She forced her eyes open. The blood was dark, hot and sticky. It was everywhere. She began to panic and saw that it was draining from her body in pulses. Gushes that matched her heartbeat, elevated from her exertion.

Thomas. Jordan. Millie.

Oh God. Her face was next to the gritty road and she could smell the concrete.

Someone help. Please. Please.

She heard faint tinny music coming out of her headphones, which lay a foot away. It was A-ha. Her energy seeped away and her eyes grew too heavy to keep open.

Thomas. Jordan. Millie…

Chapter 2

Detective Inspector Kelly Porter arrived on scene at 2.34 p.m.

Fresh from holiday, she was tanned and bright-eyed: a look that didn’t really fit in with a crime scene in Penrith in winter.

The 999 call had come in at just after 1.20, from a fitness trainer in Potton Park leaving his exercise class. The guy had had quite a shock, as the scene was a grisly one. Kelly had driven the short distance from her office in the centre of the town to the popular park, and left her car just short of the police tape. A white tent had been erected over the location and she was given shoe covers and gloves before she entered the area cordoned off by police. She wore a purple Rab jacket over her smart office gear, and a bobble hat tamed her long auburn hair, which was currently tinged with honey thanks to the Florida sunshine. She braced herself against the cold. It was true that the Lake District was beautiful, but weather-wise it was Baltic. They’d had plenty of snow in recent years, and she and her partner, Johnny, had even skied down parts of Helvellyn.

Sailing round the Florida Keys with Johnny had been their joint birthday present to one another. The views now towards the Beacon Estate, which overlooked the park, were a stark contrast. This time two weeks ago, she’d been sipping Miami Sunrise cocktails and watching fishermen land their lunch, relaxed from a beach massage and glowing with life.

Welcome home.

She greeted the forensic team, who were conducting a search of the vicinity. She’d draw up her own crime-scene log, but she also studied what they’d found so far.

Under the tent, a woman was dead. She’d bled out. It must have been quick, judging by the amount of blood, but Kelly knew that for a minute or so, she would have been terrified.