Page 45 of Dead Serious: Case 3 Mr Bruce Reyes

“We don’t acknowledge the third series,” I whisper to Danny and hear Dusty huff in disgust. “Patrick isn’t in the third.”

“It’s a bloody travesty,” Dusty declares.

“Dusty says it’s a bloody travesty,” I repeat.

“I’m sure it is.” Danny’s mouth curves in amusement.

“Oh oh oh, this is the part!” Dusty flaps her hand. “Madeleine’s abusive husband Justin La Mont is about to ride into Mont Royale with his henchman to take her back, but Orry tells him he’ll shoot his arse if he tries. Oh my god.” She fans herself with one hand dramatically. “What is it about Patrick, complete with Southern accent, getting all macho?”

I turn to look at Danny, my mouth open as I pause for a moment. “Dusty says it’s one of her favourite Patrick bits,” I finally say.

Dusty stands up and turns to me as the TV switches itself off. “I needed that. Now I’m off to see Chan.”

And before I can utter a word, she disappears.

“What’s going on?” Danny asks. “Why’d the TV switch off?”

“Dusty’s gone to see Chan.”

“Why? Chan can’t see her.” He frowns in confusion.

I shrug. “She likes to be close to her.”

“Oh.” He looks back at the now blank TV screen.

I smile. “Do you want me to put it back on?”

“If you want,” he says nonchalantly. “But… maybe start it from the beginning,” he adds.

I chuckle and reach for the remote. I’ve just switched the TV back on and am searching through the listings when Danny’s phone begins to ring and vibrate across the coffee table by his foot. Without looking at the caller ID, I hand it to him and continue scrolling. It’s only when he answers with a “Hi, Maddie” that I stop what I’m doing and turn to shamelessly listen to his conversation. I mean, it’s not my fault Maddie’s voice is so loud that I could probably hear her from the next room if I had to. Being this close? Not even going to try to pretend.

“Hey, Hop-a-long,” she greets Danny. “How’s the dud leg?”

“Painful,” he replies. “How’s the dodgy shoulder?”

“Painful,” she huffs with a quiet laugh. “How’s Tris?”

“Better, thanks.” He shoots me a wink. “The flu’s just settled into a bit of a cold now.”

“That’s good.”

“Is this business or a social catch-up?” Danny asks.

“A bit of both, really,” she answers. “I’m off on leave now, the one I’ve had booked for a while. I was going to cancel it what with the storm, the department being short-staffed, and you being out for a while, but the truth is, my shoulder isn’t healing up as well as it should because I’m not resting it.”

“I’m guessing Sonia put her foot down.” He grins.

“You’re not kidding. And for a rather petite size five, it’s a fairly solid foot. She’s booked us a last-minute package deal to Alicante. So, I’m off for ten days of sun, sea, and forced convalescence.”

“Sounds great. You’ll have a wonderful time,” he says and, just for a brief moment, I would’ve given anything for it to be me and Danny getting on a plane.

She laughs. “I’ll bring you back some cheap tourist tat. The cheesiest crap I can find.”

“Aww, I’m touched.” He snorts. “Anyway, what’s the business you wanted to discuss?”

Maddie sobers quickly. “Ah, yeah. The bones we found just before the accident? Well, as luck would have it, they managed to get a DNA sample from them, and it came back a match for a missing persons case. His parents gave samples in case any remains were ever found. We got a positive ID, but the case is nearly forty years old, so we’ve kicked it to Cold Cases. They’ve notified the parents, but it may be a while before they can get to the investigation as they’re really short-staffed right now.”

“What was the victim’s name?” Danny asks. Even though I’m pretty sure what the answer is going to be, I hold my breath.