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Back The Satsuma Complex Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. PART ONE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. PART TWO
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. POSTSCRIPT
  35. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  36. More from the Author

‘I got so angry that I threw my phone at the screen of my laptop and broke it. I took it to the repair shop this morning and they said it might be beyond repair. [Sniffle.] I can’t afford a new one and I think I might have broken my phone as well. [Sniffle.] I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m lost without my laptop. It’s okay for you out at work all day but I’m just here on my own.’ (Extended sniffle with nose wipe.)

It was the first time I had heard her admit to being lonely. It was a topic I had never raised and hearing her mention it made me panic. It wasn’t something I wanted to address, probably because I was lonely too. I ignored the moment and started to rally her round:

‘Hey, come on, you’ve got me, you’ve got Lassoo and I’ve got a Battenberg next door. Let’s get this place tidied up and then we can destroy that cake.’

Grace stayed seated while I started to tidy up the mess. After a few minutes she got up from her seat.

‘I’m going to bed,’ she said in a very despondent tone.

I finished up as best I could and phoned the police to tell them I had found Grace. I looked in on her before I left. She was fast asleep and Lassoo had his chin resting on her shoulder. He gave me a look as if to say, ‘Look what you’ve done, you nasty bastard.’

17

That afternoon there was a knock on the door. I opened it to see Detective Bailey and a uniformed officer stood there.

‘Hello again, Gary. Detective Bailey from Peckham CID, and this is Constable Dhawan. Can we come in please?’

‘Yes, of course,’ I replied.

Bailey was the officer in charge of Wayne’s case and I immediately assumed he was calling about that.

‘Sorry to bother you at home, but I telephoned your work and they said you weren’t in today.’

‘Must be something urgent, then?’ I replied.

‘Yeah, you could say that. It’s actually about Brendan Jones. You remember you told me at the station that two police officers had informed you that Brendan had been murdered? Well, I was wondering if you could take me through that story again?’

We all sat down and I repeated my tale about Wilmott and Cowley. I was also able to add the details of my conversation with John McCoy and my visit to Brendan’s home. Something in the back of my mind stopped me from telling him about the missing dongle. Bailey listened intently and then hit me with a bombshell: