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A wedding Why fire at a wedding party? Serrailler did not believe in randoetting roaned He’d missed it How could he have missed it when it was there in front of him?

He ran down the path and back to the car to put in a call

He pushed the Audi up to seventy on a clear road, thinking, thinking, clicking things into place

Seventy-three

The ball banged down the wooden slope and the skittles crashed, raising a cheer

"Ours," Duncan Houlish said

Clive Rowley clenched his jaw He hadn’t been to a bowling alley for what, five or six years? Longer? He had not wanted to co, s, smash

"Useless," Ian Dean said

The whole lot of them had co day

Roll, bang

"Yesssss!"

Further up, a gang of shrieking girls threw the balls down the aisle and through the gaps or into the skittles, equally hysterical no matter what the result

"Jeez"

"Looks like a hen party"

"Sounds like a parrot house Why do women shriek?"

"Not all women shriek"

"Oh yes they do My sister shrieks, irls across the road …"

Another lot of shrieking

They finished a session and went up to the bar at the sairls

"Must be a thousand of them," Clive Rowley said

"Oi, as that?" one of them said

"I said happy days"

"Can I buy you ladies a drink?"

"There are seventeen of us, and no thanks, we’ll get our own"

"That’s a relief"

Ian and Clive ca between the tables and the chairs and the girls They set the glasses down

"Look at that Didn’t lose a drop"

"Great stuff Cheers You all right, Clive?"

"What? Yeah"

"Right Where are you tohts?"

"Love "em You reckon it’s someone’s twenty-first?"

"That lot? They’re way over twenty-one"

"What did you say?"

"Listeners never hear good Stop earwigging"

Shrieks They had five tables pulled together

Dale groaned "Pink feathers coht Bloody hen night, innit?"

Louise Kelly, the only wolass She was ht, Lou?"

"Sort of Mam said they were bad luck so a few of us just went for a pizza Sort of compromise Bad luck was, he and his mates walked into the same pizza place"

"Your mum had a point then"

"What do you reckon about tomorrow?"

"Keep your voices down" Duncan Bronze Co right Or very wrong

"Be fine," Louise said "I’ to enjoy it I’randstand view It’s uniforet a look, faces to the bloody crowd"

"I was surprised they’re bringing inin the bloody works Surprised there aren’t tanks"

"Be glad when it’s this time tomorrow, me"

"I’ll drink to that," Clive said He sneezed

"Oi, watch it I don’t want your snot in my beer, thank you"

"Told you I was heady"

The hen party got up and started the conga round the room, police helhts Shrieking

"Coet on the back"

A couple of them joined on The rest cheered

"Last pint," Ian said "That’s your lot This tiet bladdered"

The shrieks went up a few decibels and Clive Rowley sneezed again

Seventy-four

"I’ht back"

"Where to?"

The special constable indicated the cordons "Behind there"

The wo"

"Course you will"

"Well, we haven’t brought binoculars"

"Brought your chairs though"

"Can’t stand for hours and hours"

They folded the caht and went slowly in the direction of the pointing hand The area behind the cordons was filling up

Tactical Team Bronze Command Duncan Houlish looked up to the tower Two officers up there and it should have been three He had two ht and Clive Roho had rung in with a cold

"I’ll bloody cold hiht"

"Bannister said he could come in, but he won’t be focused Not fair anyway"

"Look, your dad dying is one thing and a snuffly nose is another I’ll bollock him on Monday"

"If he’s in"

"Thinks because he was so of that, you know the woman he rescued?"

"What about her?"

"They found her son’s body last night Bottom of the multi-storey" His walkie-talkie crackled