Goodbye My Precious Child Page 20
“He’s a serial killer, I have no doubts about that.”
The solicitor, Miss Vaughan, inserted her legal pad in her briefcase. “Seems that way to me. You have to find the evidence to back up that claim, Inspector.”
“I have him nailed on two murders. I’ll do everything in my power to find the rest of his victims.”
Epilogue
“You look shattered, Sal, come in.”
She hugged Lorne, and they joined Tony in the kitchen which was still littered with dozens of boxes. Sally raised her hand. “Don’t say it. I don’t care if the place is a mess. I have all this to look forward to in a few weeks.”
“Nice to see you, Sal. I’ll make a coffee. You two grab a seat,” Tony replied.
“Will you be taking time off for the move?” Lorne asked, reaching for Sally’s hand and holding it tight.
Sally smiled at her. “No. Simon has it all in hand. A removal firm is coming in. They’ll be with us a couple of days, packing up our stuff and then moving it to the other house. That’s usually where things end, but Simon has agreed to pay them extra on top so they’ll sort the new house out for us at the other end.”
Lorne let out a whistle. “Wow, I guess it really does pay to have money then.”
“I wouldn’t know,” she replied, feeling embarrassed by her good fortune rather than her sudden wealth which she really didn’t consider was hers. “Anyway, I needed to take a breather from work and was hoping I could run something past you.”
“I’m all ears. You know I’ll help out if I can. What’s up?”
Tony joined them and distributed the mugs. “Want me to stay or to bugger off?”
Sally smiled up at him. “Please stay. I know anything I say to you and Lorne won’t go any further.”
“You’ve got that right.” Tony smiled, reassuring her.
She exhaled an exhausted breath. She’d spent the past few days questioning Louie Pickrel. Some hours had been excruciatingly boring, as if he was intent on stringing things out on purpose, while dotted in between were hours where he couldn’t say enough. It was clearly all a game to him. Sally had been forced to keep an even temper throughout, not to get drawn into his futile mind games.
Sally explained how the interview with the accused had gone. Both Lorne and Tony listened intently, not uttering a word until Sally stopped and asked for their opinion. “Given what I’ve just told you, what do you think? He’s one for mind games, I’m aware of that. Do you think he’s toying with me or do you think I should take seriously what he said about the other nine bodies?”
Lorne shook her head and sipped at her coffee. “While I can understand your dilemma, I’d be inclined to believe him. Nevertheless, that will surely open up a can of worms for you. How long has he been a travelling salesman?”
“Around thirteen years, since he was almost nineteen. My thinking is that if he can sink to the depths of killing his own sister then he’s not going to think twice about killing anyone else, is he?”
“There is that; however, in his sister’s case, well, that sounds like it was exceptional circumstances, in that he set out to punish his own mother. What motive would he have for killing all the others?”
“Except to satisfy the thrill it gave him,” Tony piped up.
“True enough,” Lorne replied. “Damn, I’m afraid I really wouldn’t know how to proceed if something like this fell into my lap, Sal. Morally, I guess I’d want to sink my teeth into it; however, you have enough on your damn plate as it is, dealing with Falkirk’s screw-ups.”
“I know.” Sally pulled a lock of her hair and flinched. “Unless…”
Lorne narrowed her eyes and glanced at Tony then back at Sally. “Unless?”
“Maybe we could all do it, you know, in our spare time. At the end of the day, those families deserve to find out the truth about what happened to their loved ones. Would you guys be willing to work with me on this?”
“Can we discuss it and get back to you? After all, we’re both supposed to be retired nowadays.”
“Take all the time you need. Give me an answer by the end of the week?” Sally grinned.
“Gee, two days to contemplate things. Okay, we’ll get in touch soon.”
Sally raised her mug and encouraged Lorne and Tony to do the same. “No pressure. It’s still fabulous to have you here in Norfolk, living next door to us. To neighbours and what lies ahead of us, whatever that may be.”
“To wonderful neighbours and the adventures ahead of us,” Lorne replied, giving Tony a knowing look.
He rolled his eyes and said, “To neighbours and the trials and tribulations ahead of us.”
THE END
NOTE TO THE READER
Dear reader,
I hope you enjoyed the latest instalment in the Sally Parker series there will be more in this series later on this year, after all, Sally and Lorne have work to do.
If you enjoy my work, perhaps you’ll consider reading some of the other series I have penned over the past few years. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the Hero Nelson detective series, I’m actually in the process of writing book five in the series at present. The first book is TORN APART
As always, thank you for choosing to read my book out of the millions available today. If you could find it in your heart to leave a review, I’d truly appreciate it.
M. A. Comley