Free A Deadly Imperfection: Calladine & Bayliss 3 by HH Durrant Page A

grinned back.  ‘I still think this is a bad idea.  I should leave things alone.  I should take this tin box and stash it in my attic, out of sight.’
    ‘That won’t make it go away, Tom.  The issues will still be there.’
    ‘What issues, I’m not going to make an issue of anything.’
    Just at that moment his mobile rang, it was Rocco.
    ‘I’ve got something Guv,’ he began excitedly.  ‘Doctor Ahmed had a lady friend. She went to his house the night he was killed.  I got a photo of her from Sandy Cole and Joyce recognised her straight away, so we know who she is.  ‘
    ‘Have you spoken to her?’
    ‘No Guv, she’s on duty at the hospital.  I was going to go and speak to her but I thought I’d better tell you first.  It’s his Registrar, Samantha Hurst.   But Hurst is her married name, Guv.  Prior to that she was Samantha Buckley, you know one of the Buckleys.’
    The Buckley family was like royalty around here.  They owned a large purpose built factory on Leesworth Industrial Estate, and employed a large chunk of the local population.  The woman would have to be interviewed, and she might even become a suspect but for now, they’d tread carefully.
    ‘In that case we’ll go see her together in the morning, Rocco.  You’ve been at it all day so go home.  Good work, you’ve done well.’
    ‘What’s Rocco got?’ Ruth asked.
    ‘Our unsociable doctor had a woman in his life – a woman nobody told us about, not even Ms. Celia Downs, and I can’t believe she didn’t know.’
    ‘Why, who is she?’
    ‘His Registrar, Doctor Samantha Hurst – the former Samantha Buckley no less.’
    Ruth’s face fell then went several shades paler than normal.
    ‘One of the pharmaceutical Buckleys?’
    ‘I believe so, yes,’ he confirmed.
    ‘In that case we might have a problem.’
     

Chapter 8
 
    ‘Why – we’ll go easy, we’ll do our best not to upset anybody.’
    ‘No, it’s not that,’ Ruth cleared her throat.  This was one time in her life when she really wished she could have that glass of wine. 
    ‘You need to know about Eve Walker,’ she told him.
    ‘No I don’t, I’ve told you what I’m going to do.’
    ‘No, you don’t understand.  You must listen to me.  You can’t go haring off tomorrow without knowing the truth. 
    ‘You’re freaking me out, what truth – this?’  He asked banging his hand on the box.  ‘This is my personal life - it won’t interfere with my work, I won’t let it.’
    ‘This time it might.  You see she’s not Walker anymore, she got married years ago.’
    ‘Ruth, please – I can live without this.’  It was making him edgy - he still wasn’t ready for the truth about his past.  Why couldn’t she leave it like he’d asked? 
    ‘No you can’t live without it because of one very good reason.  She’s Eve Buckley now.’
    ‘Buckley – as in ….?’
    ‘Yes, Tom, as in the pharmaceutical Buckleys.  So, you see, you do need to know because this Samantha, the woman you’re going to interview in the morning, is your half sister.’ 
    He was momentarily stunned.  A half sister – a sibling, the idea terrified him.  How was it that he kept discovering female family members he never knew he had?  First his daughter Zoe had turned up out of the blue, now suddenly, he has a sister. 
    ‘I’m sorry Tom, but you can see why I couldn’t just leave it.  You might not want to know them, but Eve Buckley will know all about you.’
    Ruth was right, she would know, and that might put him at a disadvantage.  What if Samantha was involved in the murders?  Now that would really cause him a problem.  He scowled, why now?  Why all this when he wasn’t up to dealing with it.  Did she know about him?  His stomach churned - he was trying to think.  What did he know about that family?  There was another one – he’d seen his name in the local paper – ‘Entrepreneur of the year’ or something.  The son, Simon Buckley had run