‘Good.’ Maynard hesitated. Harris could hear him fighting to control his emotions. ‘They’ve fired me, you know. Said I handled the Meredith thing unprofessionally.’
‘I know,’ said Harris. ‘And I’m sorry.’
‘Not your fault, Hawk.’ There was another pause. ‘Listen, keep in touch will you?’
‘Yeah,’ said Harris. ‘Yeah, of course I will.’
But he knew he wouldn’t.
An hour later, Jack Harris, Scoot trotting at his heels, walked into the cabin at the dog sanctuary to be greeted by the young receptionist.
‘Hello,’ she said.
‘Thought you would be angry with me,’ said the inspector. ‘Because of me, the sale is not going ahead and you won’t get a new sanctuary.’
‘No, I’m not angry,’ said the girl. ‘It would not have felt right knowing what has been going on. Besides, there’s talk that the new directors are going to put some of their own money into this place. And they’re starting a fundraising campaign. They’ve already had a thousand pounds pledged.’
‘Make that a thousand and ten,’ said Harris. ‘No, hang it, make it fifty.’
‘Really?’
‘Least I can do,’ said Harris.
‘That’s very generous.’ The girl went to pick up the phone on the desk. ‘Are you here for Jane? I think she’s—’
‘No,’ said Harris, ‘actually I came to see you.’
‘Me?’
‘Yeah, you. I wonder, does Archie still need a new home?’
The girl beamed.
‘Do you know,’ she said. ‘I think he might well do.’
By the Same Author
A Flicker in the Night
No Age to Die
The Vengeance Man
The Latch Man
Strange Little Girl
The Dead Hill
The Railway Man
Copyright
© John Dean 2010
First published in Great Britain 2010
This edition 2011
ISBN 978 0 7090 9447 0 (ebook)
ISBN 978 0 7090 9448 7 (mobi)
ISBN 978 0 7090 9449 4 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7090 9114 1 (print)
Robert Hale Limited
Clerkenwell House
Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.halebooks.com
The right of John Dean to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988