RED SKATE CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Charlie and I both went running to Barker's cell. We were met with the horrible sight of Barker dangling from the ceiling; rope around his neck.
I felt sick. Barker looking like he'd choked made me feel like I was choking as well.
"It looked like he hung himself, and then choked to death," Charlie said, stating the obvious.
"Why would he kill himself?" I asked.
"Who knows, Sal? Maybe he couldn't face the fact that now he's a famous scanalous criminal, and that there would always be people asking for the truth from him."
We both turned to leave the cell, when I noticed something on the bed. I picked it up. It seemed to be a letter from someone. I read it to myself:

Hello Sally and Charlie.
I know you put Barker inside for the murders of Julia Entwhistle, Cathy Jones and Debbie Vanders. But I know he didn't do it. Because it was I who did it.
I am going leave you a trail of clues as to who I am. Please find the first clue just after where I've stopped writing.

Underneath the writing, the author had stuck a photo of one of the women from the Channel Five programme, "CSI". There was arrow next to it, with the words 'Same job. Opposite sex.'
Same job? What the Hell did that mean? Did that mean that whoever the killer was, they had the same job as the woman from "CSI", but was a bloke?
I went running after Charlie, who was well clear of the cells by this time.
"Charlie!" I called out. "Charlie! Wait up!"
He turned. "Sally? I thought you were right behind me."
"Look at this." I caught up to him, and shoved the note under his nose.
I watched him read it, his face looking more and more shocked.
"Where did you find this?" He asked me.
"On the bed. In Barker's cell."
"Why is there a photo of that blonde bird from that TV show?"
"I think it means that the killer has the same job as the woman, except the killer's a bloke."
"What does this woman do?"
"She's a Forensic Detective. Like us."
"But there aren't really that many Forensic Detectives in this buliding. Only me and you."
I stopped. I stared long at him.
"What?" He said, catching my stare.
"Well, the killer's supposedly a bloke. Lik,e you. And a FDorensic Detective. Like you."
"Oh, Sally, you can't think...?"
I shook my head. "No. Sorry. I'm just being silly."
We walked on in silence for a little while. I decided that, for a change, that I should eat my lunch in my office for once, because I had some musing to do.
I went down to the refectory and paid for a chicken sandwich, hold the mayonnaise. I took it back up to my office, and locked the door, so no-one could disturb me.
I set my sandwich down on my desk, and sat down. I opened up my drawer for the penknife to open up the box which contained my lunch. I was surprised to see there was a dinky little tape recorder in my drawer. I didn't normally own a tape recorder, and wondered where it could have come from. Feeling curious, I picked it up and pressed the 'Play' button:

"Hello Sally.
You guessed right. Your partner, Charlie Bater. But don't worry, he isn't the real killer. His first name, Charlie, is the second clue. Charlie is the surname of the killer."

I heard the little click as the recorder stopped playing. I set it down on the desk, and picked up my sandwich. I took a bite and slowly swallowed, contemplating what the third clue might be.
A knock at the door, and I heard Charlie's voice: "Sally? Can I please come in?"
I sighed, heavily, and went over to the door to unlock it.
"I've found something else," I told him, picking up the tape recorder. I hit 'Rewind', and handed it over to Charlie.
"Well, do you know what it means?" I asked. "Do you know anyone with the surname Charlie?"
Charlie thought for a minute. "Well, there's Yin-Shen Charlie. He's the Chinese dude who works in the Chinese restaurant. He always seems to be on a permanent shift whenever I go in there for a meal."
"We need to go down there now, and see if he's working there right now," I said. "You can drive. You seem to know where the restaurant is."

It took Charlie half an hour to drive to the Chinese restaurant. "The Noodle And Chopstick", it was called. We pulled up outside, and sauntered inside.
A little Chinese man was standing there when we went in. He smiled at us when he saw us, and opened up his notepad.
"Hello. What is your order, please?"
"I'm Charlie Bater, and this is Sally Sabre. We're here on a murder investigation."
Mr Charlie smiled at us. He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, which he gave to us.
"This person came in earlier and told me you'd be coming in later on today. They told me to give this to you. They asked me to apologise to you from them, because they wouldn't have any time to give it to you themselves."
"Did you see who it was?" I asked.
"No. They were wearing a hoodie, and they kept the hood up all the time they were here."
We thanked Mr Charlie and sat down at a table for two.
"Wonder what it is?" Muttered Charlie.
"Open it and find out," I ordered.
He tore his finger along the opening and ripped the contents out. He straightened the piece of paper, and read it out loud:

"By now, you should have guessed Mr Charlie who works at "The Noodle And The Chopstick" restaurant, seeing as one of you goes there on a regular basis. Mr Charlie isn't the real killer. Here is your next clue. The 'Stick' part in the word 'Chopstick' rhymes with the first name of someone who lives next door to one of you..."

Find out what happens next in Chapter Sixteen...