To Die Alone by John Dean Page B

at higher levels.’
    Harris stared at him: was it his imagination or was the superintendent trying to be helpful?
    ‘Don’t look at me like that,’ said Curtis with a slight smile. ‘You’re not the only one who comes out of this looking bad if it turns out that it was our cock-up. Anyway, going back to my original point, I need to tell the media something. Can we name Trevor Meredith yet? Have we tracked down any family members?’
    ‘We haven’t even formally ID’d him. To be honest, Trevor Meredith is a bit of a mystery man – there is nothing to suggest that he even existed before he came here.’
    ‘You’ve done all the checks, of course?’
    ‘Of course,’ said Harris, trying not to bridle at the implied criticism in the question: normally, he would have been more strident in his approach but, given the incident with the farmers, Harris felt as vulnerable with Curtis as he had felt for a long time. ‘One of the theories we are investigating is that he changed his name when he came up here.’
    ‘Any idea why?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘And what about his dog?’ asked Curtis, shooting Scoot a dark look as the Labrador wandered into his office and curled up next to the filing cabinet. ‘I understand it was torn to shreds. Is whatever did it still roaming the hills?’
    Harris shrugged.
    ‘Do we know what the bloody thing is?’ asked Curtis. ‘People are really worried. We have already had several calls from members of the public wanting to know if it is safe to go out.’
    ‘I’m sure it is. We have had the dead animal examined by a vet – not sure if you know James Thornycroft….’
    ‘Indeed I do,’ beamed Curtis. ‘A very pleasant man, indeed. He recently joined the Rotary Club. Just the kind of person we are looking for, a respectable young businessman.’
    ‘Yes, well, I am reserving judgement on James Thornycroft. We’ve heard some things.’
    The words had hardly come out of the inspector’s mouth before he had time to think about it.
    ‘What things?’ Curtis looked at him sharply.
    Harris said nothing.
    ‘Well? What things?’ said Curtis.
    ‘Let’s just say he is someone of interest to us.’
    ‘I suggest you focus on the main elements of this inquiry instead of going off on tangents like this,’ said Curtis, a new edge to his voice. ‘I know James Thornycroft and there is nothing to suggest that he is anything other than a decent member of the community.’
    ‘You can hardly know him that well. He’s only been here four mon—’
    ‘I have told you before about stirring up unnecessary trouble. You know what people are like up here. Concentrate on the job in hand.’
    Harris glared at him but decided not to argue the point.
    ‘So what else are you doing?’ asked Curtis, ‘because at the moment there is precious little to tell the media.’
    Harris sighed: his instinct had always been to keep things away from his superintendent wherever possible because it prevented him from interfering in investigations. However, on this occasion the inspector realized that he needed to offer his superior officer something that suggested an element of progress, even if it was only an unsubstantiated theory.
    ‘We suspect Meredith may have been investigating dog fighting,’ he said.
    ‘It doesn’t always come down to animals, Jack.’
    Harris groaned inwardly at the comment, realizing that he had made a tactical mistake, and decided to try another tack.
    ‘We also know that Meredith was involved in an illegal poker game at the King’s Head,’ he said in an attempt to divert the superintendent’s attention. ‘Apparently there’s money owed by several of the players.’
    ‘Weak.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I am not sure I can see a game of pub poker leading to murder, Jack. No, much as it galls me to say it, I prefer the dog fighting line of inquiry at this stage.’
    ‘Really?’ Harris could not contain his surprise.
    ‘It sounds feasible and if he was involved, he was taking a massive risk.