Read Jackson 07 - Where All the Dead Lie for Free Online Page A

good-naturedly grumbling about him not coming back to the estate. They parted with a hearty handshake, as always, and Memphis boarded the last train back up to London.
    Accepting a cup of tea from the trolley girl, he checked his email and sighed. He was in for a long night. The commander hadn’t bothered to wait until the morning; he was calling Memphis into the Straithwhite case immediately.
    So much for his escape.
    Despite his grousing to Taylor, he had to admit this case was intriguing. A challenge. He always did love a challenge.
    He put a call in to his detective constable, Penelope Micklebury, known far and wide as Pen. She answered on the first ring, the annoyance clear in her voice.
    “Left me to stand in the rain while you had a beautiful dinner with Daddy, eh, Memphis?”
    “My repasts are none of your concern, Pen. You eat like a bird anyway, you would have hated it. Tureens of soup and platters overflowing with rich, juicy meat. I can barely move, I’m creakingly full.”
    Pen was a vegan; she moaned aloud at the thought. “That stuff’s going to rot you from the inside, Memphis.”
    “Perhaps. Where are you?”
    He could hear her heels clicking on the pavement, then a door slammed and things quieted down. She must have stepped into her car.
    “Victoria. Had a date. Did you get a call from the Boy Toy?” she asked in turn.
    “He sent me an email. I’ve just seen it. And if you keep calling him that, he will find out. And I won’t be able to save you.”
    “It’s just a bleeding nickname. You’ll be in tomorrow?”
    “Unless you need me tonight?”
    “No. I’ve got things covered here. Assembling the files, all that. Go and have a rest.”
    “Fine, Pen. Until then.”
    He hung up, watched the lights from the village to his right flash by as the train crossed the countryside. In the daylight, this was a beautiful part of the trip, but in the darkness it became murky and lonely. A fitting scene, really. He was feeling rather lonely tonight.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Taylor and Baldwin were both quiet on the drive downtown. Another indignity—Taylor hadn’t been cleared to drive yet. She was dependent on Baldwin, or Sam, to get her around town. She was tempted to get a car service, but stopped when she realized she’d be just like her mother, chauffeured around by relative strangers. Kitty Jackson hadn’t been in the front seat of a car for two decades.
    She wondered briefly what Kitty was up to. They hadn’t spoken since Taylor had arrested her father and sent him to jail. Even though Kitty and Win had been divorced since Taylor was in college, the woman always took his side. Taylor knew it had nothing to do with a soft spot for Win and their once-happy life, and everything to do with the embarrassment of the scandal. Tongues wagged throughout Davidson County’s elite when Taylor had sent her own father to prison.
    She colored at the memory, anger rising. Typical that the consensus would be that she’d acted impetuously rather than that Win deserved condemnation for breaking the law. It was one of the reasons she eschewed her mother’s social set; the values and morals were a bit askew. In their minds, every family had a blackguard. It just wasn’t seemly to draw attention to such a situation.
    She chased the thoughts away as Baldwin pulled in in front of the Criminal Justice Center. Snow began to fall in tiny, glittery flakes, making the brown bricks shimmer. Taylor felt a great sense of contentment run through her, the same she felt every time she looked at her office. She was home. And soon she’d be allowed to get back to her first love: the job.
    She smiled at Baldwin, and he grinned back at her.
    “Go on. It’s noon now. I’ll be back to get you at two. Okay?”
    She touched his hand briefly in acquiescence then got out of the car. Breathed deep lungfuls of chilly, snowy air. Tried to keep the skip out of her step as she crossed to the stairs, dug her pass card out of her back pocket.