The Whitby Murders (A Yorkshire Murder Mystery) J. Ellis (distant reading TXT) 📖

using computer records to date his files that he’d written the material first. Holgate eventually backed down and admitted his guilt but it became very acrimonious.’

‘Did Garner ever threaten him?’

‘There’s no record of that, but he may have done so outside the official meetings. Look, sergeant, will it be necessary to make all this public? We would appreciate your discretion if at all possible.’

Andy disliked the pleading tone and the bureaucratic mindset of the man, whose first thought was for the institution. Nevertheless, Andy tried to sound as reassuring as possible. ‘It depends on the way the investigation develops. If Garner proves to be more directly involved than we realised, then I’m afraid the evidence you’ve given me might prove important, but if we’re able to eliminate him, then I think things can remain private.’

Timmins sighed and was clearly relieved.

Andy had not finished. ‘Is there anything else in Holgate’s records which might be of interest?’

Timmins went back to the screen. ‘No, I don’t think so. There are no more incidents recorded. He graduated with a poor degree: a third class. There’s no record of what he went on to do afterwards.’

‘Okay. We’ll need you to send a copy of that file to Inspector Granger of the Whitby police.’ Andy gave Timmins the email address. ‘As I said, the material will be treated as confidential unless it is needed as part of a prosecution and a trial. Let’s hope not.’

Another look of alarm had crossed Timmins’s face at the prospect. ‘Indeed, sergeant,’ was all he managed to say.

That evening Oldroyd and Deborah were having an early evening meal at the Seagull Café, a famous local eatery which served top-class fish and chips. They’d been for a walk along the East side and up to the abbey, so they felt justified in tackling the huge platefuls of battered haddock, chips and mushy peas that were now in front of them, not to mention the slices of bread and butter and the large pot of tea.

‘Good Lord! I’ll never manage all this!’ exclaimed Deborah as she looked at her plate. ‘But you’re not helping me out, you’ve got enough there.’ Deborah shared with Steph a concern about her partner’s weight and a desire to monitor their intake of food and alcohol.

‘Don’t worry, I think I’m going to struggle,’ replied Oldroyd, whose comment was belied by the way he was crunching into the crispy batter with great gusto. ‘By the way, I’ll probably get some calls from my sergeants reporting back to me, but I’ll keep them brief.’

‘Never mind, it’s been a fantastic day. That boat was wonderful.’ She took a drink of tea just as Oldroyd’s phone went.

‘Oops! Here goes,’ he said. ‘It’s Steph. Hello?’

‘Hello, sir. I’ve followed up on Withington as you asked. I spoke to a detective at the Leeds station and then I visited a jeweller who has a business near to where Withington had his shop near the market.’

‘Well done. Anything to report?’ He ate a couple of chips as he listened to her answer.

‘Yes,’ Steph said, ‘I think it’s worth pursuing. The view from both sources was that he was a rogue, but the police couldn’t pin anything on him. They both mentioned his son as probably being the supplier of fake and dodgy stuff and the jeweller mentioned a young woman who visited the shop and was thought to be his niece. So that was most probably Andrea.’

‘Interesting. That’s the connection we’re looking for. Did Andrea know too much? Did she want to pull out of whatever her involvement was and threaten to expose them? It’s not very likely, but there could at last be a motive there for someone else to want her out of the way.’

‘Yes, sir, and I wonder if that man Andrea was seen with in London was not someone she was having a relationship with, but her cousin, Alan Withington, arranging something with her.’

‘You could be right. Well done. I’ll report to Inspector Granger tomorrow and then I’ll get back to you. I’ve got some fish and chips to eat now.’

Steph laughed. ‘Okay, then, sir. And bon appétit. By the way, I’m going to call in on Louise tomorrow.’

‘Thanks.’ The call ended. ‘She’s such a good person to have on my team: absolutely dedicated and reliable. Walker and I knew she was going to be good when she first joined us from school. She’s a fast learner. I think she’ll rise through the ranks.’

‘You’d better watch your back then, Jim,’ replied Deborah, who was nearly full although she still seemed to have a mountain of chips in front of her. ‘You need to have a good group to work with in your job, don’t you? You can’t operate alone like I can.’

‘No, it’s a team effort. You need more than one mind on the job. That’s why I’ve trained her and Andy to think and—’ His phone rang again. ‘Talk of the devil, here he is.’

‘Hello, sir . . . just to report back. I’ve been to Alpha Publishing, where Jack Ryerson works. I thought I was onto something to begin with because his boss destroyed his alibi. He wasn’t at work last Wednesday, which is what he said kept him from doing the escape room, but when I confronted him he said he was visiting a married woman he’s having an affair with. I got the details, and we’ll have to verify it, but I imagine it’s genuine. Other than that his boss gave him a good report so we’ve nothing on him at the moment, but he was an arrogant piece of work and I don’t know whether he told us the truth about his feelings for Andrea Barnes. There’s still a possible motive there, I think.’

‘Fine. Well done and keep going. We’ve very little on any of these people; it’s a question of probing away to see if anything turns up.’

‘Right, sir. I also managed to get to St Thomas’s University to follow up on Holgate and the business