Cut Down To Size: A Sebastian Cork Novel

by Neal Davies

  Chelsea tells her she probably modelled at those fundraisers and Cynthia says she thought she had seen her somewhere before.

  Meanwhile, Sebastian explains to Paul that Jim had also approached him about breaking up the partnership and he wasn’t prepared to work with anyone else, so they will be staying together. He also explains that he told Jim he wouldn’t make a decision about working with other teams until he had spoken to Paul about it. “So what do you think Paul?” A huge smile appears on Paul’s face and a concerned look grows on Sebastian’s face. “What’s so amusing, Paul?”

  “Think about it, Seb! You have enough problems working with me. How the heck would you be able to cope with others who probably have a lot less patience than I do?”

  Sebastian glares silently at him and is about to respond when Cynthia comes over and intervenes, “Sorry, boys. It’s time we moved to the dining area. Dinner should be ready by now.”

  Sebastian squints at Paul. “I wouldn’t mind finishing this conversation at a more convenient time, Paul; that is; if you feel I am capable of coping with it?”

  Paul smiles again. “Definitely, Seb! You know me; I cope with most of your issues.”

  Sebastian takes a deep breath and is about to snap at Paul’s statement when Cynthia grabs him by the arm. “Come on, boys! Dinner will soon be cold if we don’t move along.”

  Chelsea helps Cynthia bring the food to the table and they sit down to eat. While Cynthia is passing the potatoes to Paul, she enquires about his health.

  “I’m good now, Cynthia. Most the effects wore off overnight. Thanks for asking.”

  She looks down the table to her husband and then back to Paul. “I felt obligated to, Paul; after all, it was my husband that put your life in danger in the first place.”

  Sebastian puts his knife and fork on his plate with a clang and begins wiping his mouth with his napkin. “It wasn’t like that, Cynthia. I had no idea who the next victim would be!”

  Cynthia glares back down the table at him. “Well, you should have at least known where your partner was at the time!”

  Paul interjects, “I’m sorry to interrupt, Cynthia, but I really do have to take the blame for Seb not knowing where I was; I had forgotten to charge the battery on my phone and when I charged it overnight at the hospital, there were numerous missed calls from Seb.”

  Sebastian looks at Paul with admiration and then up the table to Cynthia. “I tried to explain that to you, Cynthia. I only knew where the next murder was going to happen, not who the victim would be. Anyway, Paul was never in danger. He is a fit young man and we had medics on hand just in case. Not only that, we knew the drug that was being used and what we would need to negate it.”

  Paul attempts to change the subject before it gets tense. “It really is a shame what Kate had been put through, don’t you agree, Seb?”

  Sebastian takes a sip of water and surprises Paul with his statement. “I’m not sure about that, Paul. As I have explained before, not everything is always what it seems.”

  Paul looks up from his plate. “You’re not still on about that look she gave Joe, are you?”

  “That’s only part of it, Paul. After we finished our investigation that look kept playing on my mind and as I had some spare time, I thought I might delve further into Kate’s childhood and curiously enough, I found there were reports of Kate’s adopted father abusing her as a child and the school had insisted she see a psychologist due to her inability to connect or communicate with other children. The psychologist’s report was interesting reading; she was still wetting her bed at the age of twelve and had a lack of connection to any living thing.”

  “The other interesting fact was her adopted father would take Kate away rock fishing whenever they had a long weekend and the two of them would stay in a shack near the beach that one of his friends owned but her adopted mother didn’t like fishing so she wouldn’t go. I phoned an old friend of the family and she told me Kate would plead with her mother to stay home with her but her mother thought it would be good for Kate to spend some bonding time with him.”

  Paul, with his head tilted to one side, looks at Sebastian inquisitively. “She was a little girl, Seb, and a lot of little girls don’t like fishing. That doesn’t prove anything.”

  Sebastian swallows a piece of fish and continues his explanation, “You are right about that, Paul but on their last fishing trip, her adopted father never returned. Apparently he couldn’t swim and even though he had fished this spot since he was a young boy, the coroner’s report said a freak wave had washed him in and he had drowned. There were no witnesses except for Kate and it was reported that she had called for help but it was too late by the time someone arrived.”

  Paul, seemingly confused says, “Okay but that doesn’t prove anything except that it was a freak accident.”

