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Back The Ringmaster Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. The Ringmaster
  3. Contents
  4. Prologue
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. Epilogue
  72. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  73. Copyright

‘We need to take a closer look at Professor Simpson at the university,’ I said. He fits into a number of those categories and is the age and stature the witness from the Botanic Garden described, although his dress sense is not up to date, but it would be easy enough for someone to dress different for the occasion. He’s very intelligent and charming, but he was quite belittling to Detective Smith and I when we talked yesterday.’

‘Was there anyone else there who jumped to mind?’

I thought DI Johns slotted nicely into a number of those categories too, except the charming one, but I wasn’t going to go there. ‘Not specifically, but I’m sure there are a number of men at the university who fit that description. We should cast our net a little wider than her immediate colleagues in pharmacy and biochemistry.’

I thought of another thing Maggie had mentioned which I had been ruminating on and which no one had discussed. Well, not in front of me, anyway. ‘One thing. This man has travelled frequently to kill, so either he’s single or a loner, but this doesn’t fit the furtiveness or secrecy of Rose-Marie’s behaviour, acting like she was having an affair with someone, perhaps a married man. Unless he was able to fabricate a reason for frequent travel, so it wouldn’t seem amiss to his family. Whether that be for work, research or a hobby; or perhaps even his partner was away a lot, so these activities would have gone unnoticed.’ If the DI had thought he’d do some point scoring to my detriment, he’d failed, and I thanked Maggie under my breath.

‘Thank you, DC Shephard, that’s a good point.’ Was I imagining it or did he seem almost disappointed. I could tell from the morning’s attitude I was back on his top-ten most-hated list. I wondered what had pissed him off this time. Perhaps the wife didn’t iron his shirt right, or he hadn’t had enough coffee. Whatever it was, it was in my best interests to give him a wide berth.

‘Detective Smith, you and I are going to go and pay a visit to Professor Simpson and invite him back here for an interview. The rest of you know what you need to be doing. Get going, people.’

Smithy turned and gave me a grimace that said he knew too well what was happening, and I, with a sigh, realised my time in the loop was over and I was back to being shark bait.

64

The office was devoid of life. In fact, the whole floor seemed unusually empty. I wondered how Smithy and the DI were getting on convincing the professor he needed to come in for a little chat. Somehow, I could see a warrant in their immediate future.