The Shadows of Justice Read Online Free Page A

yelled, above the cacophony. “We’ll have to pull the broadcast.”
    “No way. We don’t fail.”
    Dan glanced around. Where the hell was Adam? He’d be able to gather some cops to control the men, but the detective was nowhere in sight.
    Thirty seconds .
    Dan lurched for the satellite truck, reached in and grabbed Rutherford. The dog produced a movingly loving look, so Dan thrust him towards Loud. The Alsatian bared his teeth and began growling.
    Twenty seconds. Dan, where are you? What the fuck are you doing?
    He jogged back to the camera. At the sight of the snarling Rutherford the men backed off.
    Ten seconds .
    Dan sat the dog beside him, just below the camera’s shot.
    “We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a newsflash,” came Craig, the presenter’s voice.
    Cue Dan .
    “In the last hour, a well-known young woman has been kidnapped from this street in Plymouth,” he intoned. “She’s Annette Newman, daughter of Roger, the millionaire entrepreneur famed for pulling himself up from one of the city’s toughest areas to found the Roger’s Rugs empire. The police believe the kidnappers got away in a white van. Its registration plate ended in the letters TN. If anyone spots such a van, they’re asked to call 999 immediately.”
    ***
    A young couple walked past, hand in hand. They stopped by the war memorial to steal a kiss.
    The woman bent to pat Rutherford, but hesitated. “Does he bite?”
    “Only undesirables,” Dan replied. “You’ll be fine.”
    The dog accepted a few seconds stroking in that disinterested manner of his, before trotting back to the bench.
    “You did well with the newsflash,” Dan told him. “Operation Anti-Chav went impressively smoothly. Now, I need to ask you a question – how do you think I did with Claire?”
    Rutherford lay down and let out a sizeable yawn.
    “Thanks, dog. But you may have a point.”
    After the broadcast, Claire had stopped at the satellite van. She was carrying a weight of papers and was on her way to Charles Cross to prepare for the briefing. They exchanged an awkward peck of a kiss, then stepped back into silence.
    It was one of those emotional stalemate moments, high in the order of human embarrassments. Two people who knew each other so well, but still had no idea what to do next.
    “Well?” she asked, eventually.
    “Well what?” he replied, with a little shuffle.
    “You know what.”
    “If I knew what I wouldn’t be asking what.”
    Claire sighed. “Will we have a chance to catch up in the next few days?”
    The shuffle became a jig. “I hope so.”
    “But?”
    “This case is going to be busy.”
    “Is that all?”
    “Yes,” said Dan, in a voice that sounded thin, even to him.
    “We are going to have to talk sometime.”
    The voice dieted further. “Yes.”
    “Have a think, if that’s not beyond your emotional intelligence,” she replied, patiently. “I’ll see you in the briefing.”
    On the subject of which, it was time to make for Charles Cross. Dan got up from the bench, stretched, and took one more look at the blackmail note.
    We wAnt CasH A million USed notes 4 AnnET WE
call Soon 2 arrange DeLivery
    The letters had been cut from a series of newspapers. The fonts familiar; the tactic a traditional one. It all looked straightforward enough, a standard kidnapping for money. A mundane crime of which the world saw far too many examples each and every year.
    It was just the curiosity of the final line of the note. The letters PP which had been placed there, and in such a pointed manner that it could never have happened by anything other than very deliberate design.

Chapter Five
    The back gate to Charles Cross Police Station is an imposing one, heavy with steel bars and topped by razor wire. The barrier grinds open notoriously slowly, and with a persistent groaning and shuddering which harks of a great beast begrudgingly awoken.
    The locking mechanism emits the dull clunking required to ensure a visitor is well aware any