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

pulled up outside The Olde Bell, turning off its flashing lights as Monroe and Bullman exited, nodding a thanks to the driver as the car returned towards the M4 and London.

Making their way to the Library, Monroe opened the door and stopped in surprise. He’d expected to find Declan, Billy and Anjli there, maybe even Rosanna Marcos, but what he faced was a little more than that.

‘You’re here. Good,’ DCI Freeman nodded as he turned back to the others in the room; Billy, De’Geer, Anjli, Doctor Marcos and PC Davey. ‘DCI Monroe and DCI Bullman will also assist in the operation.’

‘What’s going on?’ Monroe said as he entered the room. ‘Can’t help but think we’re missing something.’

‘That’s because you are,’ Anjli replied to Monroe before nodding to Bullman. ‘Ma’am.’

‘Catch us up,’ Bullman said as she glanced down at the newspaper on the table. ‘We’re still on German time.’

‘Declan’s missing,’ Billy explained. ‘And so is Jess. We think Karl and Ilse did it.’

‘Karl Schnitter is our person of interest, but he’s clever,’ Freeman explained. ‘He was in the bar of The Olde Bell on the night of Nathanial Wing’s death, seen by multiple witnesses and, until we can prove he used a secret tunnel to kill Rolfe Müller, he has an alibi for that too. However, we have a witness stating that she saw him in 2012, and your work in Germany has gained us intel that shows that he was a US government sponsored informant, and given immunity from all crimes committed.’

He grimaced.

’The same US government that is sending someone tonight to pick him up and whisk him away to a new identity, and who have tied my hands on getting anyone else onto this case.’

‘You’re here, and that’s what matters,’ Monroe replied. Freeman nodded a thanks to this as Billy took over.

‘Also, hospital records show that Karl was the only other person who visited Christine Walsh the night of her death, and we have witnesses claiming they saw him in a pub with Patrick Walsh the night that he died,’ he said.

‘With Ilse Müller,’ Anjli added. ‘Who had personal contact with Nathanial Wing before his death, and no alibi for her whereabouts that night. Whose handwriting and notepaper matches the suicide note that we found in Rolfe Müller’s pocket—‘

‘That has contractions that match her own writing style,’ Billy added. ‘And who was also with Karl Schnitter and therefore is his alibi for when Rolfe Müller died.’

‘We also had a report from the detective you chatted to, Margaret Li,’ Doctor Marcos interjected. ‘Patrick Walsh’s blood work on the night that he died showed no major drugs in his system, but there was some erroneous data. A substance that couldn’t be recognised until Bayer Ingelhelm contacted her in relation to this. Ilse was fired for taking an untrialled medicine to a convention in the UK, two months ago. The medicine was however taken off trials because of severe side effects.’

‘Heart related ones?’ Monroe offered. Doctor Marcos nodded.

‘It’s a proprietary medicine, so we’re having issues getting a sample, but we learned of some of the substances in it.’

‘And these are the mystery ones in Walsh’s blood?’ Bullman asked. Doctor Marcos nodded.

‘Extensively.’

‘So now we have a link to Ilse and Patrick Walsh.’

‘A possible one,’ Freeman said, bringing attention back to him. ‘None of this is solid. It’s all circumstantial. We have enough here to bring her in for questioning, but not for anything concrete. We can’t prove she gave Patrick Walsh the drug. Even if she did, we can’t prove it’s the same substance that he had in his body. We can’t prove that she was there when Nathanial Wing died, but we have her leaving The Olde Bell on the night in question and turning right.’

‘Why’s that important?’ Bullman was confused here. ‘I mean, I’ve only seen your village for five minutes…’

‘Ilse claims she would walk along the Thames at night, ma’am,’ De’Geer explained. ‘If she was, she would turn left. Turning right leads you south out of Hurley.’

‘And it’s the direction you go when heading to the Golf Club,’ Monroe added. ‘So the plan is to bring in Ilse. Nice. So why isn’t Declan here?’

‘That’s the reason we’re all here,’ Anjli replied. ‘We went to the house and found it trashed. The door open, and neither Declan nor Jess are there; Declan’s phone is still in the Audi, on the passenger seat. But we found this.’

She looked to Doctor Marcos who picked up a clear bag from the table. Inside it was an empty syringe.

‘It’s a strong sedative,’ she replied. ‘We don’t know if Declan, Jess or both were taken, and the doorbell footage from across the road didn’t pick up motion. But neither of them are contactable, and if Karl and Ilse are intending to disappear, they’ll want to settle all their scores first.’

‘Basically, there’s a very strong chance that Declan, Jess or both are about to become the last victims of the Red Reaper, before the bloody CIA gives him a new identity.’

27

Two Minutes To Midnight

Declan had done everything that had been asked of him. He’d returned to the house, leaving his phone in the Audi when he swapped cars, and clambered into the Peugeot 308 that was parked outside, taking the key from the wheel arch and climbing in. On the passenger seat was a single piece of notepaper, with four words written on it.

DO DROP IN, DECLAN

So it was the Dew Drop Inn. That made sense. Anjli had mentioned that it was closed for renovations, and the contractors wouldn’t be there so late in the evening.

It felt strange being back in the car again; he’d used this to drive to Woking and then to London, all while hiding from the police, wanted for a murder he hadn’t committed, and a claim of treason that wasn’t warranted. And in a way, he was hiding from the police again.

Except this time, he knew the police would work out what to do. He trusted his team