The Honeytrap: Part 4 Read Online Free

chatting away to the two other officers. She didn’t look especially worried, but maybe she was the cool type.
    The cop gave Jess a nod. ‘Probably best to get off home and leave it to us, yeah?’
    ‘Sure. I’ll do that.’
    ‘You lot must have enough on your minds without all this.’
    ‘Us lot?’
    ‘Mackenzie, Lind. I heard about your boss.’
    Jess didn’t correct him as regards her employment status. If she’d been honest about being a journalist, he wouldn’t have told her anything. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Harry Lind.’
    ‘What about him?’
    ‘Don’t you know? He’s down at Cowan Road. He’s been arrested for murder.’
    Jess’s mouth fell open.

23
    Harry Lind had that déjà vu feeling. It was only six months since he’d last been in the frame for murder and now it was happening again. Of course he’d known, even as the two cops walked towards him, that being caught in possession of a gun wasn’t going to look good. He’d done the best he could, feigning a nonchalance that probably wouldn’t have fooled a five-year-old. He’d even pretended to be pleased to see them.
    ‘Ah, you’ve saved me a journey. I was just on my way to the station. I have something for you.’ And he had smiled, proffering the carrier bag like a birthday gift.
    Needless to say, his explanation had gone down like a lead balloon. Back at Cowan Road, DI Judith Cobb had actually winced as he’d claimed that the revolver had been pushed through the door of Mackenzie, Lind.
    ‘And why would anyone do that?’
    Harry had shrugged. ‘I presume someone wanted to get rid of it.’
    So as not to implicate Mac or Jess, he’d said that the gun must have been posted at some time between them leaving and his own departure at around nine-thirty.
    ‘And you didn’t think to call the police?’
    ‘I couldn’t see the point. I was coming down to Cowan Road anyway. Mac – my business partner – was here. He was filing a report about a missing employee.’
    ‘Sylvie Durand.’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Let’s talk some more about Caroline Westwood.’
    ‘I’ve already told you everything.’
    DI Cobb had pursed her lips as if Harry’s connection to these two women and their subsequent fate – one missing, one murdered – had to be more than a coincidence. She had already passed judgement and now she was trying to gather the necessary evidence.
    Harry lay back on the hard bunk and gazed at the ceiling. The cells hadn’t got any more comfortable since his last stay. He thought about the interview that had gone on for hours as DI Cobb probed ever deeper. It had been clear from the questions she was asking that she’d already taken statements from the barman and the receptionist at the Lumière.
    He mulled this over. The barman, Denis, had witnessed his exchange with Caroline – nothing more than flirtatious banter – and the later knockback. Harry had been resigned rather than angry and hadn’t said anything he regretted now. But had Denis seen things in a different light? He’d got the impression from Cobb that this could well be the case. The redhead on the desk might have stuck the knife in too. What was her name? Kim? He remembered her suspicious eyes and the way she’d looked at him. Her verdict on his odd behaviour would probably be damning.
    Harry had been a cop for long enough to know that, whatever had been said, something more solid would be needed if a charge of murder was to be brought. By now the gun would have been sent off to Forensics and the bullets would be compared to the one that had killed Caroline Westwood. The results would come back negative, of that at least he was certain.
    There was no way this could be the same gun. Which wasn’t to say that it hadn’t been used in some other crime, but they wouldn’t be able to pin that on him.
    His thoughts returned, inevitably, to Ellen Shaw. Why was he so determined to protect her, doing his Sir bloody Lancelot impersonation when only hours ago