Dead Reckoning Read Online Free Page B

the same problem. I heard one of our photographers complaining he wasn’t allowed anywhere near the site because of the foot-and-mouth restrictions. It looks as though the telly cameras couldn’t get any closer. Have you no idea who he is yet?”
    â€œNo one’s come forward to claim him,” Thackeray said, taking Laura’s hand in his and pulling her onto the sofa beside him.
    â€œWas it an accident?” Laura asked. Thackeray shrugged, not wanting to spend time discussing death tonight.
    â€œProbably not,” he said. “Did you have a good day?”
    â€œIn parts,” Laura said, willing enough to distract him. So often the nature of his work hovered like a dark cloud between them.
    â€œOnly in parts,” Thackeray said wryly. “You talked to this Kelly Sullivan at the radio station?”
    â€œI did, we had a chat this morning and discussed the technicalities and some ideas I’ve got for interviews. And I had a quick drink with her just now on the way home and that’s the good part. Her boss, the station manager, is happy for me to do her segment of the early evening show for the three weeks she’s away. I can choose the people I interview and it’ll be recorded in advance so it’s not as nerve-wracking as live radio. It sounds great.”
    â€œAnd the bad part?”

    Laura shuddered and told him about seeing the Asian woman harassed on her way in to work.
    â€œIt was horrible, Michael. I thought you had people trying to stamp on that sort of thing. Those lads were just brazen about it, and no one did anything to help.”
    â€œExcept you, I suppose,” Thackeray said. “Rushing in where angels fear to tread again? I wish you’d be careful, Laura. Gangs of lads can be dangerous. You know that.”
    â€œThere were masses of people about …”
    â€œAnd not one of them would help you? Perhaps that’s a topic you should explore on your radio show?”
    â€œThat is a good idea, chief inspector,” Laura said, taking what might had an offhand remark more seriously than Thackeray expected. “But one I’ve already had, as it happens. Kelly thinks it’s a good idea too.”
    â€œWhat’s Ted Grant going to make of this new career move?”
    â€œI’m looking forward to seeing his face when I tell him,” Laura said delightedly. “He can’t stop me. I’ve done it before. There’s nothing in my contract says I can’t do freelance work so he’ll have to lump it. Kelly says we can do the recordings to suit me so it won’t interfere with what I do at the Gazette. Anyway, apart from picking up dead joggers on Broadley Moor, what have the forces of law and order been doing today?”
    Thackeray hesitated for a moment before he spoke, choosing his quiet words with care.
    â€œI went to see Victor Mendelson this afternoon and signed the divorce papers.”
    Laura turned to Thackeray in surprise, her heart thudding and her green eyes bright with expectation. This was a subject which had been flung back and forth between the two of them for so long that she had almost despaired of Thackeray’s
ever making the vital first move towards the marriage they had discussed so often and so inconclusively that it seemed unlikely ever to become a reality.
    â€œYou really did it?”
    He nodded, although she could see from his eyes that even this first step had hurt him in some way which she could only dimly understand.
    â€œWhat can I say?” she said softly. “Thank you, I suppose. I know it’s hard for you.”
    â€œIt feels like …” Thackeray shrugged wearily. “Abandoning the two of them again, I suppose. It was never their fault. This just compounds it.”
    â€œYou can’t hurt them any more. It was all over long ago.”
    â€œI don’t think it will ever be over,” he said, and she turned away, her eyes clouding again,