A Deadly Walk: The Laura Curtis, Female Private Investigator Series (3), #3

By Lee Hobart

The body hit the floor with a sickening thud; the unknown woman had fallen from a great height. Was it suicide, or was it murder?

A young Canadian girl, Amy Stafford, employs private investigator Laura Curtis to find her missing brother. Is he missing or is he dead?

Amy is not the only one to seek the aid of Laura’s investigative skills and Laura finds she has two baffling cases to wrestle with. Neither are straight forward, both involve deception, deceit, violence and murder.

Not knowing who to trust becomes a problem and as the mystery deepens, so the dangers multiply.
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Drabart Publishing
• Release date: Nov 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781502203267

Lee Hobart

In a long business career I experienced both success and failure…plenty of the latter! I did get to see much of the world which was great because I love to travel. My wife and I lived for a time in Los Angeles and then Melbourne, Australia, it was a wonderful experience. Now our home is in a lovely small town in Wales. At an early age I became an avid reader and, perhaps as a result, I used to enjoy writing school essays. Later while pursuing my business career I penned thousands of words, business letters, promotional material and so on. Of all the things I’ve done nothing has given me more pleasure than writing novels. People tell me they enjoy my books and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. To be able to bring a little pleasure to someone is very gratifying. To those who say they don’t like my writing I make a promise…I’ll try harder next time. For details of new or upcoming books please visit… www.leehobartbooks.com I look forward to welcoming you there.   Lee.  

Book preview

Chapter 1

Cambridge, England

Strolling ahead of their husbands two well-dressed women were engaged in deep conversation as they headed for the multi-story car park. They’d all had a lovely evening and enjoyed each other’s company over a good meal. Then it happened.

Just before the car park entrance a large bundle hit the ground with a sickening thud. It was a miracle it hadn’t landed on them. They stared for a moment in wide-eyed, open-mouthed amazement. Shock turned to fear when they realized they were both spattered with blood. The men, one an MD, rushed forward and knelt beside the body. Nothing could be done for the woman, she’d died instantly. They called the police.

*

Lunch appointment confirmed, Detective Inspector Sue Davies replaced the receiver and sat back in her chair. A frown creased her face as she thought about the report she’d been reading. A smartly dressed, yet to be identified middle-aged woman, had committed suicide. There was no evidence of foul play but no suicide note. Hmm, odd she thought. There was also no handbag or means of identification. Suicide was always hard to deal with, she'd seen many and this wouldn't be the last. It was part of the job. Cambridge Police would keep the case open but it would not be high priority.

After climbing yet another mountain of paperwork, lunch beckoned. Sue had arranged to meet a friend at the White Hart pub in Burwell. A welcome break from the dark side of life.

*

‘Morning, how are you? What can I get you?’ asked the barmaid. Sue wasn’t a regular but the barmaid had remembered her. It had nothing to do with conceit but for some reason it made her feel good. ‘A glass of the house red will be just fine and I’ll take a couple of menus please.’

As she waited she checked herself over in the mirror behind the bar. She was reasonably pleased with her appearance. At thirty-nine she’d worn well, not a conventional beauty but attractive in a smart dark gray business suit that showed off toned calves, accentuated by high heeled sling-backs.  

‘Sue, it’s lovely to see you again. You look great!’ Her friend Laura, a private investigator, had swept into the bar.

'Hi Laura, great to see you too! I’m dying to hear all about your trip but first off, what can I get you?' Sue said, slightly surprised by Laura’s sudden entrance.

'A glass of whatever you’re having, please.’ Laura found a table and reflected on how strange it was that she was even friends with this woman. When they first met, the circumstances were very different and difficult, to say the least. Sue had even suspected Laura of being involved in murder.

With lunch ordered, Sue could wait no longer. ‘So, tell me all about your Australian adventure and in particular I want to know how you and Tom made out.’

‘Excuse me, do you mind! Tom and I did not make out! How dare you suggest such a thing?’  Laura said, with feigned indignation, both of them giggling like naughty school girls.

'Oh, OK, I’ll re-phrase the question. What exactly did you get up to? It's just I know what a charmer my cousin can be. Not many women are safe around him. We’re first cousins so there was never any chance of anything between us but he’s broken a few hearts in his time.’

‘Well, we did have a bit of a snog one night but that was after a pretty hairy shooting incident. I had to thank him didn’t I?’

‘Yes and the night air in Australia can be very sultry,’ said Sue with a lecherous smile.

‘No it did not get out of hand, although, controlling his hands was not easy.’

Laura explained to Sue that she'd told her husband Jim all about Tom,  that he was a bore. A good cop and a nice guy but not much else.

Sue beamed a knowing smile and replied, 'I'll support your story but it'll cost you a few favors! Now tell me about the case. It sounds as though it got pretty dangerous at times.'

