Complicity Part 5 (1/6) By Nick Quantrill

(1/6), (2/6), (3/6), (4/6), (5/6), (6/6). Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Complicity is the new crime-fiction novella set in Hull featuring Detective Sergeant Coleman and Detective Constable Maynard. The thisisull.com serialisation is accompanied by the stunning black and white photography of Roland Standaert, which illustrates the story and takes a unique look at the city. Complicity and other stories are available for free. Please contact hullcrimefiction@hotmail.co.uk. for further details. Roland can be contacted at rockgraphy@mac.com.

Complicity Part 5

'Look, I don't want Anna bringing into this, she's done nothing wrong.' 'I'm not sure a jury would agree with you. Look, I've got to attend the funeral of a teenager tomorrow. How does that make you feel? I'll tell you how that makes me feel, it makes me feel pretty shit. A young girl with all life ahead of her, taken away through one bad decision. The funeral will be attended by literally hundreds of people, family, friends and fellow students, not to mention the media. It'll be horrendous for everybody.' Gale stared at Coleman. 'You know, don't you?'

Coleman nodded. 'Why did you do it?' 'I didn't have much of a choice. It was put to me in such a way that if I didn't co-operate with them, they'd ruin me. As I bore a basic physical resemblance to Stutt, all I had to do was pull a cap over my face, wear the same kind of clothes and keep my head down. They told me that that area of the city centre had the oldest CCTV cameras, and that what I'd done would be enough to get him put away. If I did that, they'd leave me alone.'

'Who are they, Simon?' 'David Mallory...' 'Let me guess the other...David Peel?' Gale nodded. 'Fucking hell' said Coleman raising his voice. 'Have you any idea how much you could fuck up our investigation into the death of Laura Fry?' Gale stared into space. 'I assume you do want us to catch whoever is responsible for her death?' said Coleman, squaring up to Gale.

Gale turned back to face him. 'Fuck you, Coleman. You know I want him bringing to justice as much as you do.' 'We've no proof that it was Stutt who supplied her.' 'Come on...you're miles behind. I assume you know he works for Mallory.' 'Of course I do. What's your point?' 'Mallory knows that he supplied the dodgy batch of tablets to Stutt. He wants to make sure that he isn't going to do a deal with the police and implicate him. He's very angry. After all, this isn't a minor investigation, is it? A teenage girl is dead.' 'Ok, I can accept that Mallory wants him in prison, out of the way, and setting him up will discredit any evidence he may want to offer us, but how on earth did he get you involved? A man who supposedly stands opposed to the use of drugs?' 'I am' replied Gale furiously. Mallory caught me at a bad time. Do you know my background, Sergeant?' 'Not in any detail.'

'I lost my sister, Kate, to drugs five years ago. She was at university in Liverpool and one ecstasy tablet was enough to kill her. It ruined our family, Sergeant. Can you imagine that? She had everything to live for.' Coleman allowed him to continue. 'After that, I set up ERDAG as my way of making sure that nobody had to go through what I went through.' 'So, where does Mallory fit into all of this?' 'After Kate's death I lost the plot for a while' said Gales shrugging. 'I was drinking too much, gambling too much, you name it. I was angry.

Continued... Next Page (2/6)

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