AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Hang on, isn’t this guy a timewaster?’ Bryant asked as they neared the address in Dudley Wood. ‘You’ve spoken to him already.’
‘You know, if you listened to everything I say instead of half of it, you’d know what I said.’
‘Yes, but then I wouldn’t get to hear that note of barely concealed contempt in your voice that I so enjoy.’
‘I thought he was a timewaster, but he actually taught the boys English at Welton.’
She chose not to add that it was only for a few short months.
‘That one,’ she said, spying the number of the address he’d left her.
Bryant pulled into the small driveway of a three-storey townhouse as her phone began to ring. It was a number she didn’t recognise, but as she was dealing with Traffic as well as her own case, she had no choice but to answer it.
‘Stone.’
‘Inspector, it’s Lynne…Penn’s girlfriend. We met back—’
‘I know who you are, Lynne. We worked a major case together. What’s up?’
‘Penn just called. He’s cancelled our picnic. It’s our anniversary and I know he feels shit. I get it, honest, but is there any way I could drop by the station and grab him for an hour later, surprise him before I go on shift, so he knows it’s not a problem and that I’m not angry?’
Kim understood the pressures the job put on personal relationships. For every marriage that made it, there were probably two that didn’t. And the ruination of this love story wasn’t going to be on her conscience.
‘No problem at all – enjoy,’ Kim said before ending the call.
Bryant smiled at her as they got out of the car.
‘What?’ she asked.
‘You really are a nice person when you want to be.’
‘Yeah, just watch how nice I can be if you start spreading that rumour,’ she said, approaching the front door.
Ryan West answered on the first knock. ‘Hey, Inspector, good to see you again,’ he said, stepping aside and nodding towards Bryant.
Kim introduced him as she took in the teacher’s attire.
The open-neck shirt and loose tie were the same, but the smart black trousers had been replaced with grey joggers.
‘Skype class,’ he explained, leading them into the kitchen, where his laptop was open. ‘Just finished an online lesson with a group of Afghan refugees. Already grasped the concept of a dangling participle quicker than many of my students.’
Kim regarded him blankly.
‘Not important,’ he said, closing the laptop and pointing to the chairs. ‘How can I help?’
‘We’ve been talking to Lenny Baldwin about the Psycho Six.’
Ryan shook his head. ‘Bloody hell, I’d forgotten that’s what some people used to call them. To be fair, they were pretty horrific. Some more than others.’
‘Would you happen to have remembered their full names?’
‘Um, hang on,’ he said, tapping the table and searching his memory. ‘You already know of two,’ he went on, counting them off on his fingers. ‘There was Ian Perkins.’ He shuddered.
‘The ringleader?’
‘Definitely. Then there was Nathan Yates, Dean Newton and Leyton…ooh Leyton Parks – yes, I think that’s it. I’ve been trying to remember since we last spoke.’
Bryant added the missing details into his notebook.