Laura became serious as she related everything that had happened in Australia and America – it had been a tough assignment and there had been some very hairy, scary moments.

She'd been hired by a Cambridge mother to find her abducted child and bring her back from Australia. Sue had arranged for Tom Cousins, a Sydney detective, to be her contact and to help out. If she hadn’t, the outcome would have been very different. Probably very nasty. She owed Sue.

For her part Sue admired Laura’s bravery; she’d been resourceful, never giving up, no matter how dangerous the situation. ‘Given Tom is a cop I’m sure he would have coped with the police and so on in California but, how was it for you?’

‘The guy calling the shots in Australia cleared the way for me I guess. I didn’t really encounter many problems on that front. All in all though it got kinda scary at times but I have to say I enjoyed it.’

‘You really have found your calling. You couldn’t possibly go back into hospital management.’

‘Oh God no!’ said Laura, ‘Mind you, my husband’s not too keen. He reckons I don’t have to go looking for trouble, it finds me.’ A coy smile appeared. ‘And of course, I don’t go looking for the kind of trouble I could have got into with your cousin!’

‘Mmm, I’m still not sure you’re giving me the full story when it comes to Tom. I’ll have to get you drunk one night. Meanwhile I’m afraid I’ve got to get back to my desk.’

Laura glanced at her watch; they’d been talking for nearly two hours. She insisted on settling the bill and they left.

Lunch with Laura had the desired effect on Sue. Her spirits were lifted and a few more hours slaving over a hot desk somehow seemed less daunting.

Chapter 2

Yes I had enjoyed lunch with Sue Davies yesterday, it had helped me forget I was currently without a client. I’d been back from Australia nearly three weeks now and business was slow. I lie...it was dead! And the worst thing was I didn’t know what to do about it.

I thought about phoning my list of contacts which included lawyers, insurance companies and accountants but I decided it would be wrong to create the impression I was desperate for work. Pride would not allow me to go begging. Not yet anyway. Tomorrow perhaps.

Fortunately my husband’s engineering and research type business was picking up so the family fortunes were not dependent on little ‘ol’ me, the super sleuth. No need to consider a career change just yet. But I was bored and craving action.

Alone in the house, Jim being at work and the kids in school, I decided I’d go next door to invite Jean in for a cup of coffee. As I stood something unusual happened, the office phone rang.

I announced my name, ‘Laura Curtis’, with a confidence I wasn’t feeling expecting it to be a sales call from foreign parts. To my surprise it wasn’t. After I’d said hello a couple of times the silence at the other end was broken when a young sounding female voice with an American accent said, ‘Hi Laura, I um...I’m Amy Stafford, could I come and see you?’

She was clearly nervous and I didn’t want to scare her off, besides, I was intrigued. What would someone so young sounding want to talk to me about? ‘Sure you can, when would you like to come?’

‘Well, I’m like standing outside your house right now so would it be okay if I came in?’

‘Yes of course, I’ll come down right away.’

I opened the door to a young girl I guessed to be sixteen or seventeen years old. She was wearing light blue denim shorts that ended well above the knees and on top she had a yellow sleeveless cotton shirt. On her feet she had well-worn ankle length leather boots, yellow socks tucked over the top of her boots. Her thick dark brown curly hair was somewhat unkempt but I suspected that was the desired effect.

Introducing myself formally I invited her in and pointed her to the stairs. She was a cute looking kid but as she walked up I noticed that unless she was careful she was going to have a weight problem.

I sat her down in a chair facing my desk and gave her a chance to settle and look around before saying, ‘Now then Amy, what brings you here?’

She was hesitant and now here, was seemingly reluctant to speak. I said nothing and waited her out.

‘I’ve got a problem and I’m like what can I do? I mean I’ve got no-one I can turn to. I’ve got money so I can pay.’

When she did open up she did so at breakneck speed. I felt breathless for her. I signaled her to stop by raising an open palm.

‘Whoops! Slow down and let’s start again. It would be better if you would begin by telling me a bit about yourself. It sounds as though you’re American, is that right?’

‘No, I was born in England but I’m Canadian now. We moved there when I was three. That was more than fourteen years ago. Although I have lived in America.’

Now we were getting somewhere and my quiet deliberate tone was having the desired effect because she was noticeably calmer. I decided to continue with the slow approach. ‘So tell me, are you over visiting friends or family or is this a holiday?’

As I asked this question she first looked down at her hands and when she looked up there were tears in her eyes. She said, ‘I’m searching for my brother Pete, he’s missing and I’m very, very worried.’

I came round the desk and placed what I hoped would be a comforting hand on her shoulder. I could see she was worried but I sensed that within she had an underlying strength. Even so I knew that unburdening herself to a stranger would be difficult for her. Without asking I went to the cupboard where sat a coffee percolator. I poured her a cup and placed it on the desk in front of her together with a small jug of milk. It helped.

