THE LEIGHTON MEADOW KILLINGS a gripping murder mystery (DI Jemima Huxley Crime Thriller Book 4) by GAYNOR TORRANCE

Author:GAYNOR TORRANCE [TORRANCE, GAYNOR]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller, mystery and suspense
Published: 2022-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

They had all known that Gabrielle Johnson’s arrest was a desperate throw of the dice. With no forensic evidence linking her to the murder, they had been relying on the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence. Finding the crossbow hidden in the attic at West Winds had taken them closer to reaching the threshold for the burden of proof. However, it didn’t necessarily link Gabrielle to the murder. Unless they found evidence directly linking her to the weapon, they couldn’t prove that she had used it to kill Dominika. Especially since the woman claimed that she had not been aware of its existence.

The interview had revealed a whole new case. Gabrielle’s allegations were a shocking turn of events that no one could have predicted. In a few hours, they had gone from investigating one murder to being informed of yet another, not to mention the abduction of two small children. If Gabrielle Johnson was telling the truth, these were all crimes outside the NCA purview and would fall to Jemima’s team to investigate.

The squad assembled in the incident room.

‘Didn’t see that coming,’ said Broadbent.

‘None of us did, lad. But we’re going to have to follow up on it pretty sharpish. If the Johnson woman’s telling us the truth, then her daughters have been separated from her for fifteen weeks. That’s a hell of a long time in a child’s life, especially when they’re that young. She’s only got her brother’s word that they’re being taken care of. And since he’s spent much of that time back at West Winds, who the hell’s looking after them? He could have offloaded them to God knows who. Those kiddies could be dead or being used as playthings by a gang of paedophiles.’

‘Don’t even go there. It makes me sick to the stomach just thinking about it. Cook’s beyond evil to do something like that. I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions if someone abducted my Harry,’ said Broadbent.

Kennedy ignored him and turned his attention to Jemima. ‘Are you able to continue with the case?’ He was aware that she would be going on maternity leave soon, and if Gabrielle Johnson was telling the truth, it added at least two other dimensions to the investigation.

Jemima bristled at Kennedy’s question. She readily acknowledged that the closer it got to the birth, the less energy she had. Everything was such an effort at the moment, and exhaustion was making her snappy. Her immediate thought was that Kennedy was suggesting that she was not up to the task. And if the thought occurred to her, surely the rest of the squad would think so too. ‘I’m more than capable of handling this,’ she replied.

‘That’s fine, Huxley. It’s just with your due date approaching and the scope of this investigation spreading, it could take a while before we’re able to wrap things up. Your capabilities and commitment have never been in doubt. I just don’t want to add to your workload if you feel that it’s time for you to slow down.

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