Survivors Guilt - (DCI Matilda Darke Series 08 (2021) by Wood Michael

Author:Wood, Michael [Wood, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Matilda had been caught off guard. She hadn’t expected another victim to be found, especially so soon after Carly’s murder on Monday night. The killer had left a gap of thirteen months and suddenly he’s killed twice within two days. As Sian drove towards the crime scene, Matilda thought of the other victims: all young women, all driven to prostitution by circumstances beyond their control. As if they didn’t have enough problems to contend with, now they had a killer targeting them. Sian pulled up behind a car that Matilda immediate recognised. It was Adele’s. Her heart sank.

‘Are you okay?’ Sian asked when Matilda made no effort to get out of the car.

‘Yes. Fine.’ She slowly removed her seatbelt.

As Matilda walked around the front of the car, she couldn’t take her eyes from Adele’s.

‘What happened between you two?’ Sian asked.

‘Sorry?’ she answered, absent-mindedly.

‘You and Adele. You were best mates. You were closer to her than you are to Harriet, yet now there seems to be this frosty atmosphere between the two of you. I know for a fact she doesn’t call round to the house anymore, and now you’ve gone pale just looking at her car.’

‘Nothing, Sian. Just drop it, will you?’

They headed along the grass towards the woods. A uniformed officer led the way.

‘A dog walker found her,’ the officer said. ‘She was just lying there in the middle of the ground. There was no sign that the killer tried to hide her.’

‘ID?’

‘Nothing on her, I don’t think.’

‘Okay. Thanks.’

A white forensic tent had been erected around the body. It was easier to access than the site at Plantation Woods. Matilda and Sian struggled into their paper suits against the stiff breeze. Any extra time was fine by Matilda. She could see shadows inside the tent moving around. She knew Adele would be in there.

‘Ready?’ Sian asked.

She put her hood up and pulled the mask over her mouth, then nodded.

Inside the tent, forensic officers were taking soil samples from around the body and photographs of the stricken victim. She was lying face down, her arms out in front of her. Adele, on her knees, her back to Matilda, was gently cutting open the woman’s shirt.

‘Oh my God,’ Matilda said out loud when she saw what was revealed.

Adele looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw Matilda, then turned back to the body.

Opening the shirt had revealed a large and detailed footprint on the woman’s back.

‘Can you take a photo of that, please?’ Adele asked. She leaned back out of the way. She then produced a tape measure, placed it along the length of the print and asked for another picture to be taken. ‘Size eleven boot.’

‘Not a shoe?’ Sian asked.

‘The tread is very deep. You’re looking for a heavy work-type boot, probably with steel toecaps,’ she said with solemnity in her voice.

‘Why would he stand on her?’ she asked.

‘To kill her.’

‘She wasn’t strangled?’ Matilda asked.

‘She was.’ Adele reached for a torch, turned it on and aimed it at the woman’s neck.

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