Beyond Innocence by Barrie Turner Page A

his next move. Give her a couple of days, a week at the most and pull her in again then, like a knight in shining armour, he would come running to the rescue of a damsel in distress. No wonder this was easy. “Easy innit?” he whispered again under his breath.
    Later that afternoon, Bridget Riley walked into Merseyside Police HQ in order to keep her appointment with Detective Inspector Peter Taylor to whom she then made her sworn statement, that before Angela Clarkson’s death she had seen Angela wearing the watch shown on the Crime watch TV Programme. She told the Inspector that she hadn’t volunteered this information earlier as she hadn’t seen the TV Programme when it was shown. As a result she failed to appreciate the relevance or the importance of her information. She also confirmed that she had seen the watch when Detective Inspector Taylor allowed her to identify it whilst she was giving her statement in the police station. During this interview she was able to positively state that it was the watch in question. Detective Inspector Peter Taylor couldn’t believe his luck as he took down this statement. He knew full well that somewhere along the line, Jim West must have had a hand in it but he wasn’t going to raise any awkward questions with his colleague at this or any other time. As far as he was concerned, this was just one of the breaks they so desperately needed in their efforts to bring criminals to justice.

Chapter 9
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    Three days had passed since Quentin Russell had spoken to his associate in the Commons tea bar and, when his mobile rang. He knew it would be the call he was expecting. He wasn’t disappointed. He was assured that the question would be asked in the House the next day and, by the end of the week, rumour and speculation would be rife following a denial by the Prime Minister himself. All Quentin needed to do was to ensure that he kept the pot simmering with a couple of paragraphs in his newspaper column until the time came to pounce.
    At her home in Cheshire, Paula Harris was making afternoon tea for some of her friends from the ladies golf section and she too was wondering when something would be mentioned in the “House” about a certain and, as yet unnamed, MP.
    Jim West was parking his car at Walton Gaol. He didn’t expect any results at all from this visit because this visit was merely to ensure he kept up the pressure on Royston Chambers in order to ensure that he got what he wanted when the time came. He was well aware Chambers would try to string him along by saying Thompson would not admit to anything, but, when Chambers realised that the chips were down, Jim West knew he would say almost anything that he wanted to hear. To Jim West, prisons were like hospitals or, even worse mortuaries, for they had a peculiar smell about them which always seemed to linger as a result of which, he always liked to get straight down to business in order to get away as fast as possible. Today would be no exception.
    Once again he was taken inside by Alec Fulton and conducted to the same office. Within minutes Chambers appeared, and, from the look on his face, he was totally surprised to see his old adversary sitting in the assistant governor’s chair. The Detective Sergeant wasted no time at all in coming to the purpose of his visit. “How are you getting along with Thompson, Roy?” Is he talking to you yet, and, if he is, what’s he talking about?”
    Chambers began to fidget and straightaway, Jim could tell from his nervous demeanour, that Chambers was quite unsure of himself let alone what he was going to say? Jim knew that he was going to say that he had nothing to report, but this did not bother him in the least. After a few moments’ silence however, Chambers finally summoned up sufficient courage to speak, “Look, Mr. West, I don’t think he’s going to say anything at all. I’m the only person he speaks to, and, although we knock about a bit during the day, each time I try to