Free Brock And Kolla - 09 - Spider Trap by Barry Maitland

boy pointed at the hand holding the white, and made the first move. The game developed routinely, Adam carefully studying each move, trying to work out how good his opponent was, until the detective suddenly pushed a bishop forward to attack. Adam moved a knight to counter-attack, and after considering this for a moment Brock seemed to lose interest in his attack and moved a pawn on the other side of the board. Adam saw a major mistake. He poked his glasses back on his nose and kept his face expressionless as he made sure.Yes,the copper had definitely screwed up. He moved his knight forward to take the bishop. Brock frowned briefly, then abruptly moved one of his own knights, right into the path of Adam’s queen. Adam swiftly took that too, elated at what he would tell Jerry. This guy was supposed to be smart, he’d just seen him live on telly, and Adam was wiping the floor with him.
    When Brock moved a third piece,his other bishop,into the line of fire, Adam took it with a small jag of regret; either Brock was humouring him or he’d forgotten everything he’d ever known about chess. But the sacrifice of three major pieces had cleared the board in front of Brock’s queen, while shifting Adam’s pieces to the sides. Brock now moved his queen straight up to Adam’s back row, attacking his king.
    ‘Checkmate, I’m afraid.’
    Adam’s mouth opened and closed.‘Oh . . .’
    Brock picked up his three sacrificed pieces and laid them out, one by one. ‘Did you know they were there, Adam?’ he asked quietly.‘The bodies?’
    ‘No, I swear.’
    Brock pointed at the outline of the boy’s leg in its frame beneath the blanket.‘Seven hundred and fifty volts direct current, enough power to push a train.You took an awful big risk blundering through the snow just to find a foxhole.’
    The boy shrugged and pushed the chess set back to Brock. ‘Thanks, I don’t want this.’
    ‘Suit yourself,’ Brock said. ‘You can give me another game, though.’

    At the sandwich counter, Kathy and Mrs Nightingale picked up their cups of tea and took them to a table.
    ‘He’s got an electronic thing he plays chess with,’ Adam’s mother said. ‘I don’t know what he’d want with that old wallet. What’s your boss up to then?’
    ‘Just trying to be friendly,’Kathy said.‘Do you believe Adam’s story about the foxes?’
    ‘I’ve brought him up to tell the truth.’
    ‘But if it was something he thought you’d be angry about?’
    Adam’s mother looked uneasy. She stirred her tea, round and round.
    ‘We need some help on this, Mrs Nightingale.’
    The woman shot her a hostile glance and spoke in a low rush, not wanting anyone else to hear.‘That’s easy for you to say.Who knows what you’re diggin’ up on that waste ground? And whoever put them there sure didn’t want them disturbed, that’s plain. And now my son’s name and picture is in every newspaper. Yes, it’s easy for you to say.’
    ‘But surely he’s in no danger if he didn’t know the bodies were there, if he was looking for something else?’
    Mrs Nightingale thought about that.‘Maybe,maybe not.’She concentrated on her tea for a moment and then, as if changing the subject,said,‘Do you know what “brown bread”is?’
    Kathy was puzzled.‘Well,yes.Bread made with wholemeal—’
    ‘No, no, no, not that kind of brown bread. I mean, is it a name for something, a slang name? Like . . . drugs, maybe?’
    Kathy saw the worry in Mrs Nightingale’s eyes. ‘You think Adam was looking for drugs?’
    ‘No! I’m not saying that at all! You’re putting words into my mouth.’
    ‘Please.’ Kathy gently put her hand over the other woman’s. ‘Tell me.’
    ‘Oh . . . How do I know what’s for the best? Just now, before you came, Adam’s friend Jerry came to see him. I left them for a minute to go to the bathroom. When I came back they were talking. I stood on the outside of the curtain and listened to them. Jerry said like,“But why did you