Dead Broke: A Private Detective Crime Novel by DM James

Author:DM James [James, DM]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribe Books
Published: 2022-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten.

I splurged on a cab and arrived at the requested address a half hour later. It was easy to find; the police cars, mobile incident room and big white tent surrounded by uniformed police kind of gave it away. The tent was in an alleyway next to a pub on the high street.

I approached and was stopped by a Police Constable, but after asking for DS Mercury, I was let through the barrier. Freddie met me. She was in her business attire of a grey pant suit, but her brown hair tumbled down over her shoulders like an avalanche.

“Cole, thanks for coming,” she said. She already had latex gloves on so we skipped the handshake formality. She looked tired and wore the same world-weary expression that homicide cops the world over had; she had seen too much horror for someone so young.

“That’s okay. I had a feeling that if I didn’t, I’d soon have a cop at my door insisting I go for a ride with them,” I said. I looked over at the white CSI tent. “This doesn’t look good. Who is it?”

“We were hoping you could tell us. Unofficially, of course. They were found this morning when the pub cleaner took out the rubbish.” Freddie took me to the tent. “The victim didn’t have any ID. Just an iPhone and a business card. Yours. Our lab boys are attempting to unlock the phone now.”

“No ID?”

“Nope, just a phone. To be fair, that’s all you need nowadays. You can pay with your phone, get the tube, order an Uber, so there’s no need to carry bank cards. Makes our job a hell of a lot trickier though.”

“And you think I might know them? I guess if they have my card I might have met them.”

“That’s what we’re hoping. We could wait for the phone details, or maybe even a DNA match if they’re in the system, but they’ve got a mum somewhere that should be informed ASAP.”

“Do I need a suit?” I said, nodding towards one of the CSI guys in their white overalls. Freddie shook her head.

“The crime scene operatives have completed their sweep. Unfortunately it rained this morning. A lot of DNA evidence was lost. Just don’t touch anything and stay on the edge of the tent.”

I stepped towards the tent and reached out a hand to part the white flaps. I felt Freddie’s hand on my shoulder.

“Brace yourself. It ain’t pretty.”

I swallowed. I had seen dead bodies before but it depended on how gory the sight was as to whether I would hurl or not. I stepped forwards into the tent.

“Aw, hell,” I muttered. A woman lay on the ground, face down, her arm out in front of her as if she was crawling towards the exit to the alley way. The crime scene operatives had already bagged her hands to retain evidence and one guy was about to place a bag on her head when Freddie stopped him. I crouched down to get a closer look at the face, but I already knew who I was looking at.

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.