In Ink (DI Nathan Quarrel Book 1) by Dave Sivers

Author:Dave Sivers [Sivers, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

19

Superintendent Taylor was making a statement later today in which he would be confirming that three people had now been murdered in the Borough of Dacorum in as many days, and the police were treating the cases as connected. In doing so, he would effectively be admitting that there was a serial killer at large, but media speculation had already reached the point where Taylor believed something had to be said.

Only that morning, one of the local newspapers had carried a story on its website connecting the first two victims through their sons and the death of Ed Barnes. Quarrel wasn’t surprised. All it would take them was an Internet search. It was, after all, exactly how the police had found the link. Quotes from Jacko Barnes had been lifted from earlier articles.

“We can’t be wasting our time with this sideshow,” Taylor had said. “Unless there’s some other connection between Megan Jacobs and Ed Barnes that we’re missing, then Jacko’s in the clear and that case isn’t the motive for these murders.”

Quarrel had asked Valerie Jacobs if she was aware of Megan knowing Rob Murdoch, Luke Woodley or Ed Barnes. The names had meant nothing to her. So Quarrel was mostly inclined to agree with Taylor, but experience had taught him never to rule anything out completely.

Meanwhile, DCI Sharp was seeking a judicial order to determine whether Alastair Murdoch had served on the jury in Emily Snow’s rape trial. And Ricky James and Aliya Nazir were on their way to London, where the alleged rapist, Ben Newell, now worked, to warn him to be vigilant. It was premature – to say nothing of expensive – to start putting serious police protection in place for him, even though Quarrel would have liked nothing better than to put him in protective custody.

Quarrel wasn’t looking forward to the media reaction to Taylor’s announcement. To broadcasters’ vans all over the place and people with microphones lurking around crime scenes and victims’ houses. At the same time, he knew it was sometimes a necessary evil. You never knew what might jog a member of the public’s memory. And at least he could be straight with Emily’s family about why she had become a focus for their enquiries.

Tring’s Grove Park estate was a fair sized development, about midway between the local station and the town centre. It was considered one of the town’s more desirable areas: less than a mile from the centre and the shops, but close enough to fields to inject some rural soul into an urban setting. Quarrel and Laura had viewed a couple of properties there in their house hunting days.

There were quite a number of bungalows, but the Snows’ home was a modest detached house, probably built in the 70s or 80s. Quarrel and Katie were in luck. Both Emily’s parents were at home. Helen Snow worked part-time at a local charity shop and her husband, Mark, worked from home.

“We’ve just finished lunch,” Helen said apologetically as she removed mugs and crumb-scattered plates from the glass-topped coffee table.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.