Page 15
Story: The Curator (Washington Poe)
‘If this wasn’t the gift you intended to give, Mr Hodgkiss, where’s the one you did intend to give?’ Flynn asked. Her tone was more moderate, more measured. Kinder. Just like they’d discussed before they went in. Good cop/bad cop was clichéd but occasionally useful.
‘I-I-I don’t know,’ he replied. His brow furrowed. ‘Actually, where is my mug? It still has Barbara’s engagement ring inside.’
‘The one you stole?’ Poe said.
Hodgkiss nodded then realised what he’d done. ‘It was the only way I could afford a nice one.’
Flynn clicked on a different file on the laptop. This time she showed Hodgkiss some CSI photographs. The first was of the paper the #BSC6 mug had been wrapped in, the four sheets of A4 with the bird design.
‘Did you use bird pictures to wrap Barbara’s mug?’ Flynn asked.
It was an important question and one that had been missed so far. If Hodgkiss had used the same design, then he’d been selected. And, as most mugs came in the same size polystyrene protective boxes, if the killer had known what paper Hodgkiss was going to use, he could have swapped it anywhere and used him as an unwitting mule. He wouldn’t have had to go anywhere near the John Bull Haulage office.
But, if he hadn’t used the same bird design, then the killer would have had to risk entering the John Bull Haulage office in Carlisle. He’d selected Hodgkiss’s mug at random, copied Barbara’s name onto his own label, left his mug under the tree, and left with Hodgkiss’s original.
Hodgkiss shook his head. ‘That’s not my paper.’
‘You’re sure?’ Flynn said.
He nodded. ‘Absolutely. My wrapping paper was from Celebrations on Bank Street. It had snowmen on it.’
So … the killer had been in all three crime scenes.
Chapter 8
Poe and Flynn arranged to meet Barbara Willoughby at her home. She lived in a flat in the centre of Carlisle. Tiffany would join them. Barbara answered the door in her pyjamas, a dressing gown and fluffy slippers. She wore no makeup and her hair was wet and slicked back.
Tiffany arrived shortly after. The two women hugged each other. They’d only worked together for a few months, but they’d been best friends since school.
‘Tough times,’ Poe said when they were seated.
‘Tougher for him,’ Tiffany said.
Poe nodded. ‘No doubt.’
‘Have you spoken to him?’
‘We have.’
‘How’s he doing?’ Barbara asked.
Tiffany said, ‘You’re kidding?’
‘I don’t wish him harm, Tiff. He’s a shallow, shallow man, and his life was shit enough before all of this. I don’t want to come to work one day to find out he’s hanged himself.’
‘Wouldn’t bother me one fuck—’
‘He’ll survive,’ Flynn cut in. ‘The public order offence has been dropped and, unless you do actually report the theft of your grandmother’s ring, his part in this is over.’
‘The jeweller melted it down apparently,’ Barbara said. ‘I’m not pressing charges.’
‘He did tell us the parcel you opened didn’t have the same wrapping paper as he’d used though,’ Flynn said. ‘That means that your Secret Santa gift was probably selected at random. Whoever did this must have broken into your office and swapped Craig’s mug for his own.’
Barbara shook her head. ‘If I didn’t have bad luck I’d have no luck at all.’
Tiffany frowned. ‘I doubt he broke in. The industrial estate has some high-value warehouses and businesses, and security is tight during the night. Dogs, mobile and static guards, the works. I know because we pay a percentage of their fees and I do their invoices.’
Barbara nodded. ‘She’s right.’
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 (Reading here)
- 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
- 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