Page 46 of His Worst Crime

“It wasn’t him, I tell you,” Howard insisted. “He couldn’t do that. The lad hasn’t got a violent bone in his body. I told the police that a year ago, but they wouldn’t listen. You should speak to that other no good son of mine.”

“Is Owen here?” Ramon asked.

Howard shook his head. “After everything that happened, I ran him off the property. I want nothing more to do with him.”

“Know where we can find him?”

“I heard he’s staying in the village. He knows if he sets foot on this property before Davey’s turned thirty, I’ll have him arrested for trespass.”

“Did you know that we have located your other son, Mr. Howard?”

The man stilled, and his eyes searched Ramon’s face. “Oh, yes?”

“He was working at a stables in Barcelona under an assumed name…”

“That’d be right,” the old man chuckled. “He loved Barcelona. It was always his plan to go there. He was learning Catalan and everything.”

“There’s more.”

“What?”

“He’s been in an accident.”

“Oh my God!” The man’s face went white and he looked like he might be about to faint.

Ramon cursed himself silently for not being more tactful.

“He’s alive… and stable,” he added quickly. “He’s currently in hospital in Barcelona. They’ve put him into an induced coma, but he’s stable. It’s more to protect his brain, give it time to rest and heal. We’re hoping there won’t be any lasting damage. He has no other serious injuries.”

Simon Howard’s eyes widened as he took this in. He shook his head, as if trying to clear something from his vision.

“Davey? No….”

Jaume and Ramon shared a look. In the car coming up here they had debated how they should break this news. Ramon had opted to be direct, while Jaume had insisted they hold back on telling him until the last moment, to give them time to interrogate him on the case first, before gaging his reaction to the news. It was now clear that Simon Howard didn’t believe his younger son had anything to do with the assault.

“Can I see him?” he asked. “I’ll book a flight to Barcelona today.”

“We need to speak to Owen,” Ramon said. “If we get things wrapped up here, we’ll be flying back to Barcelona this afternoon as well.”

Howard nodded, but he barely seemed to be listening. He had already turned back into the house and picked up his phone, was searching for something on it, leaving Ramon and Jaume abandoned on the doorstep.

twenty-six

The village of Ravenscragg was another couple of miles down the same narrow lane, which skirted around the base of the looming crag above. It consisted of barely half a dozen houses, one of which was the pub, The Raven’s Roost. Ramon parked in the tiny square out front. It was an old Tudor building with a low doorway they had to stoop to enter. Inside, copper pots, rusty scythes, and sheaves of wild grasses hung from ancient rafters. There were only a few patrons, even though it was nearly midday.

As they entered, Ramon looked around for any representative from the police, but could see no one who fit the description. This was where they’d arranged to meet, as odd as it had seemed to him to meet another police force in the pub. But maybe that’s the way they did things around here. They approached the bar, where a stout homely woman beamed at them and asked:

“Morning, gentlemen. What’ll it be?”

“Just a cola for me,” Ramon said. I’m driving.”

“I’m happy to drive,” Jaume shot at him, but then the range of British craft ales on tap caught his eye.

“We’re on duty,” Ramon warned.

“Sure, a… just a lemonade, thanks,” Jaume grumbled.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of entertaining two foreign policemen in our little neck of the woods,” the barmaid asked, curling a stray lock of her red-golden hair behind one ear and smiling at Jaume.