Nine Lives by Anita Waller (best english books to read .txt) 📗

moment, unsure how to answer. He sighed. ‘Yes, it is. Don’t broadcast it, but I suppose it will be in the newspapers you sell tomorrow morning.’

‘Poor lass. And so pretty as well. At least whoever is doing this isn’t mutilating them.’

Ian didn’t respond verbally to this, simply put away his notebook and handed Winston his card. ‘If you think of anything that could be relevant, give me a call, will you? And don’t forget to pop in and give a formal statement. Thanks for your help, and I’m sorry you two had your morning walk ruined. I wouldn’t advise going that route tomorrow, it will have crime scene tape everywhere.’ They shook hands, and Ian walked out of the shop. He stood for a couple of minutes staring across the road to the grassed area that ultimately led to the river, his mind churning things over.

He returned to the shop seconds later. ‘Mr Leonards – from this shop to where you found the body – which would be the most direct route of getting there from here? The route you took with Max or some other?’

Winston laughed. ‘Definitely a straight line almost, from here. It was a miserable morning, I wanted to get out there, let Max do his business, and get back to the warmth of the shop.’

‘You have CCTV?’

‘I do. It’s rather cranky, definitely old, but you’re welcome to check if anything’s on it.’

Ian walked back inside the shop, dropped the latch on the door and turned the sign around to say Closed. ‘We’ll only be a few minutes,’ he said, ‘and you can open again.’

‘Come through into the back room, the monitor is in there.’

Ian followed Winston through, and watched as the man’s fingers clicked on keys to bring up the picture.

‘What time do you want to see it from?’

Ian thought for a moment. ‘Let’s say eight o’clock last night.’

‘It’ll be grainy, but here goes.’

The picture flickered and filled the screen.

At nine thirty-two a dark-coloured Fiesta pulled up across the road from the shop, rendering the number plate invisible; the angle was wrong and the camera too basic. But it was clearly an older-model Fiesta, and of a dark colour. Nothing happened for five minutes and then the driver’s door opened slightly. It remained like that for two minutes, then opened fully and a figure got out of the car. The gender was unclear, and dressed in black.

The figure leaned against the car, back towards the camera, but the action was clearly that of a smoker. The cigarette was finished and tossed casually away towards where the grassy beginnings of the field met the tarmac pavement.

‘Shit…’ Ian breathed. ‘Can you pause it while I go and search for that cigarette?’

‘Want me to come with you? I’ll take you to the exact spot.’

Against all the odds, mainly the rain, they found it. Ian carefully picked it up and dropped it into an evidence bag before shaking Winston’s hand. ‘Thanks, mate. Let’s go and see what happens next.’

Winston restarted the recording, and the figure opened the back door. A large suitcase was dragged out and dropped heavily onto the pavement. It was hoisted upright and the handle elevated. The figure glanced all around and grabbed at the handle before wheeling the suitcase onto the grassy bank. It took a little effort to get it up the initial small slope and onto the more-level field, but that was as far as the camera’s view went.

Ian turned to Winston. ‘I’m so sorry but you’re going to have to keep the closed sign up. I have to bring Forensics in to download this, and I need to speak to my boss.’

Winston laughed. ‘Don’t worry about it. At this time of day it’s mostly kids who come in for sweets, and they pinch more than they pay for. I’ll write today off, I think.’

‘Good idea.’ Ian took out his phone. ‘Boss? Can you get somebody from Tech or Forensics to come out to Winston Leonards’ shop? Remarkably interesting CCTV footage. It’s not crystal, but clear enough for me to have picked up a cigarette end the killer threw away after she’d smoked it. And before you ask, no it’s not obvious it’s a woman, not from this camera. And guess what? She’s not superhuman. She doesn’t carry the bodies, she wheels ’em.’

Ian and Winston were enjoying a cup of tea and a bag of crisps when Erica arrived, and she gratefully accepted Winston’s offer to make a cup for her. ‘The Tech boys are following me so I’ll hang on till they get here before looking at it.’

She listened to them describe what they had seen, and Ian showed her the remains of the cigarette. ‘It was the only one we found in that little area, so I’d be prepared to swear it’s the one she threw away. I’ll hand it in when I get back,’ he said, and popped the bag into his pocket. ‘I took photos of the exact spot before I picked it up.’

‘And neither of you could come up with a description?’

Winston and Ian looked at each other. Winston shrugged. ‘She’s tall, I would say. But I can’t say for definite it’s a woman. The figure leaned on the car roof at one point, before turning away from the camera. You’ll see what I mean. I felt tallness.’

Ian agreed with him. ‘And using a large suitcase to transport the body does explain the puzzle of how could she carry a body over the distances. And nobody would query anybody pulling a suitcase behind them, would they? Blood hasn’t been an issue…’ and Ian stopped speaking, aware that Winston wasn’t actually part of the investigation.

Fortunately, the two Tech people arrived at that moment, and they all went through to the back room where Erica saw the recording for the first time. They were silent while watching it, then Erica and Ian followed Winston back through to the shop, leaving the Tech men to do their job.

‘Thank you so much, Winston,’