The Celtic Dagger Read Online Free PDF Page B

than at the excavation in France that I mentioned to you earlier today, so I wouldn’t say I know her well at all.  You might ask Vera Trenbath.  She’s the postgraduate co-ordinator.’
    Fitzjohn nodded.  ‘We'll do that.  There’s just one more thing I’d like to mention, Dr Wearing, and I’ll be blunt.  I feel it necessary to impress upon you that I do not appreciate interference in my work, and how important it is that you do not discuss the investigation with anyone.  I’m speaking, of course, about your meeting with Dr Sommersby late this afternoon, contrary, I might add, to my advice earlier in the day.  I’m sure you can appreciate the task we have before us in an investigation of this type and it’s crucial that investigation isn’t compromised.’  Fitzjohn paused before continuing.
    ‘Do you have any more trips planned for the foreseeable future?’
    ‘In light of what’s happened, no.’
    ‘Good, because I’m sure we’ll want to speak to you again.’
    Fitzjohn and Sergeant Betts got to their feet.  ‘We'll not take up anymore of your time, Doctor.  If you’ll just present yourself at the station in the morning, it would be appreciated.’  A polite smile crossed Fitzjohn’s face.  ‘Good night.’
    ‘Good night, Chief Inspector.’
    James closed the door behind the two men and returned to the living room, a sense of foreboding taking hold.  He walked over to the rain-splattered window and pulled the curtains across, his mind going over the day’s events.  He found it hard to believe that Alex would have taken the artefacts from Miles Bennett’s office without telling him.  A stickler for rules, it would be so out of character for him.  But everything pointed to the fact he had done so.  How else would the ring be in his study at home?  James slumped down in a chair.  Would Alex have confided in Ashley Manning?

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 6
     
    Fitzjohn and Sergeant Betts emerged from James Wearing’s house and hurried to the car through the rain.  Betts started the engine, put the windscreen wipers on, and looked across at a silent Fitzjohn.
    ‘Where to now, sir?’
    Fitzjohn turned to Betts, his glasses spotted with rain.  He took them off and wiped them with his handkerchief before glancing at his watch.  ‘Well, I suspect it’s too late to seek out that postgraduate student Dr Wearing mentioned.  What was her name?’
    ‘Manning, sir.’
    ‘Ah yes, Ashley Manning.  We’ll visit Ms Manning first thing in the morning but for now, I think we’ll call it a night, Betts.’
    Betts turned the car lights on and pulled away from the curb.
    ‘I’ll drop you at home, shall I, sir?’
    ‘No.  Take me back to the station.  I have a few things on my desk to clear up.’
    They drove for a time in silence, Fitzjohn lost in thought.
    ‘What do you think, sir?  About James Wearing, I mean,' Betts asked.
    ‘I think he’s making light of the argument he had with his brother the night he died.’  Fitzjohn paused.  ‘I believe Alex Wearing’s mere suggestion of the sale of their house in the Blue Mountains angered James Wearing.’
    ‘And it doesn’t sound like an isolated incident, sir.  Both Vera Trenbath and Tristan Harrow mentioned the animosity between the two.’
    ‘Mmm.  So one might assume that there's some underlying problem.  We need to find out what it is, Betts.  Ask around.  See what you can find out.’
    ‘Do you think James Wearing could have killed his brother?’
    Fitzjohn frowned.  ‘I don’t know.  Although, everything so far would lead us to believe so.  He has no alibi and he left Sydney not long after the murder took place.’
    ‘Plus the murder weapon was found in his office.’
    ‘True, but if he is our man, I think he would have disposed of that dagger, not set it out on his desk.’  Fitzjohn paused and looked out through the rain-splattered windscreen.  ‘But then again, after thirty years in this job, I’ve seen