Game Over Read Online Free PDF Page B

was a knock at the door and Swilley looked in to say that Porson was back. Slider decided to take a break. Miss Stonax was looking drained.
    ‘I still have some more questions I’d like to ask you,’ he said, ‘and I’d like you to look at the flat later, but I can see you’re tired and you must be hungry by now.’
    She considered a moment. ‘I’m starving,’ she discovered.
    ‘Then may I suggest that Constable Asher here takes you up to the canteen, and you can get some lunch, and we’ll talk again afterwards. How would that be?’
    She shrugged. ‘I’ve nowhere else to go,’ she said bleakly.
    That was so true, it gave Slider a pang of pity. ‘Is there anything else we can do for you?’ he asked gently.
    ‘I’d love a shower and a change of clothes. I’ve been in these things since yesterday.’
    Slider nodded. ‘Asher will show you where. You’ve got things in your bag to change into, I imagine?’
    ‘Obviously,’ she said, and then remembered her manners. ‘I mean, thank you. You’re very kind.’
    Outside, in the corridor, Atherton said, ‘Poor kid.’
    ‘Kid? That’s a bit rich, coming from you.’
    ‘Manner of speaking,’ Atherton said. ‘So, what do you think?’
    ‘It could be that he was investigating something after all—’
    ‘And it turned round and bit him?’ Atherton finished.
    ‘Yes, but what could it be that was worth his death? Let’s not get carried away by conspiracy theories. It could still have been simple robbery.’
    Atherton rolled his eyes. ‘Must you always see both sides of everything?’
    ‘And it could have been accidental,’ Slider went on reasonably. ‘Maybe the intruder only wanted to knock him out, and just hit him too hard. And then panicked and ran away.’

Three
    So Long Succour
    P orson was standing by the window, reading. He hardly ever sat down unless he really had to. He looked up at Slider appeared in the doorway and raised his eyebrows.
    ‘Got something already?’
    ‘Not yet, sir. There’s something else I need to talk to you about.’ He closed the door and told him about the telephone call from The Needle.
    Porson frowned, fiddling with a paper clip. ‘He knew you were in the car?’
    ‘It may have been a lucky guess. Or he may have been able to hear the engine noise in the background.’
    ‘Or he may have been following you,’ Porson concluded. He thought a moment. ‘If he knew you were on your mobile, he must have known we could trace the call.’
    ‘I’ve put Swilley on it already.’
    ‘Then as soon as he rings again we can pinpoint him?’
    ‘Yes, and he must know that as well as we do,’ Slider said.
    ‘Hmm. What’s he up to?’ Porson said.
    ‘Playing us for fools, if I know anything about him,’ Slider said. ‘It won’t be that easy to catch him.’
    The eyebrows levelled out. ‘Well, it’s out of our hands now, anyway. He’s a big player and he’s wanted in high places. I’ll pass it on to Mr Wetherspoon and he’ll pass it to SOCA, or whichever SO is handling him. It’ll take it off our budget and manpower, at least.’
    ‘That’s a blessing, sir,’ said Slider.
    Porson gave him a scowl for the irony. ‘Don’t you think of going after him on your own!’ he barked. ‘I’m not interested in mock heroics!’
    ‘How do you feel about the real kind?’ Slider murmured, though he knew he shouldn’t.
    Porson looked more kindly at him. ‘You know and I know these slags just want to put the frighteners on us. Nine times out of ten they don’t mean it. But Bates – well, I’m not saying be worried, but keep your wits about you. I don’t want one of my officers walking into a trap, and there’s something queer about this. Doesn’t smell right.’ He rapped the end of the paper clip on the desk in an irritated rhythm. Slider was interested that Porson’s nasal radar was making him uneasy, too. ‘Why’d he have to surface now, of all times?’ Porson burst out at last. ‘Just when we’ve got our