Free A Killing Resurrected by Frank Smith

you’ve come to tell me we’re getting air conditioning in here next week, but that’s not it, is it?’
    Paget shook his head. ‘Air conditioning isn’t the answer, Len. Not in these days of global warming. As Darwin said, we have to adapt if the species is to survive; the alternative is extinction.’
    Ormside sighed. ‘Ask a silly question,’ he said glumly. ‘So what is it, then? Not this Barry Grant thing, I hope? I took a quick look at the files Tregalles dumped on my desk yesterday, but the last thing I need right now is a thirteen-year-old cold case.’
    â€˜Afraid it is,’ Paget said, not without sympathy. ‘I’ve just come from talking to David Taylor. He’s the son of George Taylor, the baker who was killed in the Bergman raid, but he insists that he doesn’t know any more about who Grant’s friends were back then than Claire Hammond does.
    â€˜So, I want you to start digging. Since the robberies all took place here in Broadminster, let’s assume that his friends were from here as well, so start with a list of Grant’s classmates during his last year at Westonleigh, and his first and only year at Leeds. You might also find out if any of his old teachers are still around. Someone has to know more about this kid than we’re being told.’
    Ormside cocked a baleful eye at Paget. ‘Take a look around,’ he said. ‘That’s what’s left of my staff, and they’re up to their eyeballs as it is, so I hope you’re not in a hurry for this stuff. I mean it’s waited this long, so a few more days shouldn’t make much difference.’
    â€˜Believe me, Len, I’m well aware of the problems,’ Paget told him. ‘I don’t want to be unreasonable, but I do need that information, so let’s do it this way: concentrate on the names of his classmates here at Westonleigh, and have those who are still around come in to be interviewed. Tregalles and Forsythe can do some of them, and they will be responsible for any follow-up, which should ease the burden on the rest of your people. As for those who live farther afield, we’ll take a look at them if we need to after we’ve had the locals in.’
    â€˜That’ll help,’ Ormside conceded, ‘but I still can’t promise anything until at least the beginning of next week. Unless, of course, now that you’re sitting in the super’s chair, you’re prepared to authorize overtime?’
    Paget shook his head. ‘You know that’s out of the question,’ he said as he rose to leave. ‘But if you could make a start on it tomorrow . . .?’ He saw the look on Ormside’s face, and raised his hands in a sign of surrender. ‘OK, OK,’ he conceded, ‘the beginning of the week it is, then, and I’ll let Tregalles know.’

SIX
Friday, July 10th
    I t was a far different looking Claire Hammond who greeted Paget and Superintendent Alcott the following morning when they entered the house Claire still thought of as Aunt Jane’s home. Today, she was wearing a headscarf, a pair of rumpled slacks, trainers, and a T-shirt bearing the words:
Save a tree – eat a beaver
; a gift, she explained, from a cousin in Canada.
    â€˜I’m afraid the place is in a bit of a mess,’ she said apologetically as they stood in the narrow entrance hall. ‘When you phoned and asked me to meet you here, I decided to come early and start sorting through some of the cupboards and drawers, but it’s hard to know what to do with so many things. Aunt Jane hated to throw anything away, so you can imagine what it’s like.’
    â€˜I can indeed,’ Paget told her, having gone through a similar process himself when his father died. In fact, there were still things in the house for which he had no use at all, but he’d kept them because they’d had meaning for his father. ‘Will you be