Last Reminder
Page 27
‘No, not at close range.’
‘They’re amazing. Incredibly powerful, yet they can be so gentle. When they bite, the top part makes a puncture wound, but the lower mandible leaves two incisions, so you receive three bites for the price of one. Justin says it’s the most excruciating pain imaginable, and he should know – he’s broken most of his bones at various times.’
‘And the imprint of Joey’s beak matched the mark on K. Tom Davis’s arm?’
‘Mmm. Exactly. We couldn’t prove it was Joey, but he’s certainly been bitten by a macaw. According to Justin, it’s a wonder he didn’t mark K. Tom for life. Any idea what you’re having?’
‘So Joey was in the bathroom with poor Lisa?’
‘That’s right. They were inseparable.’
‘In a way, I suppose he did, bless him.’
‘Did what?’
‘Mark K. Tom for life.’
I folded the menu, being careful not to swipe everything off the table, and gazed across at her. She looked sad. I wanted to hold her hand, but she was too far away.
‘I’ve decided,’ I announced. ‘It’s either the flamingo’s kneecaps, on a bed of lily petals in a cage of baby asparagus stems, or – wait for it – the Beef Wellington.’
‘I knew you would have the beef,’ Annabelle declared.
‘Am I so depressingly predictable?’
‘Not at all. It’s probably the best thing they do. I think I will have the salmon. So how much gold did you recover?’
‘Just the one bar, unless Sparky concealed half a dozen in his car boot.’
‘Good gracious. Where did it all go?’
I shook my head. ‘No idea. Somewhere on the Continent, we presume, concealed inside K. Tom’s bullbar. We think that part of the deal was that he deliver the gold over there, to work off his debts to Michael Angelo Watts.’
‘Because of the diamonds failure?’
‘That’s right. And for madam’s starter?’
‘Umm, the duck pâté, I think. Yes, the duck pâté.’
‘Ah!’ I exclaimed.
‘Ah? Why “Ah”?’
‘Oh, er, nothing. A wise choice if I might say so.’ I reached across and she gave me her menu. The waiter ceased to hover and went into a dive, pulling out alongside me with inches to spare. When he’d gone, taking our orders to the kitchen and the menus back to their air-conditioned vault in the Bodleian, Annabelle repeated, ‘Why “Ah”? What do you know about the duck pâté?’
I sighed and unfolded my napkin, draping it over my knees like a travel rug. ‘I’d, er, rather not say,’ I told her.
‘Now you are being infuriating, Charles,’ she insisted, in her pretend-school-ma’am voice.
‘Well, this involves my eating humble pie, and it will ruin my appetite.’
‘Gosh. The great detective having to admit he was wrong. Tell me all about it.’
I took a sip of wine. ‘This is nice,’ I said, turning the glass in my fingers.
‘Tell me!’
‘OK! OK! We, er, caught someone for killing the swans in the park.’
A smile crept over her face. ‘You mean – poor Donald is no longer a suspect. What’s the phrase? He’s not…in the frame, any more?’
I pulled my best grimace. ‘For the time being,’ I growled, ‘but I’ll have him, one day.’
‘You can’t win ’em all, Charlie boy,’ Annabelle smirked, tipping me a wink. The waiter returned to give us the appropriate cutlery.
‘It’s a sad story,’ I told her. ‘Young man, only twenty-one. Lots of problems, into drugs and anything else he could find or steal, probably schizophrenic. Another one let down by the care in the community system. I actually arrested him, later that day, but we never thought to associate him with the swans.’
‘Poor chap. What had he done?’
‘Tried to break into a flat. He was up a ladder, threatening to throw a dog down. I managed to talk him out of it.’
‘Donald wouldn’t do anything like that,’ Annabelle assured me.
‘No. Maybe I owe him an apology. No I don’t. What am I saying? He comes and digs your garden, has morning coffee with you, and I’m jealous. I’ll get him, one day.’
‘That reminds me!’ she exclaimed. ‘I am the one you owe an apology. Thanks to you, Donald now charges me four pounds an hour. He says you told him to!’
‘He’s worth every penny,’ I countered. ‘You were exploiting him.’
