The Two Towns (The Lakeland Murders) Read Online Free

two pages of neatly handwritten notes, questions and ideas. And it was the ideas that excited her. The feeling, almost forgotten, that what she thought, deduced or just plain guessed might actually make a difference to something. That her mind could influence an outcome. She was so engrossed that she didn’t even notice Andy Hall walk into the open office. So it was a surprise when she saw him handing out cups of tea to the team.
    ‘I remember that you take black coffee with one sugar, Jane’ he said. ‘Is that right?’
    ‘Yes, boss, thanks.’
    ‘Can you spare me ten minutes?’
     
    Jane picked up the file, put her pad on top of it and followed Hall into his office. They sat on opposite sides of his meeting table.
    ‘Let me guess’ said Hall. ‘That file under your pad is the Clark case.’
    ‘It is, yes.’
    Hall smiled.
    ‘Which proves that you should never judge a book by its cover.’
    ‘How do you mean?’
    ‘It’s been ages since we had a new start on the team, but Ian knows that I like to ask people to have a look at an open case, just to ease them in. So that wasn’t a particularly impressive guess on his part. But to choose that case, now that was good work. Because it’s not the most recent open file that’s been sitting in the middle of what I call my problems pile, not by a long shot.’
    ‘So he did guess right then, Andy?’ She tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the eagerness out of her voice.
    ‘Would you be pleased if he had?’
    ‘Absolutely. I’d love to review it.’
    ‘Really? I’d say that this one is about as frustrating as they get, to tell the truth.’
    ‘No-one said it would be easy though, did they?’
    ‘Indeed not.’
    ‘And I remember what you said, about the two different types of offender. The regulars and the first timers. Well this one might be a genuine first-timer, mightn’t it?’
    ‘The husband you mean? Phil Clark?’
    ‘Who else?’
     
    Hall let the question hang in the air unanswered, and looked out of the window.
    ‘I sometimes think that there are two Kendals, two whole worlds maybe, existing side-by-side, and the inhabitants of each are totally unaware of the other. They just kind of glide past each other, like ships in the fog. And the only people who know the truth are us cops. Because in one world people get on with their lives, pretty much obey the rules, and don’t cause or get into any trouble. Not once in their whole lives. Not even when they’re provoked, or desperate. But the people who live in the other place only obey rules that they think they’ll get caught breaking. Otherwise anything goes in that world, absolutely anything. They just don’t give a shit about how their actions impact on the lives of others, including their own families. And us cops are the only people on earth who get to cross over between the two worlds. One we live in, and the other we work in. Or at least usually that’s how it is. Because I agree with you, Jane. I think our Mr. Clark may very well have bought a one-way ticket from one world to the other, and that’s an unusual occurrence. But where’s the evidence?’
    ‘So you want me to find the evidence?’
    ‘Not necessarily. There might not be any, remember. What I want you to do is carry out the twelve month follow-up. It’s due next month anyway, isn’t it? I’ll review what you do, and we’ll use this as a way of easing you into the systems and procedures that we follow here. They’re bound to be a bit different from Manchester. We only got electricity in 1970, you know.’
    Jane smiled.
    ‘Fantastic. Can we talk about the case now?’
    ‘Yes. You start by talking me through it, then ask me any questions you like. After that we’ll agree on the deliverables. I’ll need your report wrapped up by Friday, unless you unearth any new evidence of course. In which case the drinks are on me on Friday night, and that’s not something I say very often.’
     
    ‘Well, the facts are clear enough,’