Page 123
Chapter 66
‘You’vespent the most time with him, Poe,’ Mathers said. ‘Do you think he’s up to this?’
Stahl and Bradshaw were in the bar. Stahl was buying himself a Coke and Bradshaw was making sure he didn’t put Jack Daniel’s in it.
‘I have no idea,’ Poe replied. ‘You can see the improvement in him physically, but he’s been an alcoholic for years. He has to have psychological scars we don’t yet know about.’
‘Is he clean?’ Mathers said.
‘Says he’s on Antabuse, which Tilly says gives him an acute sensitivity to ethanol. He’ll basically get the world’s worst hangover as soon as he takes a sip and there’ll be no hair of the dog – he won’t be able to drink it away. The more he has, the worse it’ll get.’
‘How sure are we he’s taking it?’
‘There’s an easy way to find out,’ Poe said.
‘How?’
‘I could put a splash of vodka in his drink when he isn’t looking.’
‘That would work,’ Mathers nodded. ‘Obviously I’d have to immediately arrest you for unlawfully administering a noxious substance with intent to cause harm, but at least we’d know.’
‘He was joking, ma’am,’ Flynn said. ‘You were, weren’t you, Poe?’
Poe shrugged. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Look, as long as we can keep him out of the bar for a few hours, we should be able to get him through this. He’s not our problem after that. If he’s drunk, he doesn’t get access.’
‘Gut view?’ Mathers asked.
‘I think he’s sober.’
‘DI Flynn?’
‘He’s sober now. Whether he has the motivation to sustain it, I don’t know. But Poe’s right, long-term sobriety is Stahl’s problem, not ours.’
Mathers tapped out an email. ‘We’re on then,’ she said. She threw her phone on the table and sighed. ‘Come on then – cards-on-the-table time. What do we think’s really happening here? Why did he ask for Stahl and what can we expect on Sunday?’
‘I don’t know,’ Poe said. ‘He doesn’t smell like a goat any more, but I can’t shake the feeling we’re about to tether him like one.’
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123 (Reading here)
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231