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Back Deadly Revenge
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

‘As far as we have been able to gather so far,’ he reported, ‘no one but the immediate family went to the house, and Jason was out at work all day and Jessica was rarely seen.’

Geraldine nodded. Anne had said something similar to her. Apart from the fact that the health visitor seemed to think the baby was sleeping through the night, all accounts of the family appeared to agree.

‘Do you believe Jessica was lying to the health visitor?’ Eileen asked.

‘I don’t know. We know Jessica is volatile and there does seem to be an element of duplicity in her dealings with the health visitor, but I think it’s understandable an insecure new mother might want to convince anyone in authority that there was no call for them to intervene.’

‘She’s a new mother,’ a female constable pointed out. ‘I’d say that’s par for the course.’

Eileen nodded. ‘There’s nothing to suggest Jessica is unreliable. Unless she was confused, which is possible, we have to conclude Jason lied to her about going to a stag do.’ She sighed. ‘We need to find that young man, and quickly. And when we do, hopefully we’ll find the missing baby.’

9

9

The report from the forensic laboratory arrived later that day.

‘That was fast, for a Sunday,’ Naomi commented.

‘They work quickly when they want to,’ Eileen replied.

She didn’t add what all experienced officers knew. In a murder investigation, days of the week meant nothing. Nothing mattered but information gathering to discover leads that resulted in an arrest. Eileen summoned the team to a briefing and glared around the room so aggressively that Geraldine gathered straight away the news was bad. She held her breath, praying that the baby’s body had not been discovered. Having worked on numerous cases investigating the brutal murders of adults, she had considered herself more or less impervious to shock in a murder case, but the prospect of the victim being a six-month-old baby, whether killed accidentally or otherwise, horrified her.

‘The stains found on the cot sheet were human blood,’ Eileen announced angrily, as though she was personally affronted by the results. ‘Forensics have confirmed the blood was from Jessica’s child.’

For a few seconds no one spoke.

‘But no body has been found,’ Ariadne said. ‘She might still be alive.’

‘And the blood spots were tiny, as though the baby had been pricked with a pin, not…’ Naomi’s voice tailed off. ‘She wasn’t stabbed or anything,’ she muttered.

‘You mentioned the missing baby was identified as Jessica’s child,’ Geraldine said, with a slight frown, picking up on Eileen’s statement. ‘What about Jason? We have a sample of his DNA from the house, don’t we?’

Ian nodded. DNA samples had been taken from Jessica directly and from Jason’s toothbrush.