Its DCI Warren Jones coldest case yet
The body of Reginald Williamson had been well concealed under a bush in Middlesbury Common and the murder had been efficiently carried out a single stab wound to the chest. Reggies dog had been killed just as efficiently. With no clues and no obvious motive, the case is going nowhere.
and then he gets a break.
DCI Warren Jones instincts tell him that the informant is dodgy a former police officer under investigation. But when the story he tells involves the death of Warrens father, he cant help but listen. Suddenly, a wide criminal conspiracy, involving high-level police corruption, a gangster and a trained killer, is blown wide openand Warren finds that this time, its not just his career under threat, but his family and his life.
Also by Paul Gitsham:
The Last Straw
No Smoke Without Fire
Blood Is Thicker Than Water (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
Silent as the Grave
A Case Gone Cold (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
The Common Enemy
A Deadly Lesson (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
Forgive Me Father
At First Glance (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
Silent as the Grave
A DCI Warren Jones Novel
Paul Gitsham
Copyright
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2015
Copyright © Paul Gitsham 2015
Paul Gitsham asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9781474033602
Version date: 2019-11-11
PAUL GITSHAM started his career as a biologist working in the UK and Canada. After stints as the worlds most over-qualified receptionist and a spell ensuring that international terrorists hadnt opened a Child's Savings Account at a major UK bank (a job even duller than working reception) he retrained as a science teacher.
You can find out more about Paul at his website, www.paulgitsham.com or follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dcijones or Twitter @dcijoneswriter
Acknowledgments
Like all of my novels, Silent as the Grave couldnt have been written without the help and assistance of a great number of people.
The first thanks must go to my amazing beta readers, Dad and Cheryl, who put up with my foul-mouthed rants at my computers steadfast refusal to print out a draft copy for them to read over, then dropped everything to go over the document in record time so I could meet my deadline.
Next is the long line of friends who have listened to extracts of the work during its gestation, giving much appreciated feedback and encouragement. I will never be able to list everyone who helped me, so if I dont name you, please be assured that I valued each and every suggestion and contribution.
A few who cant be missed out include my friends at the Hertford Writers Circle, who have given me essential feedback on all of my books, supplying thoughtful suggestions where necessary and giving me the strength to persevere when it all seemed a bit overwhelming.
Some chapters of this novel were written as an exercise for a creative writing class and the critical feedback supplied by Danielle Jawando and my friends at Hertford Regional College helped me raise my game enormously. Good luck guys and keep on writing!
As always, I relied on technical advice from many people: Elaine Dockrill helped enormously with medical advice, Caroline and Dan kept me straight on the legal stuff and our close family friend Danny McAree generously shared his experience from decades in the police. As always, Crime Scene Investigator Lee Robson of Essex police was a source of both information and future inspiration.
My colleagues and friends at school have been wonderful, supplying both encouragement and feedback as well as acting as a useful source of interesting surnames and even more interesting character quirks
Behind the scenes, I will forever be grateful to my publisher, HQ Digital, for taking a chance on me and for their support, from editing and feeding back on my manuscripts to the beautifully designed covers. Cheers, guys!
Finally, I must say a heartfelt thanks to the many kind readers who have taken the time to tell me what they thought of the first two books, either in person or via reviews. Releasing your baby into the wild is a nerve-wracking experience and a positive review really makes an authors day.
DCI Warren Jones will return. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy his latest adventure.
Paul
Dedication
To my number one cheerleaders, Mum, Dad and Cheryl. If you find one of my business cards or flyers in an unexpected place, it was probably them
Contents
Cover
Blurb
Book List
Title Page
Copyright
Author Bio
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Epilogue
Extract
Endpages
About the Publisher
Prologue
The teenage boy walked carefully, balancing an overfilled mug in each hand. The kettle had boiled only moments before and his mother had called down the garden, asking if his father wanted coffee. There had been no reply, but in twenty years of marriage Aileen MacNamara had never known her husband refuse a hot drink. So, curious to know what his father had been doing all evening, the fourteen-year-old had poured himself one as well and set off down the path.
The garage door was a sturdy, wooden affair, the handle missing for as long as the boy could remember, the hasp for the padlock its replacement. Looping a free finger around the metal bracket, he unhooked it then pulled as hard as he could. The door, warped from years of hot summers and cold winters, resisted before screeching open with a sudden jerk, spilling scalding liquid all over his hands. The teenager swore quietly.
Niall MacNamara had patrolled the streets of Coventry for over twenty-five years and had seenand heardit all. Nevertheless he had zero tolerance for foul language in his home and his son wasnt in the mood for a lecture.
The garage was dark, filled with tools and gardening implements. A spate of recent vandalism had prompted Niall to enlist the help of his two sons to clear enough space for him to park the family car in there overnight, but it was a tight fit.
The boy started to cough at the same moment he saw the hosepipe snaking from the rear of the car and in through the partially open drivers side window. With an incoherent shout, he dropped both mugs, forcing himself around the cars bonnet to the drivers side. After yanking the hosepipe from the window, he pulled the door handle. Locked. Through the clouds of exhaust filling the car, he could see his father, head slumped forward in the drivers seat. Choking, the boy cast his teary eyes around wildly before spotting a claw hammer hanging from a hook. With so little room to swing it took three desperate attempts before he shattered the window, all the while screaming for his mother. After pulling the door lock button, he opened the door. An empty whisky bottle rolled off his fathers lap and clattered onto the concrete floor. Reaching in, he took the keys from the ignition. But he knew it was too little, too late.
Tuesday 10 May 1988. After tonight, nothing would ever be the same again.
Twenty-Two Years Later
The scrum of press outside the prison gates was more like that awaiting the appearance of a pop star than a convicted murderer. An explosion of flashbulbs greeted the arrival of a black Jaguar. Some of the dozen or so uniformed police officers, who were stopping the pushing reporters from getting too close to the prison gates, broke off to form a similar line around the rear doors of the luxury car.
Parked one hundred metres away, DCI Gavin Sheehy looked on with incredulity at the spectacle. All of the major national broadcasters were present, along with several noted international ones. Reporters earnestly spoke into cameras or radio microphones. Recognising one of the BBCs most famous radio presenters, Sheehy reached for the car radio, selecting Radio 4. Sure enough, the anchor of World at One was reporting on the release of the prisoner, before handing over live to the presenter.
The scene outside Wormwood Scrubs prison is unlike anything weve ever witnessed before. Vinny Delmarno, the notorious crime lord sentenced in 1988 to life in prison for ordering the killing of a rival drug baron and accusedalthough acquittedof dozens of counts of racketeering, money laundering, drug dealing and prostitution, is due to be released any moment on parole.