The Christmas Mansion Mystery ( Part Seventeen )

Detective Evans came into work on the Wednesday morning, to
discover a message on his desk, asking him to come in and see
Mr Rydell, who had some information, he might be interested in,
concerning the death of Andrew Henvey.

Evans decided a visit to Mr Rydell, would be the first thing he would
do. It was very quiet at the station, as he left his office. He made his
way down the corridor to the reception area. John was on the front
desk. “If anyone wants me, I'll be at the hospital, with Mr Rydell. Oh!
Yes...if Graham comes in, can you tell him that I might have a lead for
him, on his investigation?”

“Yeah! Sure, I'll let him know,” replied John.

Jack Rydell lay in his hospital bed, he had not been able to sleep,
wondering if he had made a mistake, about wanting to tell the police,
things he knew about Andrew Henvey's death.

Marianne had come in to see him, last night, she said there was a
cheque for him, from his last job involving Mr Henvey, apparently
it was a nice big cheque too. He stared out of the window, wondering
what he would tell the detective.

The two men in the bed opposite, were snoozing, he wished he could
sleep, then it would take away his need for a cigarette, it had been
three days, since he'd had a smoke and it seemed like an eternity.

One of the nurses passed by his bed, he called out to her. “Nurse!”

She came over to him, looking at her watch. “Yes what can I do for
you?” she asked nonchalantly.

“Would there be any chance, of me getting up for a smoke?”

“Well Mr Rydell, if you feel able to walk, I'll come down to the TV
room with you, I'm not to busy at the moment.”

“That would be fine,” said Jack. “Thank you!”

As they made their way down to the television room, detective Evans
walked towards them. “Ah! Mr Rydell...good to see you up and about,
I think we need to chat, if that's okay with you?”

Jack turned to the nurse, saying he would be okay now. The nurse
agreed to leave him to it, as long as the detective informed a nurse if
there was a problem.

“He'll be fine with me,” said Evans, taking Jacks arm.

The detective sat him down in a chair, in front of the TV, then produced
a packet of cigarettes. “Are you allowed to smoke?” said Evans.

“You bet I am, been gasping for one, over the last three days.”

As Jack lit up, he took a puff, but immediately began to feel light
headed and slightly woozy. “Um! I think I'd better leave off the smoking, It seems to be affecting me. I don't feel to good.”

“Do you want me to get you the nurse?” enquired Evans.

“No...I'll be fine, just let me sit here and talk to you.”

Jack spent nearly an hour explaining to the detective, all he knew about
Mr Henvey's death. By the time Evans left, he had enough evidence to
put the killer away.

By now Jack was feeling tired and realised he wasn't as well as he
thought he was. The detective helped Jack back to his bed, before leaving. Jack was soon sleeping off the heady feeling, relaxed now
that he had told the detective.

To be continued ….................