Sykes arrived
not long after two other police cars and four officers who immediately secured
the crime site and gathered up all the witnesses.
Sykes arrived
soon after the officers with another detective, a woman, who proceeded to
direct the officers while Sykes picked out Felicity and went straight to her.
"Are you
alright?"
Felicity was
anything but alright, that time between the incident, the removal of the body
in such a swift and efficient manner, and the arrival of the police, she had
turned over a number of scenarios in her mind, none of them good.
"No. That could have been me."
"It
wasn't, and I doubt they, whoever they are, were after you, though a warning
not to get too involved in this might be appropriate. What were you doing here anyway?"
"Following
a suspect in a case, that led to Argeter.
He's one of Mr. Walthenson's friends."
"Was,
perhaps. Yes. Anything else."
"He met
up with Alex Portman."
"Who
is?"
"Possible
candidate for the upcoming council election."
"And how
is she relevant to which of your investigations?"
"Harry
and I are checking out two of the Walthenson's practice women, I've got Alicia
Wentworth, he's got his paternal grandmother, Giselle. Alicia met up with Alex Portman, and curious,
I switched to Alex who led me here."
"Did you
see it happen?"
"No,
there was what I thought, and others too, and explosion behind us, which was a
distraction, apparently, long enough to divert our attention, so I only just
saw the aftermath, Argeter collapsing, and then, very quickly after that, then
the ambulance that took him away. I took
photos."
"Well
organized, and obviously prepared."
"But how
would they, whoever they are, know that he was here? It's a reasonably random meeting, time and
spot, given Alex wasn't sure when she'd be finished with Alicia, certainly time-wise."
"Tracking
him by cell phone, I suspect."
"You'd
think he'd be smarter than that and be using a burner."
"Perhaps."
In the
distance, his partner was calling Jim over to the spot where Argeter fell.
"Stay
here. I'm going to Argeter’s place
before anyone else gets there. Let me
sort this out, and I'll be back in a few minutes."
© Charles Heath 2020-2022
