Shot of Silence (Justice Again Book 3) by M Comley (best contemporary novels txt) 📗

Heartless piece of shit. We need to find him, and quickly,” Charlie said.

“That’s it. He takes off in a mo and doesn’t even look back.” Warren fast-forwarded the disc a little.

“Did he get away by car or on foot?” Roberts asked.

“Foot, I believe. I tried to pick him up on different cameras, but he disappeared as if he knew where the cameras were and how to avoid them,” Warren said. He messed around with the buttons and then ejected the disc. “There you go.” He placed the disc in a plastic case and handed it to Roberts.

“Much appreciated, thanks. A uniformed officer will drop by in a day or so to take a statement from you, if that’s all right?”

“Aye, I’ll be here. I’m here between eight in the morning and eight at night most days, except the weekends. This place is locked up then.”

“One last question,” Charlie said. “This all happened at around eight, after you left, I take it? How is the car park locked up at night?”

“I’d not long knocked off for the night. There are automatic gates, they come down at eight- thirty. Everyone knows they have to be out five minutes before that. It bugs me that the woman spent all night here alone. Maybe she was still alive, you know, after the shooting.”

“I doubt it. Try not to let it eat away at you.” Charlie rubbed at his arm.

They bid the man farewell and made their way back to Patti. She was examining the corpse.

“We’ve seen the disc. She was shot three times in the chest then, after a while, the fucker seemed to be having a conversation with her. Once he’d finished, he fired off another two shots in the back of her head.”

“Sounds about right, I came to the conclusion that’s how it must have gone down. Poor woman, maybe she pleaded for her life.”

“I think she did, who knows?” Charlie said. “She was a nice lady. Katy and I interviewed her a few days ago, and now she’s joined the victim list. This bastard is working his way through his previous colleagues, that’s how it looks to me.”

“Whoa, if you believe that, how many are left?” Patti asked.

“The two men we saw accompanying her to the car park, Ben and Steve, they parted and left for home. She was engaged in a conversation on her phone. She must have been distracted. I think if she’d seen the perpetrator she would have started running,” Charlie filled the blanks in for Patti.

“Jesus. If only she’d got in her car and driven away, maybe she’d still be alive today.”

Roberts agreed with Patti’s assumption. “Too late to consider that now. We’re wasting time. We need to get back to base and get things actioned.”

Charlie cleared her throat.

“Something wrong, Charlie?” Roberts asked.

“We can’t return to the station just yet, sir, we have an important task to perform.”

He shook his head. “I’m not attending a post-mortem, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“I wasn’t. We need to go and pay the deceased’s next of kin a visit. Let them know of her passing before the press get a hold of the news and start spouting about it.”

He bashed his thigh with a clenched fist. “I told you I was rusty, yes, of course we should do that as a priority. Do we have an address for the victim?”

“I’ll get in touch with Karen, see what she can find out for me.” Charlie stepped away from Patti and Roberts and exhaled. She rang the station, and Karen supplied her with the address almost immediately. Charlie hung up and returned to where Patti and Roberts were discussing the ins and outs of why the perp would overkill his victim.

“Anger, there’s no other explanation,” Patti said.

“There are other ways of dealing with pent-up emotions other than killing people,” Roberts was quick to suggest.

“Yep, not everyone realises that,” Patti agreed. “I need to get on. Nice meeting you, DCI Roberts.”

“You, too, Patti. Thanks for looking after my team so well. Keep up the good work.”

Patti smirked. “I’ll do my best. I hope you locate this bastard soon.”

“We’re going to do our very best, aren’t we, DC Simpkins?”

“We are, sir.”

Charlie and Roberts jumped back in his vehicle. He asked Charlie to punch the address into the satnav, and set off.

“I’ve just had a thought,” she said.

Roberts turned to face her. “What about?”

“The phone call she was making. She was laughing, seemed really happy. What if she was on the phone to her next of kin at the time?”

Roberts groaned. “Damn, you’re right, this could be a sticky situation.”

“Sticky? We could be in the same boat as we were with Camilla.”

“I’m not with you?”

“Camilla attempted to kill herself when it sank in that her fiancé was dead.”

“Fuck. Hang on tight.” Roberts pushed his foot down on the accelerator, and the car surged forward. He also flicked on the siren and weaved in and out of the traffic until they reached their destination.

Andrea had lived in a small terraced house in a quiet suburban street. Roberts found a parking space easily enough, something Charlie thought was probably a rarity come six p.m.

Charlie rang the bell.

A young woman in her early thirties with bloodshot eyes opened the door. “Yes?”

Charlie produced her warrant card. “DCI Roberts and DC Simpkins. Can we come in and have a brief word?”

“If it’s about Andrea, you’re hours too late. What the hell has taken you so long?”

“Sorry, we were only told about the incident this morning. What can you tell us about it?”

She stood back and allowed them to enter the hallway. “Come through to the lounge.”

Roberts closed the front door, and Charlie followed the woman up the hallway into a room at the back. Lying on a big squishy bed was a golden retriever, wagging its tail. Charlie paused to pet the dog and then sat on the sofa next to Roberts as instructed by the woman.

“I don’t think I caught your name,” Charlie said.

“I didn’t give it. It’s Maria Miller.