Friday 23 November 2018

Episode 17 - Explanation

“I should charge you with obstructing justice Walthenson.”
Sykes had escorted Harry to an interview room, told him to sit, and then glared at him for a few minutes while he worked out what he was going to say.
Harry knew it would be only a matter of time before the police discovered he had been at the scene of the crime, spoken only minutes before the victim was shot, and was then seen speeding away.
“I was trying to catch up with the red car that a man who came out of the bushes got into.”
Harry had given him the same information about the car as he had to Felicity.
“And there were two people in the car, a man and a woman.”
“It looked like a man who came out of the bushes, but it could have been a woman.”
“Where did the car go?”
“I don’t know.  They suddenly realized I was following them and they got away from me.  I’m not exactly a rally driver, nor is my car a genuine pursuit vehicle.  It was hard enough just to keep up.”
He kept the part about the car belonging to the Outtel Finance Company to himself.  Sykes would find out soon enough, but he wanted a head start before Sykes got there.
Sykes sat opposite him.  This interview was not over.
“What were you doing there.  And don’t try to tell me it was a coincidence.”
Should he tell Sykes about the cases involving the Jones brothers?  Given Sykes mood, he might have.  Perhaps just a part.
“The victim’s brother asked me to investigate if his wife was having an affair with the victim.”  It didn’t sound quite the same out loud as it had in his head.
“Jennifer and Joseph?”  He snorted in derision.  “Those two hate each other.”
“The brothers or Jennifer and Joseph?”
“Both.  If that’s what Al said, then it’s the pot called the kettle black, if you want to know.  I’d walk away from them Harry.  The Jones boys are nothing but trouble.”
“It’s a case, better than chasing lost cats.”
“This’ll get you dead if you start poking around in their business.  Al’s a killer, and Joe, well, he was just downright mean.  Walk away Harry, while you still can.  Go.  I don’t want to see you again.  Understand?”
Harry nodded and stood.
There was no way he was leaving this alone, not now.

Relieved, he stepped out into the fresh air, away from the artificial heat and stuffiness of the interview room.  It wasn’t going to be the last time he would end up in that room.
It was early afternoon, the time of day' when the heat should make itself felt, but it didn’t.  Unseasonably cold, the temperature was hovering around 8 degrees Celsius. 
A sharp gust of wind swept some garbage up the street, and he watched it for a minute until some paper caught on a light post.
Then he saw it.  The red car.


© Charles Heath 2016-2018

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