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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

‘You mean – does that mean you’re going to do an autopsy?’ Anne looked horrified. ‘No, please, you can’t. Please, don’t touch him. He’s dead. Leave him in peace. Let me bury him properly, as he is now. Please.’

Geraldine let out a faint sigh. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I know this is difficult for you, but we do need to establish what happened. The likelihood is he suffered a stroke or a coronary, but if there’s more to his death than natural causes, we have to find out.’

‘I don’t believe anyone killed him,’ Anne replied with sudden conviction in her voice. ‘Not David. You couldn’t be more wrong if that’s what you think. He wasn’t murdered, I know he wasn’t. I mean, he had political opponents, of course he did, everyone in politics does. But no one hated him, not like that, not in a personal way, and not enough to kill him. I know. I know. People like David don’t get murdered for their politics here in England. Not someone like David. Oh, I know he made out he was terribly important, but you mustn’t be taken in by that. It’s just not true. He was leader of the local council, for goodness sake. He wasn’t the president of some global corporation. Please, leave him be.’

‘I wish I could,’ Geraldine replied, ‘but the wheels are already in motion and in any case it’s not up to me. My senior officers have considered the situation carefully, and we can’t overlook what’s happened until we’re satisfied he wasn’t the victim of another attack, which turned out to be fatal. Whether accidentally as seems most likely, or deliberately, we need to be sure he wasn’t killed by his enemies.’

‘David didn’t have any enemies, not real enemies. Please, you have to leave him alone.’

‘I’m sorry. We’ll speak to your daughter first thing in the morning, and a family liaison officer will be here soon to keep you informed of what’s happening. And I’ll come and see you again tomorrow to see if there’s any other support you need.’

‘Please,’ Anne begged tearfully, ‘please don’t let them mutilate his body. Please, let me bury him intact.’

There was nothing Geraldine could say to comfort the distraught widow and she left soon afterwards, feeling wretched. Only when she climbed wearily back into her car did it strike her that she hadn’t thought about Ian once since receiving the call from the police station. There was nothing like death to take her mind off life.

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