Dark Streets: An Australian Crime Thriller (Sergeant Natalie Campbell Thriller Book 1) by Phillip Strang

Author:Phillip Strang [Strang, Phillip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-29T16:00:00+00:00

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Haddock’s theory that all four murders were interconnected was down the drain, as was his marriage. Two weeks after his last encounter with her one floor down, he had been evicted from the family home and was renting a one-bed apartment in Parramatta.

‘Couldn’t do it, move in with her,’ he confided to Natalie. ‘She’s a drug I could do without. Moving in with the woman would only confirm my wife’s worst suspicions; need to go cold turkey.’

‘You’ve only got yourself to blame. Besides, you’ll not keep away from her.’

‘Ruth Stein?’ Haddock said. He didn’t want to talk about his failed marriage, hopeful of a reconciliation, but knew it would not occur. ‘Has she determined whether Rebecca Griffith is crazy, off the planet, or harmless?’

‘Still padding the bill. I reckon Superintendent Payne was right about her.’

‘Rogers? Any luck with the photos? Do we know who the toy boy is?’

‘I’ll check later. He’s becoming a pest, keeps asking me out.’

‘Reportable?’

‘I can look after myself.’

‘We’re back to Maria Sidorov, then. Where do we go if Stein’s playing hard to get, unwilling to give us more? Another flight with Justice Kline, thumbscrews with Russell Harding?’

‘Neither. I survived Kline once; not sure I’d risk another meeting with him. The man’s a lecher, and I’m fair game. We can be certain he’s taken action to protect himself, willing to take us down at the first opportunity, throw us to the wolves or the sharks, depending on which you prefer.’

‘Neither. We’re dealing with persons with influence. Not sure I trust Payne any more than Kline. Sidorov’s still back in the homeland, and Dima Ivanov’s unemployed and probably getting drunk.’

Natalie took a day to catch up on paperwork and to set her desk up in Parramatta. She had enjoyed the small police station in Kings Cross; found State Crime Command intimidating.

‘How are you fitting in?’ A woman sat down beside her in the building’s canteen. Natalie knew who she was.

‘Fine, and you?’

The woman had come between Haddock and his wife, but there was no reason to blame her. In her late thirties, she looked like a person who had experienced life, three children by two men, looked after by their grandparents, a farm one hundred and fifty kilometres from Sydney.

‘You know who I am?’

‘Theresa. Yes, I know. Hard not to know around here. Still on with Inspector Haddock?’

‘Not sure. It was casual but fun, and I’m not seeing anyone else.’

‘Do you see many?’

‘Laissez-faire approach to life. I preferred him married. Makes me sound cheap, but I’m not. Just not concerned about pretending to be something I’m not. How about you?’

It was Natalie’s first friend in the building. She wanted to think badly of the woman but couldn’t.

‘Not even a cat, let alone a man. Not sure I approve of you and Haddock. I met his wife and got him out of trouble a couple of times, couldn’t do it forever.’

‘You did what you had to, but the marriage was doomed. The curse of the Homicide Squad. Enough in State Crime Command, broken marriages, a stray on the side, but Homicide’s got the record.

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