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Chapters (60)
  1. CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR LEIGH RUSSELL
  2. Glossary of acronyms
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. Acknowledgements

‘Come on, drink your tea, and don’t think about it any more,’ his daughter said. ‘Sergeant, I’m sure my father’s told you all he can and we’d both appreciate it if you’d let him relax after his terrible ordeal so he can try and stop thinking about it. He did the right thing in calling you straight away and now he needs to be left to –’

‘Just one more question,’ Geraldine interrupted her. ‘Please, this is very important. When you moved the body, was it easy to change the position of the limbs or was the cadaver stiff?’

‘You mean had rigor mortis set in?’

Geraldine nodded. Members of the public were often well versed in the jargon surrounding murder victims, from watching murder mysteries on television, but they did not necessarily understand the full implications of the terminology. Around forty-eight hours after death, rigor would have given way to a flaccid state, and in any case, from the description of the corpse, putrefaction had already commenced, which meant the victim had been dead for more than a couple of days.

‘No,’ Roger said. ‘He wasn’t stiff or difficult to move at all. More kind of floppy, I’d say. When I tried to turn him over on to his side, into the recovery position, he rolled right over on to his back. That’s when I saw his face and realised he was dead, so I didn’t bother trying to shift his position again after that. I just moved right away from him – from it – and called 999. Do you know who he was? I mean, this man had nothing to do with me. I’d never seen him before. Not that I suppose I’d have recognised him if I had,’ he added.

‘Of course he had nothing to do with you, dad. He was obviously a burglar who climbed over the fence with the intention of breaking into the house and robbing you. If you ask me, you had a lucky escape. What if he hadn’t collapsed and died before he got to the house? You could have been attacked!’

‘Do you know who he was?’ Roger repeated.

‘Not yet,’ Geraldine replied.

She did not try to explain that scene of crime officers had already established the victim had been killed elsewhere, and his body dumped over the fence some days after his death. There was no way that particular intruder could have attacked anyone.

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