Winter Frost

'Is that all you wanted to say?' asked Frost, disappointed.

'Yes.'

'See you in the morning, then.' He turned to leave.

'You'll see me,' shouted Ashby. 'And I won't be hanging from a bloody hook.'

Pity, thought Frost.

17

A damp and misty morning. It was just pushing half-past eight as Frost turned into the station car-park. He'd had a phone call from Bill Wells telling him that Ashby's solicitor wanted to see him urgently at nine o'clock with his client.

He checked the cars in the car-park. DC Burton was in already but no sign of Taffy Morgan's motor. With a muttered curse he spotted Mullett's Rover in its designated parking space. Hadn't the sod got a home to go to? No sign yet of the solicitor's car so he had time to snatch something to eat.

As he pushed open the door, the siren smell of frying sausages and bacon wafted down from the canteen. A quick peek inside the murder incident room as he passed through. Sitting next to Burton, noisily slurping tea from a chipped canteen mug, sat one of the tallest women Frost had ever seen. Thin, with bleached blond hair, jangling curtain-ring ear-rings and wearing, below a short black jacket, a tiny leather miniskirt which made her long, skinny legs look even longer. Spotting the inspector, Burton hurried over.

'Who the hell is that?' whispered Frost. 'The giraffe woman?'

'You asked us to check on toms. Lily saw a bloke Pick up Sarah last night.'

'From her height she could see for miles,' said Frost. He took one more look and shuddered. 'I can't talk to her on an empty stomach. I'll be down when I've had something to eat.'

He clattered up the stairs to the canteen, piled the full monty fried breakfast on a tray and sat down next to Bill Wells who was staring reflectively into an empty cup. 'Did you see what Burton's dragged in?" Frost asked.

'I reckon it's a man dressed up,' said Wells.

'Two men,' said Frost. 'One on the other's shoulders.' He cut off a chunk of sausage and dipped it in his fried egg. 'Did you hear the one about the midget who married the tall girl? His friends put him up to it!' He roared with laughter at his own joke, nearly choking on the sausage. 'Do you get it?'

'I got it, when you first told it to me,' said Wells glumly, 'but I was a lot younger then.'

'You're no fun any more,' said Frost. 'Do you know why Ashby's solicitor wants to see me?'

Wells shook his head. 'Ashby phoned him about eight o'clock. Half an hour later the solicitor phoned us, saying he wanted to see you urgently at nine.'

'Did he sound like someone whose client was going to confess and make a broken-down detective inspector very happy?' asked Frost hopefully.

'He sounded like someone who reckoned he had a broken-down detective inspector by the short and curlies.'

'Talking of private parts,' said Frost, 'I see Mullett's in?'

'He's got Wonder Woman with him.'

'Liz Maud? Back already? So I was wrong, it wasn't a heart and lung transplant?'

Wells leant over and lowered his voice. 'She's had an abortion.'

Frost's fork with a speared sausage hovered an inch from his mouth. 'And Mullett's the father? Flaming heck. How do you know it was an abortion?'

'It stands to reason.'

'So does my dick… but how do you know?'

'She used to keep throwing up… that's morning sickness.'

'It could be the canteen food.' He cocked an ear as the tannoy blared out: 'Would Inspector Frost come to the phone, please.'

The solicitor had arrived.

Mullett took off his glasses and gave them a careful polish with a paper tissue, then smiled at Liz who was seated in the visitor's chair opposite him. 'So you are fully fit and ready to resume duties?'

'Yes, sir. It was only a minor operation.'

He nodded. 'Er… yes.' He found his eyes being drawn to her chest. If it was a breast enlargement operation as Frost had suggested, they certainly didn't look that much larger than he remembered them. 'If you could let me have your doctor's medical certificate — we need it for your sick pay, of course.' That should tell him what had been done.

'I didn't take the time off as sick leave, Superintendent. It was part of my annual leave entitlement.'

'I see.' He took another quick peek. Perhaps her chest was a bit bigger than before. These damn women with their mysterious female ailments, taking time off at crucial moments for trivial operations. Anyway, things should be a bit easier for you next week. Inspector Allen will be back and you will be able to revert to your proper rank as sergeant.'

Liz stared coldly. 'You did say you would see about getting my temporary rank of inspector made Permanent.'

Again Mullett took off his glasses and held them up to the light, looking for non-existent smears. 'Ah, yes. I fought hard, Sergeant, but…' He shook his head sadly. 'In spite of all my efforts on your behalf, County wouldn't agree.' He beamed an insincere sympathetic smile. 'If you had achieved any good results, things might have gone differently, but as it was…!' He spread out his hands.

Her eyes spat fire. 'I see.' And she was out of the chair and his office without another word, her door-slamming pushing Frost's into second place.

Mullett shook his head and sighed. Damn woman! How right he was not to have recommended her promotion to County.

The bald-headed solicitor was seated next to his client in the interview room, his briefcase on the table. He nodded curtly as Frost, followed by Burton, came in to take their seats. 'An important development,' he announced.

You're looking too pleased with yourself, you smug bastard, thought Frost. Aloud he said: 'Oh?'

'As I understand it, Inspector, the mainstay of your case is that all these killings were carried out by the same person, including the murder of my client's unfortunate receptionist?'

'That's right,' said Frost guardedly. What had the sod got up his sleeve?

'And you feel the strongest link in your case against my client is the killing of Miss Stokes?'

Frost nodded.

'And whoever was responsible for her death, also dumped the body?'

Another nod. Get to the bleeding point, for Pete's sake.

The solicitor unzipped his briefcase and extracted a sheet of typescript. With irritating slowness, he took out his spectacle case and put on his glasses to refer to it. 'As the fast food vendor was away for such a short time, you can pin-point within a quarter to half an hour or so the time the body was dumped?'

'Yes.'

The solicitor turned to his client and they exchanged superior smiles. 'At first my client was unable to recollect what he was doing around half-past midnight or so, but this morning, he did remember.' He waved a hand for the dentist to take up the story.

'I needed cash, Inspector,' said Ashby, 'so I went to the automatic cash dispenser at Bennington's Bank in Lexton.'

Frost leant back in his chair. 'Lexton? Why didn't you use the cash point in Denton?'

'Because, Inspector, it was out of order — as I'm sure you will confirm when you check — so I went to Lexton and withdrew Ј50.'

'And what time was this?'

'Three minutes to one in the morning.'

'Which means,' the solicitor cut in, 'there is no way my client could have got to that fast food van between your window of times.'

Frost stared at the dentist. 'Did anyone see you there, sir — anyone who could confirm your story?'

'There was no-one else about at that time of the morning.'

'A pity,' said Frost, sounding relieved. He was afraid Ashby was coming up with a cast iron alibi. 'And why did you need Ј50 at that time of night?'