Dead set on Murder by Iain Henn

Author:Iain Henn [Henn, Iain]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-15T13:00:00+00:00

FORTY

For the past twenty-four hours, eighty-six police on the beat, working in pairs, stopped and questioned twenty-seven male joggers of varying ages. They discreetly watched and followed another twenty. Most of this activity occurred in the early morning or the evening.

None of the twenty who were watched were considered worth pursuing further. The names and addresses of the other twenty-seven were taken down – routine matter, the police said, asking, ‘Have you seen anything suspicious?’ All were thoroughly checked out. None were suspicious. There were no likely contenders.

The senior men on the force had seen this sort of thing before. A line of enquiry that had to be followed, a watch that needed to be kept. They didn’t expect anything to come of it, though. Too much of a long shot, unless they got very, very lucky.

All police had been instructed not to let on they were specifically looking for a male jogger acting suspiciously. Not even over police radio. Razell and Rosen were adamant that they wanted no chance of leaks.

In this respect, the investigation was successful. The reporters didn’t get wind of it. They could only surmise that the police were following leads. There was no mention of the eyewitness, Dianne Adamson, who had seen Bill Dawson’s death. The commissioner was pleased. That meant the killer didn’t know his pursuers were looking for a jogger in sports gear. There was no reason, therefore, that he wouldn’t continue to adopt that role when he went out to kill.

It was becoming increasingly apparent to Razell that this one piece of knowledge was their best hope of finding the murderer.

* * *

It was unusual for a senior detective sergeant to arrive at Sydney HQ, demanding to see the deputy commissioner. Lachlan had been persistent, making an issue of the fact that he had highly sensitive material in his possession. It may have seemed unusual for Razell to agree to see Neil Lachlan at such short notice, but in fact it wasn’t. He’d made a point to make himself available to all the men on the force, regardless of rank. Something like this allowed him to prove it.

It was early evening, the building still a hive of activity.

Razell listened patiently as Lachlan explained the situation. He leaned forward across his desk and cast his eye over the computer printouts. He felt some irritation to Lachlan’s maverick approach, but showed it only in the trace of rebuke in his voice.

‘Sit down, Lachlan, let me explain a few things to you.’

As Lachlan sat, Razell rose and strolled to the window, hands clasped behind him.

‘Back in 2008,’ he began, ‘I sat down with all the division heads, including John Rosen, and we decided to form a special unit to handle cases that simply couldn’t be successfully assigned to the normal channels.’

He returned to his seat and leaned back in the large, leatherback chair. ‘There are similar units in Britain, the US, some of the European countries. We often consult with those units, seeking information or documentation.

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