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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

‘Oh,’ I said. Apart from my initial surprise, I had to swallow hard to force down the laugh that was trying to escape my innards. No wonder Smithy was so flaming excited. That was a huge Up Yours to the powers that be. Despite my best endeavours, my face cracked into a smile, which the DI noted with first a frown, and then a smile of his own. Perhaps he had a sense of humour, after all.

‘Does that mean I’ll get to be with the front-line team down at the circus?’ I was starting to feel a bit fidgety myself.

‘Well, yes.’ The DI seemed reluctant to confirm my hopes. ‘It seems to be the only way we’ll get any cooperation out of Mr Bennett, but there will be strict conditions. You are only a trainee, so you will not be the main interviewer. You will be there as an observer. I don’t want to hear of any interference from you.’

I was perfectly happy with that. Hell, hierarchical disapproval or not, I was relieved to be involved at the coalface in any way. No more drudge jobs, trifling trivialities and wild-goose chases. Thank you, Terry Bennett. Of course, I didn’t trust the man as far as I could kick him. There was some other motive in play here. I was sure it wasn’t a sudden wish for my company and feminine charms. I seemed to recall our last conversation was a bit tense. Then again, it could have been because of my feminine charm. Odds were, he saw me as a soft touch, a naive little thing he could manipulate and arouse sympathy in for the poor, picked-on circus people. Well, he was in for a bit of a surprise. Mind you, it could be quite useful to play along with his silly game for a while.

‘When do we start?’ I asked. If I’d had any sense, I’d have hidden my excitement, but a little of it was spilling out the sides.

‘We leave in thirty minutes, after the morning briefing. And remember what I said. The detectives call the shots. Not a squeak from you.’

The urge to skip back to the office was pretty intense but I resisted it. Or at least for most of the way until I rounded the door and saw Smithy sitting on my desk, grinning like a demented monkey. My step just seemed to rise of its own accord until I reached him, danced a little jig and gave him a high five.

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