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Chapters (60)
  1. CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR LEIGH RUSSELL
  2. Glossary of acronyms
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. Acknowledgements

‘Yes, now he’s dead,’ Jonathan agreed in a flat voice. ‘But that had nothing to do with me. Look, all I did was shout at him a bit. It was harmless enough. He didn’t even take any notice.’

‘Was throwing eggs at his car another harmless gesture?’ Ian asked.

Jonathan shrugged.

‘My client has admitted it was a foolish action which he now regrets,’ the lawyer responded. ‘If Mr Armstrong did drive dangerously as a result of my client’s actions, that was Mr Armstrong’s choice and not my client’s responsibility. At no time did my client seek to coerce Mr Armstrong into driving the car after my client and his associates had thrown eggs at it.’

They warned Jonathan that he could still be charged with harassment and released him, with instructions not to leave York. They had no evidence to implicate him in the murder of David Armstrong, but he remained a potential suspect.

24

24

Before they released Jonathan, Geraldine and Ian asked him for a list of his political associates. It was plausible that one of them had been more active, and perhaps considerably more dangerous, than a man who vented his feelings in words and egg throwing. Jonathan had gathered together a group of irate left-wing campaigners who traipsed around after him, grumbling about social injustice. David Armstrong appeared to have been the main target of their resentment, but it wasn’t clear whether that was because they were following Jonathan’s lead.

‘There could be someone else driving the campaign from the sidelines, winding up people like Jonathan who had a grudge against the victim,’ Geraldine suggested.

‘You’re saying someone else could be “egging” the others on?’ a constable said, chuckling at his own joke.

‘I’m suggesting that Jonathan might not necessarily be the ring leader,’ Geraldine replied. ‘It might just be that he has the loudest voice and talks the most and so he’s the one who’s attracted the most attention. But perhaps there’s someone with a serious grudge against David who was quietly organising these attacks and staying out of the limelight and allowing Jonathan to draw attention away from him, or her, whoever it is that’s behind all this. After all, if David had an enemy who was planning to kill him, they would hardly want to draw attention to themselves, would they? And orchestrating a hate campaign against their intended victim by winding up disgruntled protesters like Jonathan would provide any investigation with a host of other suspects. And we still don’t have any reason to suppose that his murder was politically motivated. It could have been a personal attack, which we’re missing, concealed behind a smokescreen thrown up by the protests against his policies.’