Remains of the Night (Murder Force Book 3) by Adam J. Wright

Author:Adam J. Wright [Wright, Adam J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Highfield Crime
Published: 2021-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Tony sat at the back of the meeting room in headquarters, acutely aware that he wasn’t supposed to be here at all. The large room had been filled with plastic chairs, all facing the front where a laptop and screen had been set up. Battle stood next to the screen while a uniformed officer seemed to have been given laptop duties.

Dani sat on the front row, next to Matt Flowers and Tom Ryan. Ryan had driven Tony home from the woods when the SOCOs had arrived and begun their work under the direction of Helen Stafford. Tony had jumped into his Mini and driven over here as fast as he could. His enforced rest day could wait; he needed to know what “C” had written in those letters.

He was sure that Dani—thinking he was still at home recovering—intended to fill him in tomorrow, but that didn’t suit him at all. There was no time to lose. The killer’s deadline was fast approaching.

“All right, I think everybody’s here,” Battle said, surveying the room. “We’re going to bring you all up to speed on this investigation. Firstly, we’re fairly sure that the perpetrator watched the Jenson family for some time, and may have broken into the house last summer. Statements from neighbours haven’t revealed sightings of anyone suspicious in the area, but we’ll continue to question the residents of the estate, and also the people who use the woods behind the houses. It’s a popular place for dog walkers and runners.”

Tony hoped someone had seen something. “C” was careful, but there might be a chance that he’d slipped up somewhere.

“A fair amount of trace evidence was taken from the scene at Chase Crescent,” the DCI continued. “The scenes of crime officers had recovered hair samples that may belong to the perpetrator. They’re being analysed in the lab at the moment. They also discovered that the dog biscuits that were found on the floor under the stairs were probably brought to the scene by our man. There’s no trace of those particular biscuits anywhere else in the house, and no empty packets in the bins. He knew about the dog, probably from his surveillance of the family, and he came prepared.”

Dogs seemed to be a constant in this case. The Jensons’ dog. The killer’s dog. Could there be a connection? If there was, Tony couldn’t see it. Not yet, anyway.

“Now, you may be aware,” Battle said to the room, “that our man likes to communicate. He rang 999 and reported his own crime. He left a note at the crime scene. And it seems he’s sent identical letters to the papers. The letters and envelopes are in our lab, being checked for DNA and fingerprints. As you can probably guess, the papers are running the contents of the letters on their front pages.”

He nodded to the uniform manning the laptop. Someone at the back of the room turned off the lights and the room was plunged into darkness momentarily before a close-up photograph of a handwritten letter appeared on the screen.

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