Page 11 of Four for a Boy

Josh stuck his head between the seats. “Can you smell that?”

Ally shuddered. “I don’t want to smell anything that comes out of your body.”

“No, not me.” He pointed to the open window. “Out there. Can’t you smell it?”

Chad took a deep breath. His nose twitched at the scent on the wind, sweet, and cloggy, not the normal smell of death he was accustomed to when visiting a crime scene.

Ally widened her eyes and brought up the window. “Poison?”

The officer moved away, still using his jumper to cover himself.

“It can’t be that potent, that officer would be dead.” Chad pointed out.

Ally raised her eyebrow. “When he collapses, you can volunteer to drag him in here.”

“Poison.” Josh’s breath caught. “We’ve not had a poisoner before.”

“What happened to you thinking Justin decided to walk home and had a heart attack in a bush?”

“That was a stupid idea. I don’t know why I let Chad convince me it wasn’t.”

“Yep, blame it on me.” Chad sighed.

“The DI’s calling me.” Ally announced, before answering the phone. “We’re here, but behind the blockade… Yeah. Okay. We’ll meet you there. The driver? Okay. I understand.”

She snapped her phone shut, and slid it into her pocket.

“What is that?” Josh asked.

“Huh?”

“That thing you call a phone. It folds in half, and looks ancient.”

“What did the DI say?” Chad asked, bringing Ally’s focus back onto him.

“The truck driver and the officers first on scene have been sent to the hospital to be checked over. The DI has ordered the body to be moved to the mortuary as soon as possible, but the road is to remain closed for the rest of the day. We’ve been ordered back to the station.”

She spun the car around, narrowly avoiding the officer by the blockade who retaliated by flipping her off in the mirror.

“What the hell is his problem?” Ally huffed.

Chad shrugged. “Maybe you almost killing him has something to do with that finger he’s holding up.”

“So what do you think? A Russian spy?” Josh said. “This could be MI5 … or MI6 territory? Is there an MI7?”

“Let’s wait until we get to the station.” Ally spoke through her teeth.

“Two spies up against each other, settling a score.”

“Josh…” Chad warned.

“Maybe over a woman. There’s always a woman involved when they’re spies.”

“Could be a man.” Chad suggested.

“Don’t encourage him.” Ally shook her head. “The more he talks, the more tempted I am to crash this car.”

“I’m only speculating.”

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