by A L Fraine
Kate pulled her cuffs out and slapped them on Veronica’s wrists. “I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder…” she said and recited the police caution.
Harold looked up at Jon and smiled. “I heard most of that,” he said.
“Were you just out there?”
“I got a taxi home,” he nodded. “Good work, Detective. You did well.”
Jon shook his head. “No, it wasn’t us. It was Lizzy. She did the hard work, we just followed the breadcrumbs.”
“So, what was the clue that she left? You mentioned it earlier in your speech.”
Jon smiled. “She had Kathlyn’s diary on her, and the final entry read, ‘Pan speaks the truth, even today..’”
“Aaah, Pan. Of course. Lizzy always liked that carving. Clever girl.”
“Where did she get the diary?”
“From me,” Harold replied. “Kath had kept a diary since she was a child and wrote in it diligently. But they were hers. Private. I didn’t even look in them after she’d died, but I couldn’t bear to part with them. I think Lizzy must have sneaked a look at them and taken one.”
“I see. Well, I’m glad she did.” Jon sighed. “I’m sorry I had to drag that all up for you again.”
“It’s all for the best,” he replied. “I know who my family is now, at least, and for that, I thank you.”
“Thank Lizzy, not me,” Jon replied with a smile.
Harold nodded.
“Ready?” Kate asked, leading Veronica out by the cuffs.
“Let’s go,” Jon replied.
26
Pulling out his phone, Jon glanced at the screen and recognised the number. “Hold up,” he said, looking up at Kate and Nathan. They were standing in a car park, just outside High Down Prison, which loomed large up ahead.
Kate and Nathan stopped and waited as he answered his phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mr Pilgrim? It’s Peter Sutton from Dawson Estate Agents. I thought you’d like to know that we’ve just confirmed a completion date for you, on the twenty-eighth of May, when you’ll be moving in.”
“Excellent, that’s great, thank you.”
“No problem, sir. We’ll be in touch with the details soon, okay?”
“Great.”
“Have a good day, sir. Bye.”
Jon hung up and smiled. Pleased that living in hotels and other people’s houses was finally coming to an end, and he would have his own place. He was about to slip his phone back into his pocket, when it briefly buzzed again as a text message appeared. Opening it without thinking, he saw the contact listed as Evil Bitch.
Sydney.
Congratulations on the Lockwood case, Jon, it read. You don’t disappoint. I hope to see you soon.
Jon grimaced at the message, annoyed by it. He deleted it quickly, and returned the phone to his pocket, doing his best not to think about her.
“Good news?” Kate asked.
“I’ve got a completion date for the move. Twenty-eighth of May.”
“Oh, excellent. That’s great news. A place of your own. Do you feel like a big boy now?”
“Oh, absolutely,” he replied, puffing out his chest.
“That’s great,” Nathan agreed.
“Thanks.”
“So, how did Ray react to you wrapping up the Lockwood case?”
“I think he was pleased. Don’t you, Kate?” Jon asked.
“Yeah, I think so. Veronica’s admitted to it now, so it’s fairly open and shut.”
“I can’t believe you gathered them all in a room like that and revealed the truth. Do you think you’re an Agatha Christie character or something?”
“Ha, topical,” Kate replied.
“Huh?” Jon asked.
“Agatha Christie disappeared in nineteen twenty-six briefly and her car was found at Newlands Corner, just up from Silent Pool. One of the theories in the media frenzy at the time, before she was found, was that she’d drowned in the lake at Silent Pool.”
“You’ve done your research,” Jon remarked.
Kate winked.
“Aaah, well. I guess that all fits then,” Nathan stated. “Still, I think the way you handled that was giving Stingray hives.”
“We got the result we wanted,” Jon replied, shrugging.
“Yeah, good thing too. I bet he’d have had you out if you hadn’t.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Jon replied. “Still, it’s a shame about Jora. I knew that would go nowhere.”
“Yeah, I can’t see him doing much, if any, time for killing Spencer. We’ll have to get him on the next one.”
“Aye.”
“So what’s the deal with this then?” Nathan asked. “Why are we here?”
“Good question. Damon called us over, said us three should get here as soon as possible. He wouldn’t say why.”
“Well, if that doesn’t sound ominous, I don’t know what does,” Nathan replied.
Jon nodded and looked over at Kate, who’d been a little quieter than usual. “You okay?”
She took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just, Abban’s here, isn’t he.” It was a statement, rather than a question.
“Yeah, he is,” Jon replied.
“Thought so.”
“Why? Does that worry you?”
“I don’t know, I just, I have a bad feeling about this,” she replied.
Jon felt her fingers reach for his, so he grasped her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You’ll be okay.”
