Dreams of Origami Read Online Free PDF

before begins.
    Usual stuff, what you’d expect from any Tuesday. A few traffic accidents during last night’s rush hour, nothing serious, but a nasty smash on the motorway about nine o’clock. A few fights after the pubs closed, and some incidents of domestic violence. There were a couple of break-ins, one of which sets off waves of laughter around the table; the lads caught red-handed when the alarm went off are obviously well known locally. Unfortunately, the victim was the owner of a village store, the third time this year it has been broken into. Then something about a missing person. Not a child, thank God. Adult,male, and only gone for a few hours when an officer called around. Too early to make it official, but worth mentioning all the same, someone might know something. Lacey recognizes Wadsworth, the sergeant who made the initial call. He says the way the man disappeared is a little strange, or at least that’s what the wife is saying. He’ll follow it up this morning.
    Lacey’s shorthand is pretty good, so she gets most of the detail down as it is read out. When the meeting closes, she has a quick word with the reporting officers about the items she’s particularly interested in, including the disappearance, although Wadsworth says she can’t report it yet, not without their go-ahead. Anyway, the chap’s probably turned up by now. Still, he’s going out there this morning to check on the situation, and he assures her that he will be in touch. Lacey knows better than to push too hard at this stage. That’s it for this morning. Most of the interview work for the minor incidents can be done over the telephone. A few quick calls to check out the facts, then she can get it all written up before this morning’s deadline.
    Back in the office and armed with another coffee, Lacey types up several short articles for today’s edition and hands her copy to the chief editor, along with the write-up on last night’s lecture. Then she makes an appointment to interview the shop owner whose premises were broken into last night. The initial report will be in today’s edition, but she’s hoping to do a follow-up feature on village shopkeepers coping with increasing crime in rural areas. Might make an interesting series.
    The room is hushed now, most people having gone out. Those left in the office are cocooned in their own private world of desk and computer, muffled by the hypnotic tapping of keyboards and the occasional purr of a telephone. Focused on the work at hand, everyone is aware of the clock hands jerking their way around to that all-important eleven. Everyone except Lacey, whose mind keeps drifting back to the disappearance. Something is nagging at her. When Jack comes back into the office, he finds her chewing the ends of her hair and staring into space.
    ‘Hi, how are things out there on the edge of the universe?’
    ‘What? Oh, sorry, I was miles away.’
    ‘Really? I’d never have guessed.’
    ‘I was thinking about something that came up this morning. A missing person.’ She hands him a copy of the article.
    ‘So he’s been gone nearly twenty-four hours. Nothing else to go on?’ Jack laughs. ‘Done a runner, more like.’
    ‘Yes, I know it doesn’t sound much. Could well be a domestic; husband storms off, wife gets her own back by reporting him missing. Only, Sergeant Wadsworth didn’t seem to think so. He was there yesterday shortly after it happened. He said the wife was really distressed, had a couple of the neighbours out looking for him. According to her, he just vanished into thin air.’
    ‘Is that right?’ Jack raises his eyebrows and peers at her over the rims of his glasses. ‘Any UFO reports?’
    ‘No, seriously. I know that area. It’s Gainsborough Street, where Drew lives.’
    ‘Ah, now I understand.’
    ‘No, you don’t. Look, it’s in the middle of nowhere. You can see for miles. You’d have to be Houdini to vanish from that place.’
    ‘So where are we up to with