‘But die meeting he talked about with Vernon is bound to leave a question mark. What iras he up to? Besides, the bird-watcher saw him.’
‘Maybe. Maybe not.’
‘Harry Dickinson is involved. No doubt about it.’
‘A feeling?’
‘No. A certainty.’
He looked cautiously at Fry. Magically, the tension between them seemed to have dispersed as soon as they had begun to talk about the Vernon case. She had needed someone to talk to, and she had been drawn towards him despite the contempt which still lingered in her eyes. Whatever had happened between them, perhaps it could eventually be forgiven, or at least set aside so that they could get on with the job. One day, he might even manage to remember what it was that had happened.
‘All right. So let’s assume Harry’s involved. Consider the possibility, then, that he’s covering up for somebody. Who might that be?’
o
‘Not Graham Vernon, anyway.’
‘No love lost there, certainly.’
‘It has to be family,’ said Cooper.
‘Families stick together, don’t they? They close ranks against
outsiders when there’s trouble.’ ‘It’s what families are for.’ ‘Simeon Holmes, then. His great-nephew.’ ‘Harry would protect him for the sake of the family.’ ‘Family loyalty. They say it’s a powerful motivation.’ ‘But he says he was with about thirty other bikers at Matlock
Bath, nearly twenty miles away,’ said Cooper. ‘Has anybody
managed to break that alibi?’
o
‘Have you tried being a police officer asking for information from bikers about one of their own?’
317
His head was beginning to thump again. For a few minutes, he had almost forgotten the pain.
‘There’s another thing, though, Diane. I think you ought to talk to the bird-watcher again. Gary Edwards.’
‘Him? Why?’
‘There’s something not right about his statement.’
‘That’s true. Dave Rcnnie took that statement. Mr Tailby said himself it wasn’t up to scratch. Rennie never pushed Edwards on the time.’
‘So has he been seen again already?’
O J
Fry frowned. ‘No. I don’t think so. It would have been put
through as an action, but probably got allocated a low priority
when Sherratt was pulled in.’
‘And then just got filed somewhere in the system.’
‘And after they started pulling people off the enquiry …”
‘Yeah, like me, for instance. Talk to him yourself, Diane.
Will you?’
‘You think he can positively tie in Harry? His description is
too vague, you know.’
‘You’ve got to press him on it. There’s something. I just know
there is. You’ve got to do it.’
o
There was a moment’s silence, broken only by Fry’s intake of breath. ‘Who do you think you are, Ben?’
Cooper looked up, startled by the tone of her voice. For a while, he had forgotten all the things that he had to worry about, all the reasons he had to hate Diane Fry. Now she was glaring at him, making it clearer than ever that the feeling was mutual.
‘ O O
‘I only came in here to tell you what was happening because I thought you’d be interested. But the fact is, you’re off this case. You’ve got plenty of other things you should be concentrating on. And there are several other reasons why I don’t think I should have to listen to you telling me what I’ve got to do. So who do you think you are?’
Cooper felt the full flush of his anger coming back to him. He had never found anybody so infuriating as he did Diane Fry. How was it she was able to provoke him into saying things that he would never dream of saying to anyone else?
‘Just at this moment I don’t know who the hell I am.
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