The Murder House Read Online Free PDF Page A

witness stand. A clever lawyer could tie an unprepared officer in knots, and cases had been lost for a lot less. Noble was the biggest arrest I’d made, so I had to be ready.
    Reluctantly, I found an empty carrel and opened the file so roughly that it tore. I didn’t care. I should have been walking to the train station, and now not only was I forced to spend a pretty afternoon in New Bridewell, but I’d miss all my connections and wouldn’t arrive in Newcastle until the small hours of Saturday morning. I’d miss the party Caroline had arranged, and everyone would probably be asleep when I got there.
    â€˜Good,’ came a voice at my shoulder. It was DI Oakley, nodding approvingly. ‘CID have been studying that all week, but I’ve ordered everyone to lay off it for the weekend, so as to be fresh on Monday. We’ve hogged it, so I hope you don’t mind having it now.’
    â€˜Oh, no!’ I said with bitter sarcasm that made him blink and back away with an uncertain smile. ‘Not at all.’
    I watched him go, and it was then that the idea came. There was nothing I could do about Monday, except catch a train at some godforsaken hour to be at court at ten. In my limited experience, I knew I could sit around there all day, only to be told that I wasn’t needed after all – which made the situation all the more annoying. But I could salvage Friday. Lots of people worked on trains – I would too. The only problem was that court files weren’t supposed to be removed from the station – ever – for obvious reasons.
    But I would be careful. Wright and the rest of my shift had gone, so no one would miss me. The file wouldn’t be missed either, given Oakley’s remarks. With a feeling of guilty unease, I shoved it in my bag and ran the half-mile or so to Temple Meads. By three o’clock I was in my designated seat as the train pulled out of the station.
    I tugged the folder from my bag and laid it on the table. The carriage was half empty – a testament to the fact that you need to re-mortgage your house to buy a train ticket these days. There was someone at the table in front, but no one behind or opposite, which meant I could work without being worried that someone was looking over my shoulder.
    The file was putty pink, with the name ‘Noble’ written at the top. It looked no more appealing now than it had in the station, and I turned my attention to the brown fields that flashed past outside, letting my mind wander.
    â€˜Helen!’ came a warm voice. ‘I thought it was you.’
    I was startled and a little disconcerted to see James standing over me. He looked much as he had when we had parted after our date, but more self-assured. His light grey suit was cut perfectly to show off his broad shoulders, and his loosened tie was carelessly stylish.
    There was a man behind him who stirred distant memories. He shoved past James, as though they didn’t know each other, but there was something about their body language that suggested he did, and I was fairly sure it was the monkey-faced man who’d collected James from school. Surely his mother’s ‘bit of rough’ wasn’t still driving James around? But it was none of my business, so I turned my attention to James himself.
    â€˜Have you moved up north?’ he asked, sliding into the seat opposite. ‘I don’t have time for socializing with the old crowd these days, so I don’t know any news.’
    â€˜Just going to Newcastle for the weekend.’ I could see the female student at the table in front looking at him admiringly, and it felt good to be the focus of his attention for a few minutes. ‘To see some friends.’
    â€˜Nice,’ he remarked pleasantly. ‘That’s where you went to university, isn’t it? What did you study again?’
    I told him, and we spent a few minutes going over information we’d exchanged