The first courses arrived, arranged on the plates to look like something knocked up by Paul Klee. I was selecting the correct implements when a thought occurred. ‘Wait a minute,’ I said, ‘wait a minute.’
Annabelle looked up from her work of art.
‘This money you pay Donald,’ I continued. ‘I don’t suppose you know if he declares it to the Inland Revenue, do you?’
Annabelle placed her knife and fork back on the table.
‘Oh, Charles,’ she giggled. ‘You are impossible,’ and her nose wrinkled the way it does when the happiness takes over, and any hunger I had for food went flying right out of the window.
If you enjoyed Last Reminder, read on to find out about the other books in the Charlie Priest series …
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The Picasso Scam
Detective Inspector Charlie Priest believes in doing things by the book. It’s just that, in the heat of the chase, he sometimes turns over two pages at once. His unorthodox ways have held him at inspector level for a record-breaking length of time; however DI Priest does get results. When Charlie suspects a now-respected businessman, with a background of extortion and GBH, of involvement in international art fraud, he’s taking on an enemy with friends in high places. But Charlie can be persistent to the point of recklessness – and, once he’s realised that there’s a link to the lethal doctored heroin that’s striking down the local kids, no threat will stop him …
The Mushroom Man
There’s nothing Detective Inspector Charlie Priest hates more than a case involving children. When Georgina, the eight-year-old daughter of local businessman Miles Dewhurst, goes missing, Charlie and his colleagues soon start to fear the worst. Charlie’s suspicions are focused on Dewhurst and, in a race against time to find Georgina, Charlie’s life is further complicated when it seems a killer is targeting clergymen. Three have died suddenly, and a picture of a Destroying Angel mushroom has been left beside the body of the latest victim. But why would a serial killer focus on men of the cloth?
The Judas Sheep
Detective Inspector Charlie Priest is officially on sick leave, but this brief break from work comes to an abrupt end when Mrs Marina Norris’s chauffeur is found dead from unnatural causes – namely a blast to the head from a Kalashnikov. Meanwhile, big-time drug smugglers on the Hull–Rotterdam run demand his attention. His contact, Kevin, is a lowly cog in the great smuggling wheel, and easily hoodwinked into believing that Charlie’s line of business is similar to his own. But the real villains are not such pushovers, and when Charlie uncovers a connection with his previous enquiry he realises that he’s on very dangerous territory indeed.
Deadly Friends
When Dr Clive Jordan’s dazzling career is brought to an abrupt end by a bullet, his colleagues are devastated – especially the female ones. If the doctor hadn’t been as discreet as an undertaker’s cough, Detective Inspector Charlie Priest would suspect a jealous husband. But it’s not going to be that simple. Charlie knows for certain there’s a killer on the loose – and almost certainly a rapist as well. The chances of bagging either of them seem slim, but Charlie’s a lot tougher and smarter than his affable manner indicates, and that’s bad news for the villains on his patch.
Some by Fire
Charlie Priest was a newly promoted sergeant on the Leeds force when he was called to the scene of a tragic
fire, deliberately set. Now a DI in nearby Heckley, Charlie jumps at the chance to reopen the investigation when a message left by a suicide victim suggests a new lead. Meanwhile, Charlie’s under pressure to apprehend the burglars who’re playing a dangerous game with wealthy elderly couples. By a combination of luck, detective work and, Charlie would say, soaring flights of the investigative imagination, he is soon closing in on the perpetrators of both crimes. But a cornered villain can be dangerous for a copper who’ll take every kind of risk in the hunt for justice.
Chill Factor
Super-salesman Tony Silkstone wreaks a terrible revenge when he comes home to discover his wife dead, apparently strangled by her lover after a sex game that went wrong. But Detective Inspector Charlie Priest is the investigating officer, and he cannot be convinced that this murder is as cut and dried as it seems. When a hitman comes to town, Charlie is more interested in identifying the proposed target than in arresting the hitman, a strategy that produces surprising results. And when links are found between Mrs Silkstone’s killer and the murder of a young girl in another part of the country, Charlie follows the trail only to discover that he is suddenly faced with difficult questions about his friends and his feelings towards them.