  Sebastian, now frustrated as he seemingly doesn’t want to get into a full explanation, looks over at Cynthia and then back to Paul. “I decided to take a drive to the spot where he had died and found an isolated ledge which was approximately five feet up from a section of deep water and fully protected by other ledges on either side so the freak wave could have only hit him face on.”

  Paul interrupts, “Yes, but it is still possible that he could have been dragged in by the backwash, isn’t it?”

  “It is possible but not probable, Paul.”

  “Why is that?”

  Sebastian continues, “They actually retrieved his body from the water and, of course, there had to be an inquest into his death even though it all seemed straight forward; the coroner’s report read that the only marks found on his body was one circular bruise toward the centre of his shoulder blades and abrasions to the skin of his fingers from desperately trying to hang onto the rocks and work his way out of the water.”

  Cynthia chips in, “That seems feasible; he probably hit his back when he was washed over by the wave.”

  Sebastian nods in the affirmative. “Yes that is a valid point and I would normally agree to this if I hadn’t been out there myself but this is a flat shelf with no protruding round rocks. If it did happen that way…”

  Cynthia interrupts again, “There would have been either no bruising or a lot of bruising to his back.”

  Sebastian smiles. “Exactly, my love. And the other thing is, there was no bruising to the back of his head either. The only plausible explanation I could come up with is he was shoved from behind by something similar in shape to a baseball bat. As fascinating as all this is, it is only speculation and perhaps we should give Kate the benefit of the doubt, so let’s forget about that for now and enjoy this wonderful meal.” Paul has listened with intent and at first he was incredulous but he has worked with Sebastian long enough now to understand that he rarely bases his deductions on emotional persuasions but more on facts and probabilities.

  At the other end of the room, Cynthia puts both her hands on the table and pushes back into her chair. “Wait just one minute, Sebastian Cork! The only opportunity you have had to be near a beach since finalising this case was when you asked me to go with you because we hadn’t had much time together. So that’s what took you so long when you left me in the theatre?”

  Sebastian, knowing he has disgraced himself again, tips his head forward and his eyes move from one side and then to the other.

  “Sebastian, I asked you a question!”

  Sebastian’s eyes rise to meet Cynthia’s. “Actually, you made a statement my love, but this probably isn’t the time or place to discuss the matter. Wow! Look how fresh that asparagus is; did you get that from the grocers down the road?” he declares nervously.

  Cynthia throws her eyes toward the ceiling but realises, if she pursues the matter it will make their guests feel uncomfortable, but still has problems putting a rein on her sarcasm. “Yes, Sebastian, the same one where we always shop. Oh and, by the way, we will finish our discussion on our little trip to the seaside at a later date. Now, Paul and Chelsea, is there anything else I can get
you?”

  Paul smiles and looks at Chelsea amorously and she smiles and gazes back into his eyes. “No thanks, Cynthia, but there is something Chelsea and I would like to ask you and Seb,” he says, looking from Cynthia and then to Sebastian.

  “Of course. Go ahead!” Cynthia replies while smiling curiously.

  “Well, as you know, Chelsea and I are engaged and we are hoping to marry on the first Sunday of summer and we would love you both to be there.”

  Cynthia rises from her seat and holds her arms out to Paul and he meets her with a hug. “We would love to be there, wouldn’t we, Seb?” she says as she looks back over her shoulder at her husband.

  Sebastian has also risen from his seat and is almost with Paul and Cynthia when he replies, “Of course, of course, we will be there with bells on!” Cynthia moves to hug Chelsea and Sebastian shakes Paul’s hand but gets a shock when he is pulled in close to Paul and hugged warmly. Sebastian’s eyes move rapidly from side to side and then relax as a fatherly grin draws across his face. The rest of the evening goes brilliantly.

  Precise:

  Found: A body, legs severed and eyes glued open.

  The perfect crime for Sebastian Cork’s intuitive crime solving ability. Understanding the workings of the human mind and what drives the killer, Sebastian’s methodical and intriguing insights lead him into the mind of a serial killer. Can he find the killer before the next victim is ‘cut down to size’?

  About the Author:

  Neal Davies, a retired family and relationship counsellor, is an accomplished author of numerous self-help books. He has taken his knowledge and skill derived over many years in counselling and the psychology field to write fiction. Sebastian Cork is the hero of the series – working as a police consult – investigating murders in his own quirky way. Neal’s inspiration is derived from Sherlock Holmes, a book he has held dear since childhood.