Cherringham--A Fatal Fall Read Free Page B

too!”
    “Expect so,” said Jack.
    “She’ll probably want to interview me, I reckon.”
    Jack knew Ray had a soft spot for Sarah.
    “Think I can get what we need to start, Ray. But if she does, I’ll let you know,” said Jack. “You might want to have a shower first.”
    Ray nodded seriously. “Hmm, yeah. Good advice. Thanks.”
    Jack got up, went to his desk, and took out a notepad and pen. Then he returned to the table and sat down again, facing Ray.
    “Now, let’s go through this from the beginning. Times, names, everything you can remember, Ray.”
    And Jack opened a new page in his notebook and wrote the words ‘Dylan McCabe’ at the top while Ray told his story all over again.

3. The Official Story
    Sarah walked into Alan Rivers’ office with Jack. They had arrived unannounced but the police officer had no problem seeing them.
    Despite a rocky start, over the past year Alan had gradually realised that the unlikely pairing of she and Jack could be an asset to life in Cherringham.
    They had solved crimes, and Alan knew it.
    But did he still hold out hopes that he and Sarah could be more than just friends?
    She hoped not — but she knew torches could be held for a long time.
    And dating was something she still didn’t see in her immediate future. She had the kids to raise first — time was going so fast! — and her work at her web business, and …
    Well, there was this.
    Working with the former New York detective who seemed to have dropped out of the sky into Cherringham and her life.
    Jack was more and more a part of everyone’s world here, even if he still struggled with the odd euphemism or local custom.
    “Alan,” Sarah said as the police officer looked up, jacket off, a pile of papers stacked in front of him.
    Like everything in the village, the Cherringham police station ran on a tight budget.
    There had to be a lot of desk work for the village’s one officer to deal with.
    “Sarah, Jack … come in. I’m absolutely buried in paperwork here. Making me think I should think twice about handing out parking tickets. Seems hardly worth the time.”
    “Bane of every police officer from here to LA,” Jack said. He took a seat. “That’s one thing I do not miss about the job at all.”
    Sarah took the other chair facing Alan’s swamped desk.
    She felt that the two of them — a single mum, the retired New Yorker — had grown to trust each other so much. Amazing that they could work so well together …
    Jack had called her soon after his chat with Ray.
    Was she interested in paying a call on Alan Rivers about an accident that — if you believed Ray — was no accident at all.
    And after sending a client some brochure layouts for a new restaurant in Chippenham — very upmarket — she said she’d call and see if they could grab a few minutes with Alan.
    On the way, Jack briefed her about what Ray had said.
    What he claimed to have seen.
    Now they were here to get the official story.
    “So, you two. I’m always interested to hear what you’re up to. What can I do for you?”
    Jack looked at her and she took the lead.
    “It’s about that accident, Alan. Dylan McCabe?”
    Alan nodded. “Nasty one, that. Funeral on Friday I believe. Just before Christmas. Not nice.”
    “Yes. So you’re sure it’s an accident?” Sarah said.
    Alan looked at her, perhaps sensing a surprise coming.
    “From everything that could be seen it was an accident. Working when it was dark, icy. Slipping off a plank. Might have survived if all that steel mesh hadn’t been stacked below him.”
    “Yeah,” Jack finally said. “That mesh. Wrong place, wrong time.”
    “Right,” Alan said.
    While both Sarah and Jack liked Alan, they had talked in the past about how the Cherringham officer didn’t seem to be gifted with any special deductive insights … or even the basic level of suspicion that the job demanded.
    He tended to take things at face value …
    Probably a result of needing to move cases quickly