Page 36 of She Saw What He Did

The man smiled.

‘It’s a proposition. You may wish to say no. But we’ll need your answer by midnight.’

Sparrow thought it highly unlikely that he would say no to seventy thousand. A surge of adrenalin tingled through his body.

‘What’s the proposition?’ he asked.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ellen yawned. She hadn’t slept well the night before and her eyes felt sore. She magnified the grainy photographs and studied the fuzzy features of the two men. It was impossible. The more she magnified, the blurrier they became.

‘That was Fernsea police station,’ said Scott, putting down the phone. ‘The Millers are home.’

‘Is everything okay?’ Ellen asked.

‘They got back last night and went to the police station. They’re okay; scared but okay. The local nick will keep us informed if anything untoward happens.’

Ellen sighed and looked again at the grainy photos. Abby Miller said the auto focus hadn’t worked because the battery had been faulty. There had definitely been two other men on Laslow Island. Someone must know who they were.

‘I must pop to the quay,’ she said, jumping up. ‘Just to see if anyone remembers anything odd that day.’

Ryan sighed.

‘Don’t you think you should let it go?’ he suggested, glancing out of the window.

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t think Abby Miller is a fantasist.’

Ryan turned and clicked on the kettle.

‘This is the excitement you’ve always wanted,’ he smiled. ‘I don’t blame you for making the most of it.’

‘Don’t you get sick of just sitting here doing nothing?’ she asked irritably.

‘Some people would love our job,’ said Ryan, as he spooned coffee into a mug.

Ellen chewed the end of her pen.

‘Do you want a coffee?’ Ryan asked.

Ellen shook her head. She was cutting back on caffeine. She was drinking too much of the stuff. No wonder she couldn’t sleep.

‘Who on the island has a shotgun permit?’ she asked.

Scott dunked a ginger biscuit into his coffee.

‘The farmers have permits,’ he said lazily. ‘I don’t somehow imagine it was one of them. Anyway, I thought the guy with the gun was murdered.’

‘We should still check. Anyone with a shotgun permit we should question. It may give us a lead.’

‘You’re not serious?’ laughed Ryan. ‘What, even old Farmer Brown?’

‘Even old Farmer Brown,’ said Ellen seriously.

Ellen’s face was flushed with excitement.

‘I’m going to the quay,’ she said, grabbing her sunglasses.

‘Right,’ said Ryan. ‘I’ll come with you.’

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