Broken Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

him.’
    ‘But you weren’t keen?’
    ‘I didn’t like him.’
    I nodded. ‘Why not?’
    ‘He was a sleazeball. I never felt comfortable around him or his people.’
    I wondered if I’d done the right thing trying to see him earlier today. I might have tipped him off to our interest in Donna. Maybe he had something to do with her disappearance. I cursed myself.
    ‘What did he do for the band?’ I asked.
    ‘Not a lot. When he got bored, he dropped us. The gigs stopped and I left.’
    I leaned forward. ‘Where did Donna go, Katie?’
    ‘No idea. One minute she was here, the next she was gone.’
    ‘She didn’t tell you anything, you were in a band together?’
    She laughed. ‘We sang in shitty pubs and clubs. It wasn’t like The Beatles had split up. They carried on for a couple more months and I got on with other things.’
    ‘Did you ever hear from Donna again?’ Sarah asked.
    ‘Never. I heard she owed Frank some money and did a runner.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe she did.’
    ‘Maybe’ I said, thinking it was a bit of an extreme reason to leave. But then again, I’d not met Frank Salford. I took a £20 note out of my wallet and placed it on the coffee-table along with my card. ‘If you think of anything, give me a call.’
    She nodded, turned away and said she would. I offered to buy Sarah lunch, once we were done with our next appointments. It’d delay telling Don what I’d done.
     
     
    Sonia Bray was in her late thirties and without wishing to be unkind, she was the very definition of mousey. We’d agreed to meet in Queens Gardens. I found an empty bench and made sure I was holding the newspaper in my hand, as arranged. She sat down next to me and explained her office was only a five minute walk away.
    ‘Thanks for meeting me’ I said, offering her a smile. ‘I appreciate it.’ I told her what had happened to Jennifer Murdoch.
    Bray nodded and composed herself. ‘Obviously no one deserves to be murdered, but I’ve moved on. I told Sheila I’d try to help you if I could.’
    I looked at the notes I’d made. ‘Sheila said you had to leave the company.’ I left the question open-ended, to encourage her to explain in her own words.
    ‘Jennifer Murdoch,’ she started, ‘took advantage of me. I had personal problems and I couldn’t think straight. I’m not proud of what happened but I couldn’t stop it.’
    ‘Something about missing money?’
    She nodded and put her drink down. ‘The auditor found some discrepancies in the accounts. I’m only the person who inputs invoices and payments and such like, but I can’t sit here and pretend I understand how accounts are prepared. What the auditor was saying didn’t make sense to me but Jennifer started saying it was my fault. With all the problems I was having, I couldn’t think it through. Eventually, Jennifer said the auditor has completed their investigation and there was a problem. She said she had no choice but to sack me. If I left quietly, she’d make sure I received a severance package and a good reference. If I didn’t go quietly, she’d recommend to Mr Briggs that I was sacked.’
    ‘Not a pleasant position to be in’ I said, knowing she’d chosen to leave quietly.
    ‘I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong but I couldn’t be sure, either. My mother was ill and I didn’t want to upset her unnecessarily.’
    ‘And you didn’t want Briggs to become involved?’
    She shook her head. ‘Jennifer said he’d call the police.’
    ‘What’s Mr Briggs like to work for? We only met him a couple of days ago. He struck me as the kind of man who doesn’t suffer fools lightly. Would you say that’s reasonable?’
    ‘Very much so. Some people think he’s a bit mean, but he’s not. He expects you to do the job he pays you to do. It’s perfectly normal, surely?’
    ‘Of course. What was the severance package?’
    ‘Jennifer gave me £1,000 and told me to go. She’d make sure there was no further action and I got the