A Room Full of Killers, Michael Wood [best books for students to read txt] 📗

has a history of inappropriate behaviour towards young boys. He should not have been working at Starling House. What the hell was Kate Moloney thinking when she hired these people?’

‘Well, leave Richard and Fred to me and Christian. We’ll interview them. Why don’t you go for a coffee or something? Or maybe go and see Adele?’

As she came down from the adrenaline rush of the emergency, Matilda’s emotions raced to the surface and tears started to fall. ‘I don’t want to be on my own,’ she cried.

Like everybody else Matilda was human and had the same emotions. However, she saw it as a sign of weakness if she showed those emotions in front of her detectives. She was their leader, and as their leader she had to be stoic and strong in the face of adversity. When everything else was crumbling around them, Matilda had to rally them into some semblance of order.

When she started to cry, Sian quickly closed the door behind her and stood in front of her so nobody outside could see. She had known Matilda long enough to understand she wouldn’t want her weaknesses made public.

When the tears stopped, she dried her eyes and walked out of the room with her head down, not making eye contact with anyone. She managed to make it to the car park without being accosted and drove away before the swarm of press could notice.

Adele looked up as the swinging doors to the mortuary opened. She saw Matilda and went back to putting a lifeless body in one of the fridges. She closed the door with an echoing slam.

‘Matilda, excellent timing. I was just about to call … what’s wrong?’ She saw the pale look of anguish on her best friend’s face.

‘Rory’s been beaten. It doesn’t look good,’ she replied, barely audible through the tears.

‘Oh God, no.’

Adele loved Rory. He was the adorable member of Matilda’s team, who was always there with a joke or sarcastic comment. It was never annoying. It helped that he was gorgeous too.

‘What happened?’

Matilda filled Adele in over a strong coffee and a packet of Jammie Dodgers.

‘I know Starling House has always been shrouded in secrecy but I never expected abuse and bullying,’ Adele said. ‘I bet Val’s kicked off, hasn’t she?’

‘She certainly has. Once this gets out she’s going to be in serious trouble for allowing it to go unnoticed all this time. I doubt she’ll be here by Christmas.’

‘That’s not fair. I like Val. She’s been a good ACC.’

‘She’s put up with a lot from me. Anyone else and I’d have been out when I screwed up the Carl Meagan case.’

‘Look, if you can solve the murder case and get Thomas Hartley out then that’ll go for you and for Val. Imagine the story when it’s revealed there was an innocent man sentenced to a crime he didn’t commit, and you, and Valerie, against all the odds, managed to get him released.’

‘That’s all hit the fan too. Val found out I was looking into the Hartley case and warned me off. She doesn’t want an argument between forces.’

‘But if he’s innocent … ’

‘“If” is the right word. There’s only me who thinks so and I don’t have proof.’

‘Then get proof.’

‘How, when I’m not allowed anywhere near the bloody case?’

‘Since when has that stopped you?’

‘Adele, I’ve let Thomas Hartley distract me from what I’m supposed to be doing. If I hadn’t then Callum fucking Nixon would not have beaten Rory half to death.’

‘You don’t know that. For Christ’s sake, Matilda, you can’t be responsible for everything that happens in that station. Rory is a grown man. He knew he was alone with a double killer. He made that decision. Not you. Now, I’m sorry he’s been hurt and I really hope he makes a full recovery, but I’m not going to sit here while you go all maudlin again over something out of your control.’

‘I’m not being maudlin,’ she said.

‘Yes, you are. You’re feeling sorry for yourself. I love you to pieces, Matilda, you know that, but you need to stop this. Look at me,’ Matilda continued to look into her empty coffee cup. ‘I said, look at me.’

Reluctantly, Matilda looked up. Her eyes were full of tears. There were white lines down her face and dark circles around her eyes. She looked as if she had aged ten years since entering the mortuary.

‘First of all, you look like shit.’

‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome. Secondly, stop whining and do something.’

‘What?’

‘Well, for a start you can listen to my report on Jacob Brown seeing as nobody could be bothered to turn up for the post-mortem this morning like you said they would. Then, after that, you and I are going to have something to eat—’

‘I couldn’t stomach anything.’

‘Well, I could and you’re bloody going to eat for a change. Then, I’m going to phone Pat Campbell and all three of us are going to Manchester to find out who killed Thomas Hartley’s sodding family.’

‘That’s not going to happen. I could lose my job.’

‘Do you think, hand on heart, that Thomas Hartley is innocent?’

‘Yes,’ Matilda replied quietly.

‘You hesitated. Are you sure?’

‘I’m not sure about anything anymore, Adele.’

‘Jesus. OK, I know you’re not going to rest until you know the truth, one way or another, are you?’

‘No.’

‘Well then; if you’re going to lose your job, wouldn’t you rather lose it knowing you’ve done everything in your power to free a potentially innocent man?’

‘Yes.’

‘There you go then.’ Adele handed Matilda a box of tissues. ‘Now dry your eyes, and blow your nose.’

‘Jacob Brown did not die from hanging,’ Adele began. She was now sitting at her desk with a fresh cup of coffee, and a file balanced on her lap. ‘He was strangled first with a different kind of rope before being hanged. It was obviously made to look like suicide but it was so sloppy a boy scout could have noticed.’

‘Maybe it was rushed,’ Matilda said. She too had a fresh cup of coffee. She also had a balled-up tissue in