She smiled and nodded. He held her hand for part of the walk towards the entrance, only letting go as they got closer. Walking in, Jon quickly spotted Damon talking to a prison guard and walked over.
“Aaah, you made it. Good.”
“What’s up?” Jon asked.
“Not here, follow me,” Damon said and led them to some back offices and into a room where a couple of other prison guards sat talking with files out in front of them.
“Guys,” Damon said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
“Inspector,” the guard replied.
“Jon, this is Custodial Manager Peter Thompson,” Damon said, introducing him before running through their names and ranks for Peter.
“Nice to meet you,” Jon said, offering his hand. Peter shook it.
“Likewise.”
“So, Damon has been quite secretive about why we're here,” Jon said.
“Sorry,” Damon replied.
“We’re being careful who we tell about this. However, given your history… Damon thought you should know.”
“Is it Abban?” Kate asked, cutting in.
“It’s related to him,” Peter replied. “Terry Sims, you remember him?”
Jon nodded.
“I do,” Kate replied and then glanced up. “He worked for Abban Devlin. He’s a thug, basically. A huge guy, who calls himself The Dragon.”
“The Dragon?”
“He’s got huge dragon tattoos on his chest and back,” Damon replied.
“Ah, how clever of him,” Jon replied sarcastically.
“He’s been around for a while,” Nathan added. “He attacked me years ago, back when I was married, and then turned up working for Abban where he killed a man for a book.”
“A reasonable man, then?”
“Quite.”
“He’s been fairly good for most of his time in here,” Peter continued. “Kept to himself, but recently he started to get a bit more violent. Then everything went to shit. He somehow organised a small riot on his wing, attacked Abban, killed a guard, and injured several more before finally escaping. We’re still trying to work out how he did it, to be honest.”
“He escaped?” Kate asked.
“He has, yes.”
“Shit,” Nathan hissed.
“And Abban?”
“He’s in the infirmary. He’s in a really bad way. It was touch and go whether he’d survive at one point. He might never walk again, though.”
“Damn,” Jon remark
ed. “Did they not get on?”
“No. Ever since Abban got sent back in after he escaped that convoy, Terry’s been gunning for him. Thinks Abban forced him to take the rap for that case you got him for, but for no good reason. He’s been on something of a rampage ever since.”
“So, he’s pissed off,” Jon replied.
“Extremely,” Peter answered.
“Like I said, I thought you should know,” Damon stated.
“You did right,” Jon replied. “Thanks.”
Jon noticed the look on Kate's face and knew right away she was worried. They chatted for a short while longer before finally setting off back home. Jon dropped Nathan off first, after what was an almost entirely silent ride back.
“You okay?” Jon asked her.
“Erm, I’m not sure, really. No, probably not.”
“He probably won’t be interested in you,” he replied, trying to be as reassuring as possible.
“I know. But, I can’t help but wonder.”
“I understand,” Jon replied, thinking back to some of the worries he had after Charlotte was killed. He could sympathise. They eventually pulled up outside Kate’s block of flats, and Jon turned the engine off. He looked over. “It’s okay to be worried, you know.”
“I know.”
“How about I come in?”
Kate smiled as she looked over at him. “Are you sure you don’t mind? You don’t have to.”
“Seriously, what kind of idiot would I be if I didn’t?”
“I know, but we were taking it slow.”
“There’s slow, and then there’s an arthritic snail with a walking frame slow.”
Kate laughed. “Yeah.”
“Besides, I am your boyfriend, right?”
“I don’t know. Are you sure you want to be in a relationship with Barry the Finger, Tea Witch of the Surrey Downs?”
“I don’t think I’ve got a choice, really. I think I’m under your spell.”
“Ah, my magic is working! So, do you want to come in for a coffee? Or should that be a tea?”
“Either will do,” Jon smiled. “Either will do.”
THE END
Behind the Walls
DCI Pilgrim Book 4
Click here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092DLS79M
Author Note
Thank you for reading this third book in the DCI Pilgrim Series. I’m really enjoying writing these novels, and building the world that Jon, Kate, and the rest of the SIU inhabit.
As you can tell from the ending to this one, I have plans and ideas for where this will go, and I’m looking forward to telling more stories featuring Jon and the gang.
My goal with this one was to tell something akin to the classic, who-done-it mysteries, where it’s everyone in a house, and everyone could be a suspect.
It made the plotting of this one much more complicated as I needed to weave the threads in and out of each other as I built towards the climax. But once I knew the sequence of events, it was then just working out how and in what order they were revealed.
Hopefully, I succeeded and kept you guessing to the end.
See you in book 4.
Kindest Regards,
A L Fraine.
www.alfraineauthor.co.uk
Book List
www.alfraineauthor.co.uk/books
