Complicity Part 2 (3/4) By Nick Quantrill

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4). Part 1.

'It's still raining then?' laughed Maynard as Coleman entered the solicitor's boardroom, after negotiating the uniformed bouncers at the front-entrance. The room wasn't that much different to the one he had just left; cold, sterile and impersonal. He was torn between rebuking his junior colleague and finding something to wipe his face with. 'Well done, you're not in CID for nothing are you? Where's DI McCormack?' 'He's in one of the interview rooms with Julian Smyth.' 'Right. So what do we know?' 'At the moment, not a lot. We've taken a statement from the cleaner, Janice Fagan, and one from the senior partner of the firm, Brendan Lock.'

'The cleaner wasn't able to tell us an awful lot other than that she found the body and that he was definitely dead. Mr Lock wasn't able to offer much help either. He'd left the premises around 6pm to attend a meeting at the Royal Hotel. He offered us Baxter's diary and that makes mention of a meeting at 6.30pm. Unfortunately, it doesn't say who the meeting was with or even where it was to be held. Looking at the diary, Baxter was always a bit vague about his movements.'

'Ok.' Coleman considered the information. 'How did it go with Ryan Stutt earlier?' 'Hard work, as you'd expect. He said practically nothing. All 'prove it' and attitude, cocky fucker. We know he's working for David Mallory though, but he won't say anything to incriminate him.' Jesus, the Mallorys, thought Coleman, shaking his head; a family full of major career criminals. 'Still raining is it, Richard?' enquired McCormack as he walked back into the boardroom, manoeuvring himself around the mounds of sticky-tape left by the Scene of Crime officers. He ignored him, turning away to look at the view onto High Street from out of the window.

'Have you brought Richard up to date, Maynard?' 'Just about, Sir,' replied Maynard. 'Excellent. Obviously we're going to be waiting on the detailed toxicology reports, but there's plenty to be going on with. DS Maynard and DC West's will be working on verifying movements and tracing details of the meeting that Baxter had scheduled. We'll set some bodies onto the usual data crunching. I need you to have a look at the practice's client list and financial statements to gather some initial thoughts. I'll organise a meeting back at the station and inform you of the time.'

Coleman spent the rest of the afternoon looking at various financial reports and statements. Although he was no accountant, he could tell that the figures weren't impressive. The practice's minutes suggested that the partners were hoping to reverse their slump by selling the Bishop Lane premises to a property development company, presumably to build more city-centre apartments, and move eastward out of the city centre to a purpose built office on the Kingswood development. He carried on reading but found little of interest other than the client-list of the practice. He passed the list onto Maynard along with a note to crosscheck it with Companies House. He took a mouthful of coffee and shut his eyes; figures gave him a headache.

'Are you ready, Richard?' enquired DI Holloway. He had missed the initial Baxter briefing as he was due to take part in McCormack's initiative in the city centre later that evening. He didn't expect to be involved in the investigation. With it looking increasingly likely that death was due to poisoning, it should be relatively straightforward to bring Baxter's killer to justice, but it was still the juiciest case to pass through CID for a couple of months. 'As I'll ever be.' It was 8.00pm and the city centre would just be starting to get busy for the night. 'Good, good. We don't want to keep our public waiting. At least it's stopped raining for a while.' Coleman pulled his fluorescent tabard on.

Continued... Next Page (4/4)