Laughing Boy
Laura Heeley was just an average mother of two, but at the age of thirty-eight her life was swiftly taken from her, stabbed in the back on the way home from bingo. Colinette Jones was a popular, attractive and intelligent student, but she has been strangled, her body dumped on the roadside. What is the connection between the two victims? Detective Inspector Charlie Priest must solve the mystery, though with no clear motive and police movements restricted by foot-and-mouth disease this proves an increasingly frustrating task. As the number of victims mounts, it becomes clear to Priest that this could be his biggest challenge yet …
Limestone Cowboy
DI Charlie Priest is wise-cracking his way through his daily routine, but it’s not long before the clouds roll in. Someone has been tampering with food tins in the local supermarket. A national scare ensues and if Charlie doesn’t act fast he could be dealing with a murder inquiry. As if that wasn’t enough, he learns that an organised dog-fighting ring has set up operations nearby. Charlie’s relationship with Rosie has reached a rocky patch too. When Charlie gets to the bottom of her change of heart he is somewhat concerned, and offers his help. But, as he’s about to learn, sometimes helping only makes things worse …
Over the Edge
Joe Crozier, a businessman with a decidedly shady past, is enjoying an evening of being wined and dined. But after refusing to sell his nightclub, the Painted Pony, he is bound and gagged, and takes a silent and deadly dip into the nearby river. Meanwhile, DI Charlie Priest is called to the murder scene of the famous mountaineer Tony Krabbe, who has been attacked with his own ice axe. Charlie’s love-life then takes a turn for the worse. He is desperate to seek out the truth in the two murder cases, but can love and violent death ever make comfortable bedfellows … or will Charlie finally be pushed over the edge?
Shooting Elvis
Is selling your employer’s confidential records enough to warrant a particularly sadistic murder? Acting DCI Charlie Priest asks himself when handed the file on a bizarre murder. Appearances deceive, and it transpires that the victim may have been chosen simply because of his physical appearance. And when another body turns up, Charlie begins to wonder if he himself is the catalyst that motivates the killer. Before long he is embroiled in much more than a hunt for a murderer – now it is personal.
Grief Encounters
The monthly superintendents’ meetings never hold much excitement for DI Charlie Priest, but this time he is in for a surprise. DCS Colin Swainby is to resign, quietly and without fuss, because certain allegations have been made against him. Allegations involving a woman, and it’s not his wife. When MP Edward Gross finds himself similarly compromised, he also opts for a quiet exit, but his has a far more permanent outcome. Priest knows there must be a connection – he has to prove it before the body count starts escalating.
A Very Private Murder
DI Charlie Priest is on gardening leave – the neighbours have complained about his weeds – when the call comes. Ghislaine Curzon, girlfriend of one of the royal princes, is in Heckley to open the Curzon Centre, a new shopping mall and conference facility. But as she reveals the commemorative plaque it looks like someone has got to it first, defacing it with a single obscene word in foot-high red letters. The visiting dignitaries are aghast and the chief constable insists on Charlie investigating the case. When the mayor of Heckley and driving force behind the construction of the controversial new mall is found murdered, killed by a single shot to the head, the investigation takes a deadly turn. It’s going to take more than standard police procedure to crack this case.
About the Author
STUART PAWSON had a career as a mining engineer, followed by a spell working for the probation service, before he became a full-time writer. He lives in Fairburn, Yorkshire, and when not hunched over the word processor likes nothing more than tramping across the moors which often feature in his stories. He is a member of the Murder Squad and the Crime Writers’ Association.
www.stuartpawson.com
By Stuart Pawson
IN THE DI CHARLIE PRIEST SERIES
The Picasso Scam
The Mushroom Man
The Judas Sheep
Last Reminder
Deadly Friends
Some by Fire
Chill Factor
Laughing Boy
Limestone Cowboy
Over the Edge
Shooting Elvis
Grief Encounters
A Very Private Murder
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
13 Charlotte Mews
London W1T 4EJ
www.allisonandbusby.com
First published in Great Britain in 1997.
This ebook edition first published in 2012.
Copyright © 1997 by STUART PAWSON
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–1290–8