Excerpt from the book called The Frisby Waterless Murders
“When you went to the end of the carriage to avoid the smoke, who else besides the Smedleys was with you?”
“The two people sitting across from me, The Johnsons – Wallace and Gromit I think they were called…”
“By Gromit do you mean Betty Johnson?” interrupted Knowles.
“…I do, she never said a word to me the whole time she was on the train; she might as well as have been made from plastocene. I think she spoke to Daisy, who was sitting opposite her, but not that much.”
“Yes, and who else was there?”
“Well, Johnny – John Davis, and Ellie Hammond were and I thought Desmond was briefly but then he disappeared again to find Marie and neither of them came back. When we came back to our seats about five minutes later they weren’t there, so they must have gone to the kitchen at the other end of the carriage.”
Knowles made a note of the various comings and goings and thought that he need detain Mr Ricketts no longer.
“Well, I think that’s all for now, Simon, so I would like to thank you for your time. Did you like my acting skills?”
“What acting skills?”
“My impression of a bluff policeman? I am a nice person and I was trying to be the opposite to see whether you would notice?”
“Yes, Inspector Knowles, it was completely convincing – I wouldn’t have known you weren’t being yourself. A great talent has been lost to the theatre.”
“Well, I don’t know about that Mr Ricketts, but I do thank you for your time and, if we have any further questions, do we have your address and phone number?”
“I am sure Sergeant Barnes does, but,” Simon Ricketts reached into his inner jacket pocket, “here’s my card for you Inspector with my phone number and email on it.”
Inspector Knowles took the card and placed it carefully in his notebook. He stood up, shook the actor by the hand, and headed towards PC Smythe who had just finished interviewing a middle-aged couple, who he guessed were the Casimirs.
“Hello, Linda, is that you finished taking statements?”
Julian Worker Fiction Writing 