Bloody Winter: A Pyke Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

added, ‘Or her.’
    That drew a slight smirk from Pierce. Pyke decided that the remark didn’t warrant a response.
    ‘Still, I’m inclined to approve the request – on the grounds that it’s in the national interest.’ Mayne turned to Pierce. ‘Benedict?’
    Pyke could see this had put Pierce in a difficult position. If he argued against it, he would be going against Mayne’s wishes.
    ‘I agree.’ Pierce looked up at Pyke and smiled. ‘I’m sure the Detective Branch can cope in the detective-inspector’s absence.’
    This was something Pyke hadn’t considered – that Pierce might use his absence as an opportunity to interfere.
    ‘Jack Whicher is more than capable of overseeing things until I return.’ Pyke knew that Whicher – the ablest of his detective-sergeants – wouldn’t give Pierce the time of day.
    ‘I don’t doubt that he is,’ Pierce said, swatting a fly with his hand. ‘But we don’t need to rush into a decision right away, do we?’
    ‘If I have your approval,’ Pyke said, addressing Mayne, ‘I intend to leave at once on the afternoon train to Bristol.’ He’d already looked into the journey: he would stop and see Felix in Keynsham, then from Bristol he would catch a boat to Cardiff and take a train from there to Merthyr.
    ‘Detective-sergeant Whicher has always struck me as a very capable detective.’ Mayne drummed his fingers on the surface of his desk. ‘How long do you imagine you’ll be away?’
    ‘It depends what I find when I get there.’ Pyke paused. ‘A month maybe.’
    ‘That long?’ Mayne regarded him sceptically.
    Pyke reached out, took the letter and put it into the pocket of the frock-coat he’d just purchased from his tailor.
    ‘If you’re successful,’ Pierce said, ‘you’ll be expected to register your reward with the Returns Office.’
    ‘If I’m successful, a young boy’s life will have been saved.’
    Pierce’s face reddened but he said nothing.
    ‘I know one of the magistrates in Merthyr,’ Mayne interrupted. ‘A fellow called Sir Clancy Smyth – a good sort, from an old Anglo-Irish family.’ He stood up, walked around his desk and accompanied Pyke to the door. ‘Pass on my best wishes and tell him you have my fullest support.’ He offered Pyke his hand and Pyke shook it.
    Later, Pyke came upon Benedict Pierce waiting for him in the corridor.
    ‘I just came to wish you happy travels.’
    Pyke came to a halt a yard from where Pierce was standing and studied his face for a moment. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I have matters to attend to.’
    Pierce didn’t move. He folded his arms, the smile curdling at the corners of his mouth.
    ‘Is there something else you want to say?’ Pyke was a head taller than Pierce and stepped forward into the space between them.
    ‘We both know why you’re so keen to take this assignment. Don’t think Sir Richard is blind to your motives, either.’
    Pyke was about to say something but thought better of it. He went to open the door to his office.
    ‘Pyke?’
    Pyke tried to keep his irritation in check. ‘Are you still here?’
    But Pierce had moved off in the direction of the stairs.
    Pyke caught the two thirty from Paddington and broke his journey in Bath, where he took the slower train to Keynsham. He arrived there after dark and made his way to the church, St John’s, in the middle of the town. In the vestry, he found Martin Jakes attending to one of his parishioners. The elderly curate was dressed in a black cassock and when he spotted Pyke he extricated himself from the conversation and bustled over to greet him, smiling and shaking his head. ‘You should have told us you were coming. Have you been to the vicarage yet?’
    When Pyke said he had not, Jakes informed him that they would go at once, adding that Felix was proving to be a most able student.
    Pyke nodded but secretly he’d been hoping that Felix’s enthusiasm for a life in the Church might have waned in the months since he’d been