Whisper For The Reaper, Jack Gatland [good books for high schoolers txt] 📗

casual catch up that he’d considered it to be. ‘There’s not a lot to go on.’

‘No leads?’

‘Not for murder, no.’

Declan considered this. ‘Who’s taking the case?’

‘Nobody,’ Freeman replied. ‘It’s a poisoned chalice, Declan. Your father tried for years to find the so-called killer, and if he couldn’t do it, then nobody can.’

‘I’m at a loose end at the moment,’ Declan continued. ‘Let me have a shot at it.’

This threw Freeman. ‘You want to work here?’ He asked. ‘I thought you were on injury leave, effectively suspended?’

‘From the City of London police,’ Declan nodded. ‘But not from the Thames Valley police.’

‘You want to be seconded here?’

‘No need. Just allow me to consult,’ Declan now leaned closer. ‘Look, we both know dad was fixated on this. And that it’s happened again within months of his death seems a little convenient. I’m wasting away in his house and could do with something to take my mind off it. Let me look into it.’

‘Alone?’

‘Maybe. Depends if anyone else is stupid enough to assist me,’ Declan smiled. ‘You can provide me with a liaison to the station. That De’Geer chap could do it.’

‘De’Geer’s an excellent choice, actually,’ Freeman was musing as he considered this. ‘Used to go out with Ellie Randall as a kid.’

‘Craig’s sister?’

‘Yeah. They were about the same age. Summer romance. I think it was what made him want to be a copper. Bloody idiot.’

There was a moment of silence.

‘You’re a loose cannon, Declan,’ Freeman finally admitted. ‘I heard the stories of your time in the SIS, told by your father. You have a reputation for killing your suspects. That’s if you’re not punching them out.’

‘That’s harsh,’ Declan protested. ‘The priest deserved it. Ford was corrupt. Derek Salmon killed himself, as did Susan Devington. The Beachampton incident was because of a ton of gangsters trying to kill each other, and SCO 19 killed DI Frost after he shot me...’ he paused.

‘Yeah, okay, there’s a lot,’ he admitted. ‘But, if this is a serial killer, he’s a vicious, sadistic bastard and needs to be put down. And who’s better at doing that than me?’

Freeman looked out of the window, considering this for a moment.

‘Loose cannons escape their mountings,’ he said. ‘They fall out of the ships and sink to the bottom of the sea. I don’t want to see that happen to you, if only for your late father’s sake.’

Declan nodded. ‘I can’t promise I’ll be an A-student, but I’ll do my best. And if I can’t work it out, I’ll give it back and walk away,’ he replied. ‘It’s win-win for you. If we succeed, you take the credit for bringing it in. We fail? You never backed it. I also know from my dad’s notes that you believed these were suspicious as much as he did.’

He waited, let the moment stretch, letting Freeman warm to the idea before he continued.

‘So how about we go through what you have so far, and I go catch us a serial killer?’

6

The Game Is Afoot

It was half an hour later when De’Geer and Jess entered the briefing room to see Declan and Freeman sitting at a table, a selection of files distributed around them.

‘Good, you’re here,’ Freeman rose from the table, looking at De’Geer. ‘I’m putting you under DI Walsh’s remit for the moment. Do what he says, unless it’s bloody stupid.’ With that, Freeman nodded to Declan and left the room.

‘What’s this?’ Jess was already sitting at the table, working through the files. ‘What’s a Red Reaper?’

De’Geer stiffened at this. ‘You’re hunting the killer?’ he asked. Declan nodded at this.

‘You have a problem with that?’

’No,’ De’Geer stood beside the table but made no attempt to sit. ‘I was one of the first on scene at the golf club.’

‘And you knew Craig Randall,’ Declan added. ‘Back in 2012.’

‘I knew his sister,’ De’Geer corrected. ‘Craig just happened to be there. I was also twelve.’

‘Can you tell me what happened?’ Declan asked. De’Geer glanced nervously at Jess. ‘Don’t worry about her,’ Declan continued. ‘She’s been going through dad’s old records for weeks without telling me.’

Jess looked up, surprised at Declan’s knowledge of her surreptitious activities, as De’Geer finally relented and sat down.

‘My family moved here when I was about eight,’ De’Geer started. ‘We lived in Aldershot before that, and my father worked in a rare book shop in Henley Upon Thames. I didn’t know that many people, and I was already tall for my age, so I started hanging out in the campsite a mile up the road. It was an easier time back then. And children, especially ones on holiday, make friends quickly.’

Declan nodded at this. ‘I used to do the same thing,’ he admitted. ‘Probably before you were even born.’

‘That’s likely,’ Jess replied as she read through the files. ‘He’s in his twenties and you’re a hundred and two.’

‘We’re being professional right now,’ Declan chided. Jess looked up in horror.

‘Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,’ she apologised. ‘A hundred and two, Guv.’

‘Tell me about the Randalls,’ Declan ignored this.

‘Nothing to tell,’ De’Geer explained. ‘They were regulars. Came almost every weekend for years. I got to know Ellie, the daughter, when I was nine. Craig was twelve then, I think. He’d been coming to Hurley every summer for years. He would show us all the cool hiding places, or the best places to leap into the Thames. Kid stuff. But then by the time I was eleven, maybe twelve, he changed.’

‘How?’

‘He turned fifteen.’

‘Troubling age, fifteen,’ Declan watched Jess as he stated this. She smiled but kept reading.

‘Yeah,’ De’Geer, not getting the joke continued. ‘He was darker now. More vicious. He would help small children climb high into the trees near the campsite and then leave them. He’d take out tent pegs of other campers at night, or pour water onto sleeping bags when nobody watched.’

‘Sounds like a darling,’ Declan muttered. It wasn’t the word he really thought, but he was trying to be polite.

‘Everyone knew it was him, but they couldn’t prove it,’ De’Geer looked around