The Unknown Spy Read Online Free Page B

here early, then something’s up, and the murder could be connected. We must put our heads together and think about it.”
    “Perhaps not solve the murder,” Danny said. “McGuinness is working on that. But if we could find outabout the Unknown Spy and his wife, who they really were …”
    “Good idea,” Dixie said brightly. “How?”
    “We need to get a look around the Unknown Spy’s room,” Les said. “Stands to reason there’s got to be answers there.”
    “Danny isn’t doing that today,” Vandra said. “Look at him—he’s out on his feet.”
    “Here,” Les said, sliding a dish of bacon, sausage and fried egg toward him. “That’ll set you up.”
    “Whoops,” Dixie said, “how was your Christmas? Never thought to ask.”
    Danny stuck a fork into a sausage and took a great bite, as much to avoid answering Dixie as from hunger. He was aware of Les watching him with concern. When finally he’d finished eating and they were all walking together down the Ravensdale street, he found Les beside him.
    “Are you okay?” Les asked. “Did something happen at home?”
    “No, nothing,” Danny said; then, seeing Les’s skeptically arched eyebrows, he admitted, “Nothing much, anyhow. I don’t want to talk now. I’ll tell you when I’ve had a chance to think about it.”
    “Fair enough,” Les said. “In the meantime, we’ll get you back to the Roosts and let you have a bit of a nap. Things could get a little busy around here. If Devoy sends for you I’ll hold him off.”
    They emerged from Ravensdale into the main building and took a side exit into the gardens. The snow laythick and undisturbed on the lawns and shrubberies. The air was cold and stung Danny’s lungs when he breathed, but it felt fresh on his tired eyes. A robin alighted on a snowy twig near them and followed their progress across the gardens. When Danny saw the treetop dormitories in front of him, he had a sense of belonging, a sense that increased when they climbed up the stairs and the warm, fuggy odor of the place hit his nostrils (as did, it has to be said, a faint aroma of boys’ socks). The iron stove in the center of the room glowed dull red. Danny sank down in his bed gratefully.
    “See you later,” Les said with a grin. Danny took his shoes off and pulled the blankets up around him. He knew he should undress, but the bed was soft and the room was warm. An image of the woman who had pretended to be his mother drifted into his head, but he pushed it away bitterly. She had no claim on him now. This was his home, and his friends were his family. Within minutes he was fast asleep, the room around him quiet and peaceful.
    F ar away, in the house Danny had left, it was also quiet, but it could not be said to be peaceful. All morning the woman Danny had known as his mother had felt a sense of dread that she could not account for. There was no sign of the car that had chased her and her partner the night before. The countryside was dead silent, the cold lying on it like a weight. The ravens had left that morning, as they always did, to scavenge what food they could find.
    Agent Stone was sleeping peacefully. The woman hadgiven him antibiotics and some morphine for the pain. She sat down at the fire, her eyes grainy with fatigue, her heart heavy. She could not remember a time when she hadn’t been on duty, all to do with Danny. She was Agent Pearl now, but once upon a time she’d had a real name—she had been Alison, a young woman with a life and ambition. The ambition had led her to this job, a vital job, she had been told. But for many years now she and Agent Stone had had little contact with their mystery employers, apart from checks in their bank accounts every month and emails every so often with terse instructions.
    Danny, she thought tiredly, remembering the look of utter betrayal on his face that morning. At the start Danny had been only a job, and he had been an easy child to look after. But he had become more than