She recovered and was ready to take up her story. ‘I said he’s missing, what I should have said is he’s in hiding. Trouble is I don’t know where.’

The quizzical look on my face said it all. ‘Pete’s older than me by three years and he decided to come to England for a couple of months before going to university. He thought he’d try and uncover some family history, perhaps look up some relatives. At first he’d text or e-mail me and everything seemed fine.’

At this stage I had a couple of questions so I interrupted. ‘How long has Pete been here and when did you last hear from him?’

‘He came over mid-March so a little over three months. We’d be in touch at least twice a week but I haven’t heard from him in over three weeks now. I mean he’s gone of the wire it’s like total R-bomb and that’s like completely cray.’ 

The quizzical look returned. ‘R-bomb, cray?’

‘Yeah, cray. You know, like crazy. R-bomb, no reply to my last Blackberry message which I know he received.’

Oh dear. If this continued a translator would definitely be needed. ‘Amy, in the interest of clear communication could we please use normal grown-up language?’ All said with a broad smile because I didn’t want her to think I was dissin her. At least I think that’s the expression.

She almost smiled at this and promised to dispense with the slang altogether. Did she have to say it was out of respect for my age?

‘So why do you say he’s in hiding?’

‘Because he as good as told me. Last time I had a message he said he was pretty sure he’d upset the wrong people and he’d have to lie low for a while. He said I should stay away and just wait to hear from him.’

I gave thought to this for a moment wondering whether he meant people or person. I then quietly replied, ‘But you couldn’t. You couldn’t just wait.’

She looked very sad as she said, ‘I don’t have anybody else, Pete’s my only family.’

I confess, I was taken aback. ‘What do you mean, what about your parents?’

She swallowed hard before saying, ‘Mum, her name was Eve, and Ed my Dad, well they split up twelve years ago, and dad died five years later in a train crash. We think mum came to England but since we never heard from her again we can’t be sure. Anyway we were brought up by our grandparents.’

‘Amy, I am so sorry. I can understand why you’re here because in your place I’d have done the same thing. What about your grandparents though, won’t they be worried about you?’

At this she was unable to stem the flow of tears. ‘Granddad died two years ago and my grandma’s in a private institution. She suffers from dementia and most days doesn’t even recognize me. After that we were living with grandma’s relations which was okay.’

It was my turn to swallow hard. I was beginning to feel very sorry for her, not something I could afford. I had to remain objective and not allow emotion to cloud my thoughts. I told her how it seemed to me that her grandparents had done a great job in the way they’d brought her up, and her brother of course.

‘Yes they were very kind and loving, we lived in a big house on a very big lot so we had plenty of fun. The thing is they were rich and they made sure we each had a good education. But most important of all we were very close and...and...and hell, I miss ’em like crazy.’

Now I did have to wipe my eyes. I changed the subject. ‘Do you have any photos of Pete on you?’

She dug in her bag and pulled out a large envelope which she passed to me. Pete featured in most of the dozen or so snaps. He was a fairly tall lad, a little on the thin side, he appeared to be studious. Some would say nerdy. He and Amy, while not built the same, were clearly related and both gave the impression they were kind and loving people. Thanks to the grandparents who had so obviously doted on them.

‘So Amy, you’re here because you need help to find your brother; but what made you come to me?’

‘To be honest I chose you from the Yellow Pages. It’s because I reckon I’ll be more comfortable working with a woman.’

I had to smile when she said working with a woman. ‘Er, Amy. Let’s be clear about something. If I take this on, you will not be working with me. I’ll be working and reporting back to you.’

At this her face reddened and she muttered something about that’s what she’d meant. Yeah right. Already I could see something of myself in her so I knew exactly what she meant. Or rather what that meant. I’d have a right royal pain in the rear on my hands. I could live with that, I’d taken a liking to her and she had my sympathy because clearly she and her brother had already suffered a lot of heartbreak in their short lives.

‘Okay, I charge two hundred and fifty pounds a day for my services or if I work only part of a day I bill you at the rate of thirty-one pounds an hour. Expenses incurred are also billed to you. I’ll give you a comprehensive breakdown of everything and I’ll bill you once a week. There’s no contract so you can fire me any time you like, no hard feelings. How does that sound?’

With her eyes locked on mine she said, ‘Good, when can you start?’

‘Today’s Friday so I’ll start making enquires Monday. Can’t do it before, my weekend is already committed. I’ve got two young children who’ve already been neglected enough so I must honor my pledge to them.’

She managed a smile at this news and seemed genuinely pleased. ‘Maybe one day I’ll get to meet your kids, I’d like that.’

‘You’ll meet them I’m sure but right now I’d like you to write down everything you can that’ll help me get started. Everything, even if it