Imposition (DI Gardener 5)

“Well, at least we struck lucky with the thief, Walters.”

Gardener and Reilly had been informed that a Paula Bunting from the travel agency in Bursley Bridge had called the police, and the two constables attending the scene had found Manny Walters out cold on the kitchen floor where she had left him. She explained what had happened, and that when confronted, Manny Walters had rushed forward in a threatening manner. Luckily, she had studied self-defence, and had reversed the positions in no time at all, causing Manny to have a nasty confrontation with a door frame. Manny was back at the station in a cell, nursing the mother of all hangovers without him having taken a drink.

“Didn’t we! Wonder what made him surface?” As yet, neither Gardener nor Reilly had actually laid eyes on him.

“I doubt it was bravery,” said Reilly. “He’s a few peas short of a casserole, that lad.”

“We’re now in the position of having two out of three people and the elusive guitar, so where does that leave us?”

“Back at square one. Maybe Robbie Carter was telling the truth. The guitar was stolen.”

“If that’s the case, why disappear?”

“Because it’s not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” replied Reilly. “But he does have an alibi. And he may not have disappeared voluntarily.”

The door opened, and Doctor Travers appeared. He was short and dumpy, dressed in an ill-fitting suit, wore glasses with thick lenses, and most of his patients were in better health if appearances were anything to go by.

“Mr Gardener, Mr Reilly?” Both men stood, producing their warrant cards. Travers nodded. “Please follow me.”

Once in the office, each man took a seat and Travers said, “Okay, let’s cut to the chase. You want me to tell you about a procedure called the Sano Shunt.”

“That’s the blood pressure pump?” asked Gardener.

“Yes, sir. Jane Carter did not have the Sano Shunt; she had the Sano procedure. The way this works is that the operation serves to make the right ventricle the main pumping chamber for blood flow to the body. The aorta is made larger to increase blood flow. A connection is made to enable the blood travelling through the aorta towards the body to ‘shunt’ through this connection, and flow into the pulmonary artery to receive oxygen.

“This may be accomplished with a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt, which is a small tube placed between the aorta and the pulmonary arteries, or by using the Sano modification procedure, in which a homograft conduit is placed between the right ventricle and the pulmonary arteries. The choice of which procedure is best is usually discussed with your cardiologist.”

Gardener appreciated the information Travers was giving them but it did nothing to move his case along, leaving him frustrated.

“Thank you, Dr Trave

rs.”

Chapter Thirty-six

Gardener stood in front of the whiteboard with a pen in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. The tea urn and the snacks were on the side table, but he had no interest in food. He couldn’t remember when he last had a case as tough as the current one.

“Thanks, guys,” he said, turning to face them. “I appreciate the effort you’re all putting in.”

“Just wish we could get somewhere, chief,” said Bob Anderson.

“Wait till you hear what we’ve got to say,” added Reilly.

“Have we found Robbie Carter?” asked Rawson.

“No,” replied Gardener. “But we have made a breakthrough today, starting with Carrie Fletcher.”

“She’s alive, then?” asked Sarah Gates.

“Yes, she’s been staying with her sister in Skipton for a few days.”

Gardener continued by outlining what they had learned from Carrie Fletcher, finishing with her discovery of the bruising on her friend’s body.

“And she thinks it was him?” asked Emma Longstaff.

“She’s convinced,” replied Gardener. “She spent a lot of time at a women’s refuge and she knew the signs when she saw them.”

“Why didn’t she do something about it?”