Free Murder With Mercy by Veronica Heley Page B

whatever it was they were supposed to have done.
    Mikey was from a single parent family.
    Mikey was a stubborn little cuss at the best of times.
    What to do next? Ellie poured tea with a hand that trembled. She handed one of the mugs to Rose, saying, ‘Drink up.’
    â€˜I’m so glad you’re back.’ Rose wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
    â€˜Yes,’ said Ellie. Should she ring her solicitor and ask him to help? No, first she must find out exactly what was going on. She took her own mug of tea back into the hall and rang the local police station. With any luck, it would be DC Milburn – Lesley – in charge of the case, and she’d get a sympathetic ear.
    Unfortunately, she landed up with a desk sergeant – probably a civilian nowadays? – who didn’t have the time or the patience to discuss a simple case of vandalism by a lad who’d been truanting from school. Who was Ellie, and what relation was she to the lad in question? Mother or grandmother? Aunt, perhaps? Guardian?
    â€˜I’ll be there in ten minutes,’ said Ellie, crashing down the phone and wondering if it would be best to walk or wait for a cab to take her there.
    Rose appeared in the doorway, blowing her nose again. Was Rose going to go down with flu, too? ‘Is he going to be all right?’
    â€˜Of course he is,’ said Ellie, mentally crossing fingers. ‘You get on with the supper. If there isn’t time to make a steak and kidney pudding we could have the pastry as individual dumplings in beef stew, as they only take half an hour. I’m going to check with Vera and then get down to the station.’
    Up the stairs she went. How many times had Rose done it today? Poor dear, no wonder she was worn out. Into Vera’s flat. Nice and tidy. Everything clean and neat.
    Ellie knocked on the door to Vera’s bedroom, and a hoarse voice bade her enter. Vera was in bed, the bedclothes dis-arranged. She looked flushed and her eyes were half closed, not focusing properly. A jug of lemonade was on the stand beside her bed, with some packs of painkiller, evidence of Rose’s attentions.
    Vera tried to sit up when she saw it was Ellie. ‘Sorry. I’ll be getting up soon. Can’t leave everything to Rose. Aches and pains, that’s all. Better soon.’ She was also running a temperature, if Ellie were any judge of the matter. And the light from the window was bothering her.
    Rose was right; Vera was in no condition to do anything at all. ‘Everything’s under control. Don’t you try to get up till you feel better. I just popped in to see how you are.’ Ellie drew the blinds halfway down at the window. ‘Is there anything you need?’
    â€˜Mikey …?’
    Ellie spoke the truth, if not the whole truth. ‘I took him to school today.’
    â€˜He’s up to something …’
    â€˜He usually is. I’ll check. You have a nice sleep and I’ll be up to see you again in a while.’
    For various reasons Ellie never felt comfortable at the local nick. She did realize that members of the public weren’t meant to feel comfortable there. It was even possible that a firm of architects had been employed to make sure the surroundings were as stark and forbidding as possible.
    There was another reason why Ellie avoided the place. She hadn’t intended to make an enemy of the Detective Inspector whom she’d nicknamed Ears, but that is exactly what she had done, and he was one who’d hold a grudge for ever.
    As she entered the hallowed precincts, she imagined how Ears would relish her appearance on behalf of a disadvantaged lad of mixed race who’d been caught thieving – or whatever it was Mikey was supposed to have done. Ellie cringed at the thought. Perhaps he was out on a case somewhere. She hoped.
    Ellie fidgeted, waiting for the desk sergeant to notice her. A civilian was doing the job nowadays. Chosen for brawn