Class Murder (A DI Geraldine Steel Thriller Book 10) by Leigh Russell

Author:Leigh Russell [Russell, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
Published: 2017-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

36

THE NEXT MORNING GERALDINE overslept and arrived at work just after the daily briefing began. Cursing under her breath, she slipped into the incident room. With a third death connected to the other two the team had grown, with officers drafted in from surrounding forces. When Geraldine entered the crowded room everyone else was facing away from her, towards Eileen. The detective chief inspector herself was looking down at a document. When she had been working for the Met as an inspector, Geraldine couldn’t have arrived late at a meeting without anyone noticing. As one of several sergeants, she was easily overlooked. For once, the anonymity of her position worked in her favour.

‘It’s completely different,’ Eileen was saying. ‘Stephanie and Peter were stabbed. Bethany died from a gunshot wound. The third incident was completely different to the other two. Where’s the evidence that her death was connected to the other two?’

They all knew the detective chief inspector was desperately trying to convince herself they weren’t investigating a third murder by the same killer. If they were, this would no longer officially be a double murder case, but a hunt for a serial killer, as the media were already claiming.

‘They were in the same class at school,’ Geraldine answered Eileen’s rhetorical question.

‘Yes, yes, we’ve established that,’ Eileen cut in impatiently. ‘And so were a few dozen other people. But there’s nothing else about this third death that links it to the other two.’

‘It has to be significant that they were together at school,’ Geraldine insisted. ‘They were in the same class at school, and now they’re all dead. We can’t just ignore the connection.’

She went on to report that she had learned nothing new from Robin or Ned, other than Robin mentioning the nasty caretaker. As all the former staff were being checked, that was already covered.

Ian joined in the discussion. ‘What about the evidence of the killer’s DNA we found on Stephanie?’

None had been found on either of the other victims.

‘There was probably no time for Bethany to attempt to defend herself before she was shot,’ Geraldine said.

It was a fair point, but Eileen remained adamant that they had to remain open to the possibility that Bethany might not have been killed by the same person. ‘We’re looking for hard evidence, not circumstantial speculation. Why would this killer suddenly start shooting? The previous victims were both stabbed.’

‘Maybe he’s only just got his hands on a gun.’

It was a chilling suggestion. There was a brief silence while everyone considered the horrific implications of this idea. When it was time to allocate responsibilities, Eileen asked Geraldine to question Leah again. As Bethany’s flatmate she must have some idea about where the latest victim was likely to have gone the night she died, and Geraldine had already spoken to her several times.

‘She’s more likely to trust a familiar face,’ Eileen said.

Geraldine wasn’t convinced the detective chief inspector was right in this instance, but she was pleased with the task she had been given.

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