Read Online Cut Short by Leigh Russell - Free Book Online Page A

immensely reassured that the investigation was in safe hands, but her optimism faded as Kathryn Gordon began to speak.
      'We've got a series of negatives so far,' she said. 'Forensics haven't come up with anything new. The initial post-mortem report reiterates what we already know. We've found nothing at the site. No one's seen anything, and no one unusual's been spotted loitering in the park.' Geraldine glanced around. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the DCI apart from a constable who was busily making notes. 'We're probably looking for someone with a record. So far no one local seems to fit the bill but according to one of the neighbours the boyfriend, John Drew, has a history of violence.' She pointed to his name on the board and Carter related what Brian Burrows had told them over a pie and a pint.
      'I hear him knocking her about,' Carter read aloud, in a passable imitation of a local accent. Someone giggled and instantly fell silent. If the accent was amusing, the statement wasn't. 'He gave her a black eye. She said she fell over but I never believed it. Before that it was a broken arm. They said she was accident prone.' Carter looked up. 'When we told him Angela Waters was dead, he said he was convinced John Drew had killed her.' A muted murmur hummed around the room although no one appeared to be talking.
      'This is all hearsay from a neighbour, quite possibly with a grudge. We've had no other reports of Drew being violent towards the victim.' As Kathryn Gordon spoke, the room fell instantly silent. 'But for now John Drew is our main suspect. Our only suspect so far.' She tapped at his weaselly face on the board. 'The boyfriend. What about his alibi?' Carter nodded at Black.
      'He was at work,' Black said. 'No one saw him leaving but no one saw him not leaving.' There were a few stifled sniggers.
      'Don't waste our time, Sergeant,' the DCI barked.
      Unperturbed, the DS tried again. 'They didn't see him leave and thought he was there the whole morning. But they wouldn't swear to it.'
      'What about the suspect?' Kathryn Gordon asked, turning to Geraldine.
      'He said he was at work all morning.'
      'What was your impression? What did you think of him?'
      'He's nasty enough, but I think he was telling the truth. I don't think he killed her.' Kathryn Gordon nodded, studying Geraldine's face.
      After the briefing, tasks were allocated for the day. They were spreading the net, looking for someone with a record, burrowing into John Drew's past, and finding out what they could about Angela Waters' short life. As Geraldine went over to check her schedule for the day, Merton approached her.
      'Boss wants a word,' he said. Geraldine nodded to show she'd heard and made her way over to the DCI's office. Having been summoned, Geraldine tapped at the closed door and went straight in.
      'Knock and wait for an answer before you come barging in,' Kathryn Gordon snapped. Geraldine hurried to comply. She wondered how Kathryn Gordon would react to a serious oversight and resolved to tread very carefully.
      'John Drew,' Kathryn Gordon said when she'd summoned Geraldine back in. 'You don't think he's our killer, do you?' She leaned forward on her desk and listened intently as Geraldine explained her reasoning. 'It seems highly likely that he was responsible for some, or all, of the physical abuse the victim suffered before she died,' the DCI pointed out when Geraldine had finished.
      'But we shouldn't assume—' Geraldine began.
      'We should never assume,' Kathryn Gordon interrupted her. The two women's eyes met in a brief flicker of under standing. Under pressure to achieve results, it was all too easy to jump to conclusions, as Peterson seemed to have done. 'Close the door on your way out, will you?' the DCI dismissed Geraldine.
      'Yes ma'am.'
      It was only a matter of hours since the media had begun to report Angela Waters' death but members of the public had already started phoning in.