve known something was wrong with him or that he was up to something?’
    Jerry had always suspected that Don was close to throwing in the towel but the fact that he had committed suicide was so sordid that he was lost for words. The shock was too great.
    Mr Billson addressed the others. ‘What about you lot, then? Hanging from a lamp in a hotel room, I mean…’ His mobile began to ring. ‘Excuse me.’ He walked out into the corridor leaving the rest momentarily speechless and dumbfounded.
    Mavis Stanton was the first to break the silence.
    ‘We didn’t really know him, did we?’ she said looking at her husband Ron.
    Glen Richards was more uptight. ‘I knew we should never have got into this mess.’
    ‘Oh shut up,’ said Jerry.
    They then started a crisscross of accusations and a “what the hell do we do next” argument when Mr Billson came back into the room.
    ‘That was our contact in Galicia. Apparently Don had been travelling backwards and forwards over the past six months doing some sort of “errand” work for them and you all know what that meant. The point is we’ve agreed to suspend the drug runs for this year.’ He looked at Mavis. ‘Is there any mineral water in the office?’ She got up right away and went into the kitchenette.
    ‘What about our bookings? We’ve got a full schedule,’ said Jerry.
    ‘Business as usual; Don’s demise doesn’t mean that we should be affected. There are idiots committing suicide all over the world.’ He wanted to make sure. ‘Joan, are you absolutely certain that there isn’t any one of his family that could cause trouble. That sister of his, you say she wasn’t even upset?’
    Mavis had returned with several glasses and six bottles of water and was handing them out.
    ‘It’s odd,’ said Joan, ‘when I called her, she more or less hinted that she wasn’t surprised, but no, I don’t think she’ll bother us.’
    When Mr Billson got back to his office in Manchester, an e-mail was waiting for him. It read,
Reference our call today; confirm merchandise lost due to bad weather. Suggest we resume talks later in the year as usual
.
    ‘Shit!’
Royal Yacht Club, Vigo
    Sergio walked around the main hall of the club surveying the scenery of the Vigo Bay, whilst Stan was ordering a couple of coffees. No members were about as it was too early in the morning.
    ‘Lovely bay you’ve got down here,’ said Sergio as he joined Stan at one of the tables. ‘I’ve hardly ever been to Vigo. Maybe I should visit it more often, what do you think?’
    ‘Sugar?’
    Sergio nodded. ‘One shot, thanks.’
    After taking a sip Stan looked around the room and kicked off. ‘This should be OK for your interrogation; right?’
    Sergio chuckled. The past couple of contacts he’d had with the consul had left a favourable impression and somehow he knew he could trust Stan with what he was trying to unravel. Not only was Sergio’s personal investigation highly confidential it was also extremely dangerous both from a criminal point of view as well as a political one. Stan had similar feelings towards this young officer. His previous dealings with the police authorities involving consular activity had always been curt and impersonal but when he dealt with the case of the drowned retired RN officer, Lieutenant Sergio Quiroga who was the investigating officer was smarter than normal, suspecting more than just death by misadventure.
    ‘Sr Consul… about this suicide,’ Sergio was searching for words, ‘I remember you said you were from Falmouth, right?’
    ‘Correct.’
    Sergio then pulled out a piece of paper. ‘As I said, this is the list of partners from the yachting company in your town. Apart from the deceased who was one of them, do you recognise any of the others?’
    Stan looked down the list. He paused for a moment. ‘Yes. Glen