NINE
Inspector Josephine Wild, nicknamed Jo Jums, or Ma’amsie, a derivative of mumsy, which described her mumsy, plump image, of the Portsmouth Community Policing department, had just finished a meeting with the station commander, reporting that the two beheaded bodies had mysteriously disappeared from the crime scenes. Since this was a weird occurrence, she reported she would telephone, again, her former bosses Jack and Amanda Austin, still not sure if they had retired or not, but she often sought their advice on tricky issues.
Jack, feeling a post-coastal (as he would express post-coital) sense of well-being and a generosity of spirit that encouraged him to forgo his accustomed reticence to step into the world of administration and electronic communication, picked up the telephone besi
