Michael Wood - Outside Looking In - A darkly compelling crime novel with a shocking twist

‘Good question. Is it definitely his blood?’

‘Another good question. I’ll answer that in a bit. When we got him back to the mortuary and removed his clothes we found him covered in very fresh bruises. He didn’t jump. He was either pushed or thrown.’

There was silence while Adele allowed Sian to take in what she had just said.

‘Why would anyone want to throw an 80-year-old man from the roof of a block of flats?’

‘I’ve no idea. Fortunately, I don’t have to find the answer to that question, that’s your job.’

‘So, tell me whose blood it is then.’

‘Are you ready for this?’

‘If you decide to cut to a commercial break I’ll slap the make-up off your face.’

‘The blood belongs to Lois Craven.’

‘What? How?’

‘My best guess is that whoever committed the shooting in Ringinglow went to London Road, for whatever reason, got into a bit of a tussle with poor old Mr Beecham, and pushed him over the edge,’ Adele said. She sat back in her seat and folded her arms. She had a slight smug look on her face, a look she always had when she delivered ground-breaking news.

‘This is very … I don’t understand this at all,’ Sian readily admitted. ‘You need to speak to Matilda.’

‘Well I’ve called her mobile but she’s not answering. I think I’ve filled up her voicemail.’

‘What about her landline?’

‘Straight to answer machine. I didn’t see her much yesterday after the post-mortem. How was she?’

‘I hardly spoke to her.’

Aaron stormed in and kicked the door closed behind him. ‘Thirty minutes I’ve just spent on the phone, twenty of them on hold, only to be told that Kevin Hardaker’s manager is off sick and the relief was from a store in Derby and didn’t know him. Why couldn’t the bloke who picked up the phone tell me that? No wonder their sales are falling. Gormless pillocks.’

‘Good morning to you too, Aaron,’ Sian said over the top of her computer.

‘Yes, whatever.’

‘You haven’t seen Matilda on your travels have you?’

‘No.’

‘How was she last night before you left?’ Sian asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Was she happy, sad, fed up, excited, what?’

‘Well she was a bit low. There was an article in The Star about the Carl Meagan anniversary the other day. I saw her reading the story a couple of times in her office. Then there was something in last night’s edition about a conversation she’d had with the new crime reporter. The ACC called her in towards the end of the day but I didn’t see her after that.’

‘How was she when she went to the ACC?’

‘A bit stressed.’

‘Right. OK. Cheers, Aaron.’

When Aaron was out of earshot Adele turned back to Sian and said, ‘I think I’m going to pop round to her house, see if she’s OK.’

‘Do you want me to come with you?’

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