Dangerous Games Read Online Free PDF Page A

Inspector? Or were you perhaps in this very office, hiding under my desk?’
    Sarcasm was one of the stronger weapons in the Chief Constable’s personal armoury, Woodend thought – but even there, given his preference for the crude broad slash over the delicate cut, he was an amateur at it by Lancashire standards.
    â€˜Well?’ Marlowe demanded.
    â€˜I don’t make a habit of listening to other people’s calls, sir,’ Woodend said. ‘An’ as for my hiding under your desk, if you’ll look for yourself, you’ll see that there’s no room there for a feller my size. So no, I didn’t hear actually hear your conversation with Sergeant Paniatowski, but she has given me an outline of what she told you and …’
    â€˜So if it’s a choice between my word and hers, you’ll take hers any day of the week?’
    Woodend said nothing.
    Marlowe wiped his brow with his linen handkerchief. ‘There may yet be a way out of this for us,’ he said.
    â€˜For
us
?’ Woodend repeated.
    â€˜We might say that we deliberately released the wrong information in order to lull the killer into a false sense of security,’ Marlowe continued, ignoring the comment. ‘I’ll apologize to the press for the deception …’ He paused for a second. ‘Or better yet, I might even say that I’ll allow them to hint in their articles that they were in on the ruse – that they, too, had played a role in bringing the killer to justice. They’d like that.’
    â€˜Or you could simply admit that you’d made a mistake,’ Woodend pointed out.
    â€˜Admitting that mistakes
have been made
would certainly be one way to deal with the situation,’ Marlowe agreed. ‘But, on reflection, I think my alternative plan is better.’ He paused again. ‘Of course,’ he continued, ‘since we can’t possibly hope to keep the truth secret for long, I am going to need an arrest in the fairly near future.’
    Woodend sighed heavily. ‘As I’ve explained to you often enough in the past, sir …’
    â€˜You can’t hurry an investigation,’ Marlowe interrupted. ‘It’s a bit like gardening – you have to nurture your leads before you can harvest them. Is that what you were going to say, Chief Inspector?’
    â€˜More or less,’ Woodend agreed.
    â€˜Then let me make my own position crystal clear to you,’ Marlowe said harshly. ‘If it weren’t for certain pieces of information you uncovered while you were investigating the Bradley Pine murder case, I’d probably be sitting in the House of Commons right now – as Henry Marlowe, MP, a man with a brilliant parliamentary career to look forward to.’
    â€˜The information I uncovered was there to be found, sir,’ Woodend said, trying to sound apologetic and not even coming close. ‘And once I had uncovered it, I couldn’t ignore it – because it was that information which led me directly to the murderer.’
    â€˜Perhaps that’s true,’ Marlowe agreed, ‘but the fact remains that you owe me a great deal for costing me my opportunity to make a name for myself, Chief Inspector Woodend. You owe it to me – and you’ll do whatever you have to in order to make it right.’
    â€˜Listen, sir …’
    Marlowe slapped the palm of his hand down angrily on the edge of his desk. His in-tray and out-tray rattled, and his lamp flickered for a second.
    â€˜This is not a matter for debate, Mr Woodend,’ he said angrily. ‘I want Terry Pugh’s killer caught – and I want him caught quickly.’
    â€˜Sir …’
    â€˜You can go now,’ the Chief Constable said, looking down at the paperwork lying on his desk.

Four
    A t this stage in most murder inquiries, a team of officers would already be hard at work, turning the basement of Police Headquarters into what