Aircraft and Airshows - Saturday 10th September - The 65th Battle of Britain Anniversary Air Show - Duxford 2005 By Tony
	This is The Big One, Duxford Airshow, paying tribute to Churchill's Few, commemorating this anniversary of Britain's Finest Hour. In the summer of 1940 pilots of the RAF engaged hostile air forces and drove them from our skies. Credit must also be attributed to the aircraft of the time, Hurricanes and Spitfires. As time goes by, the number of these heroic pilots who flew Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - The Yorkshire Airshow - Elvington 2005 By Tony
	This is my sixth visit to this airshow and one I don't like to miss. The airfield creates an atmosphere that transports you back to the WWII days when it was a base for the heavy bombers. The resident squadron 1942 till May 1944 was 77 Squadron RAF, flying the twin-engine Whitley bomber, soon to be replaced by Handley Page Halifax with four Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - The Yorkshire Airshow - Elvington 2004 By Rachael
	On 21st August 2004 I took to the rails at 5.30am bound for Hull. The reason? Elvington Yorkshire Airshow. Traveling with anticipation of how the day was going to unfold; my last experience being sat in the pouring rain at Waddington, I thought what aircraft I was going to see, a Harrier? Tornado? Spitfire? Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - The Yorkshire Airshow - Elvington 2004 By Tony
	After my recent promotion I was tasked with selecting a team to accompany me to the Yorkshire Airshow. Sergeant Driver was in charge of transport, a man with the ability to inspire all to achieve more than you could expect. Two aircraftwomen Rachael and Scarlet, both good interviewers, writers Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - The Shuttleworth Collection - Military Pageant Air Display - 1st August 2004 By Tony
	I can only say that this was without doubt one of the most enjoyable events I have visited over the years. Not so much a flying display as a nostalgic happening. The mood was set as I arrived to hear 17 members of the James Goff Big Band playing a selection of tunes from the 1930's Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - Waddington International Airshow - June 26th and 27th 2004 By Tony
	I travelled to the Airshow with trepidation, as the weather forecast was for cloud and rain and the prospect of no flying loomed large. But here we are and all worries regarding the forecast were forgotten as I entered this hive of activity. As all aircraft/Airshow enthusiasts know, the noise and smell of fuel excites the senses and one hurries Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - Appeal - Vulcan to the Sky by Tony
	Please donate now to support the return of Avro Vulcan XH558 to flight. Donations are needed now to raise the matched funding required by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) following the announcement of a Stage 1 Pass for the project. £2.5million Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - The Charity Affair - 15th March 04 By Tony
	I was invited to this event to meet a host of people who give lots of their time and energies to raise funds and awareness on behalf of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service (YAAS). The venue was Abbey Lane Primary School, Sheffield, where I was welcomed Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - Aircraft Stamps By Tony

By popular request, the ballroom dancer is back! I've been urged by email and phone to give you more aircraft stamps from around the world. So here is a selection of my favourites which I hope will whet your appetites. I'm hoping that other philatelists will come forward and show us what stamps they are collecting. Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - Philately - Concorde Stamps By Tony

I'm a philatelist. In these modern times, that's like being a ballroom dancer on a skateboard ramp, a bit embarrassing. Over the years I've been a collector of aircraft stamps and have now around 4,000 stamps dating from 1922 to the present day. I've selected some of the stamps featuring Concorde to show the wide range of countries who felt the need to show this fantastic aircraft. Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - Concorde by Tony

On Friday 24th October 2003 the last fight of Concorde by British Airways as a fare paying passenger aircraft took place. If you have flown on Concorde or have seen it in flight, you can understand what a great loss this will be to the nation. The aircraft, first airborne in 1969, was and is still out in front in design and technical innovation.    Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - The Magic of Concorde By Mike

People in London never tired of it. Men and women always stopped working and children stopped playing. They used to look up and point "Concorde!" they marvelled. They didn't ever Read more...

Art - Kingswood High School Hosts an Art Exhibition Primary Colours for Fair Trade from school children in Hull by Mo.
	Last Thursday saw the launch of a 10 day exhibition called Primary Colours at Kingswood High School, Bransholme. Featured was artwork from a number of local primary schools - The Dales and Coleford - both under threat of closure - and Cleeve, Bude and other primary schools Read more...

Art - The History of LSD Blotter Art Compiled by Rich Mills
	Blotter Art is a term that refers to the artwork that liquid LSD is dropped onto. The artwork is printed onto blotter paper and then perforated into tiny squares or hits, which can be torn apart into easy to manage quantities. In 1938 LSD-25 (or diethylamide Read more...

Art Gallery - By Local Artist Patrick Henry
	I became a self-taught painter at the age of 36 when living in a mediaeval village in the French Dordogne. Post-Impressionism had been my favourite kind of art for long before that. I think it has a basic relevance that will never be exhausted. Renaissance paintings are also very Read more...

Art Gallery - By Hull Artist Darren Rogers.
	This is a series of photographs we'd like to present by Darren Rogers, an artist from Hull, East Yorkshire, England. Darren has not only proven himself to be an incredible photographer - providing the most brilliant galleries of live band performances Read more...