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Cooper and Fry Crime Fiction Series Books 1-3: Black Dog, Dancing With the Virgins, Blood on the Tongue

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Год написания книги
2018
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‘No comment.’

‘Did it make you angry that he thought you weren’t good enough for his daughter?’

‘No comment.’

‘You were just the gardener after all, Lee. A servant. And not a very good gardener, by all accounts.’

There was a flash of anger in Sherratt’s face now as he glared at Hitchens. ‘I worked hard,’ he said sullenly. ‘I’m as good as them. Why shouldn’t I be?’

‘Did Laura look down on you too?’

‘You what?’

‘Did she treat you like a servant, Lee?’

‘She was a stuck-up little cow.’ Sherratt looked defiantly at his solicitor. He was starting to get more confident now. Tailby saw the change in his manner and tapped Hitchens’s leg. It was time for him to come in, to change tack.

‘Some of these stuck-up cows like a bit of rough, don’t they, Lee? They’re desperate to get it from a proper man, aren’t they?’

Sherratt turned round to face Tailby, a knowing leer slipping on to his face before he could think of controlling it. Nunn coughed and shook his head several times.

‘I bet you’re the man to give it to them, aren’t you, Lee?’

‘Chief Inspector, I don’t think that is a relevant question.’

‘Did you have sex with Laura Vernon?’

‘I didn’t,’ said Sherratt.

‘Just a bit of heavy petting, then.’

‘No.’

‘So how would you describe your relationship?’

Sherratt leaned across the table. The veins stood out in his neck as his chin jutted forward. ‘I told him already. We didn’t have one.’

‘But you met Laura when her parents didn’t know about it, didn’t you?’

‘No.’

‘So her parents did know about it?’

‘What? No, I never met her.’

‘But you’ve already said, Lee, that you met her during the course of your job at the Mount.’

‘Well … yes.’

Even the solicitor was looking confused now. Tailby leaned forward.

‘Now we’ve cleared that up, would you like to clarify your other statement?’

‘What was that?’

‘You’ve told us that you didn’t have sex with Laura Vernon. Would you like to change that statement?’

‘No. I didn’t do it with her. I told you.’

‘Lee, when you were taken into custody last night you agreed to provide samples for forensic examination and DNA testing.’

The dark eyes wavered nervously. ‘Yes.’

‘Do you understand what a DNA test is? Do you understand that this will enable us to match those samples we took with evidence found at the scene?’

‘I wasn’t at no scene.’

‘For example,’ said Tailby, ‘I mean the used condom we found in the greenhouse in the garden at the Mount.’

Sherratt blinked and his face went a shade of yellow under the dark colour. His solicitor shook his head.

Tailby merely smiled, his eyes colder than ever. ‘A used condom contains semen. A good source of a DNA sample. Will we find that it’s yours, Lee?’

Cooper called first at Dial Cottage. Before he could knock, the front door was opened by Helen Milner. She was looking over her shoulder, calling to her grandmother.

‘I’m off now!’

She was taken aback when she saw him standing on the step. She was back in her shorts and a sleeveless cotton top, and her limbs seemed to glow in the brightness pouring through the doorway from the street.

‘Oh, hello, Ben.’

‘How are you?’

‘Fine. Have you come to see me?’

‘Your grandparents, actually.’

Was that a flash of disappointment that passed across her face? Intrigued, Cooper studied her expression. But it quickly became a friendly smile.

‘Grandma is in. She’ll be pleased to see you.’

‘Hold on. Do you have to rush off?’

‘I’ve got a few things to do. But – well, they’re not desperate.’

Faced with Helen again, Cooper found himself searching for what it was he wanted to say to her.

‘I’m sorry it had to be like this when we met again.’
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