Read Death Dues for Free Online

necessarily have a view down the alley all the time so he couldn’t remove the residents of the lower house numbers from his suspect list.
    Any one of the residents of the entire row could have waited their chance, nipped along the alley while the youths amused themselves further up the street and then slipped around the curve in the alley and into a neighbour’s back garden while they waited for the collector.
    So far, they had eight possible suspects; even the very pregnant Tracey Stubbs could have wielded a hammer from behind the victim without too much strain. So could everyone else. That was the problem. But at least the five students in number seven had, it had been discovered, all gone back to their family homes for the holidays. They had been checked out and exonerated.
    Tea finished, Rafferty heaved himself to his feet. ‘Time to have a little chat with the Likely Lads,’ he told Llewellyn and they headed for the custody suite on the ground floor.
    Tony Moran, one of the less cocky of the four youths, provided some answers. After a brief show of bravado, Moran admitted to hanging around the street corner for most of the afternoon, mucking about and being rude to passers-by.
    'It was only a bit of fun, like,' he artlessly confided.
    'I presume you saw the victim, Mr Harrison, enter the alley?'
    Moran nodded.
    'And did you see anyone leave Primrose Avenue after you'd seen Mr Harrison?'
    'Yeah. I saw a few women going to the shops. Two, no, three.'
    'And do you know their names?' Llewellyn asked.
    Moran shook his head. 'I'm no good with names.'
    'Can you describe them?'
    'Yeah, I suppose.' He proceeded to do so and Llewellyn nodded to confirm he recognised the women concerned.
    'So,' said Rafferty as they left Tony Moran to be escorted back to his cell and Llewellyn had confided the identities of the women Moran had described, 'if we fail to find the weapon, one of the three women who left the street for a short time: Mrs Jones, Mrs Parker and Josie McBride, were the only ones who could have disposed of it away from Primrose Avenue.
    ‘Check whether we’ve got any previous for any of the residents, Dafyd, plus the two youths who don’t live on the street: Des Arnott and Tony Moran. You’ll probably find a few drunk and disorderlies and affrays as well, but I’m looking for something more meaty. It might give us a lead.’
    Leaving Llewellyn to make for their shared office and his computer, Rafferty veered off in the direction of the canteen in search of more tea and a bacon butty. Mission accomplished, he returned to his office and addressed himself to his tea with the desperation of the addict denied his craving. Having rapidly consumed his tea, piping hot as it was, he searched his pockets and found the electronic cigarette that he had recently purchased. He sat back and drew deep, still mildly disconcerted that the end glowed green . Who thought that was a good idea, he wondered? Cravings temporarily sated, Rafferty asked Llewellyn how he was getting on.
    It seemed. Jake, the elder of the two Sterling boys was well in the frame for a mugging gone wrong as he’d had a chequered criminal career for one so young.
    ‘Apart from Jake Sterling and his friend, Des Arnott, no one has been up on any serious charges. A certain amount of brawling is the worst,’ Llewellyn said.
    ‘And that’s just the women,’ Rafferty joked. ‘A one-off killer then. It always pointed that way. Oh well, now you’ve dashed my hopes, can you attempt to replace them with better ones?’
    ‘I can but try.’ Llewellyn studied him for a moment with his serious brown eyes.’ The psychological angle—’ he began.
    ‘No,’ Rafferty groaned. ‘Spare me that. No mumbo jumbo about Oedipus complexes and the like. If this isn't the first shot in a turf war, this is your typical act of madness with a certain amount of premeditation thrown in, to my way of thinking. The weapon at the ready suggests that.’
    ‘Not necessarily,’