Contents (83)
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- Acknowledgements
- OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK
Levy did not have time to dwell on her irritation. A knock at her office door forced it from her mind.
‘Come in.’
Steve Hale looked tired. The darkness beneath his eyes was the first thing Levy noticed. The pressure of a high-profile murder had already taken a toll. It could hit that quickly. Levy knew from experience.
Levy gestured to the two chairs ahead of her desk. Hale took the right-hand seat, his usual choice. As he sat, Levy opened her desk drawer, took out two glass tumblers and poured a large measure of Jack Daniels into each.
Hale reached out, took his glass and touched it to Levy’s own.
‘L’chaim.’ Hale used the Hebrew version of cheers. He always did when drinking with Levy.
‘Cheers,’ Levy used the English. Repaying the gesture. An unconscious ritual.
Both Levy and Hale savoured the sweet bourbon, with Hale taking a second sip before speaking.
‘How’s it looking? Any luck locating this Penfold guy?’
‘Not yet,’ Levy replied. ‘We’ve spoken to his probation officer. Turns out he missed his last two appointments. For some reason it wasn’t reported, despite Penfold being on licence. Which is something the probation officer will have to answer for in the long run, but for now we’ve got to concentrate on finding the bastard.’
‘Then for the PO’s sake I hope Penfold isn’t your man. The shit-storm of not reporting a guy on a life-licence while he’s on a bloody killing spree? That’s just not worth thinking about.’
‘Well for my sake I hope he is our guy, Steve.’ Levy had no sympathy for a probation officer who had not done his job. ‘Because if it’s not him, well, then we’re all out of leads.’
‘But what about the other files? There were six potential suspects, weren’t there?’
‘There were, yeah. But only Wisdom Penfold held up. The rest were a mix of too old or too sick. And for the most part motive-free.’
‘You’ve traced them all already?’
‘Not all of them yet. The only other one with any suggestion of violence on his record was simple enough as he’s on a life-licence. Required to keep the authorities informed of his whereabouts at all times. We’ve seen him already and he’s no good for this. And we’ve seen two of the other four; no violence on their record, no motive in respect of either victim. And the last two we’re still tracking down but from what’s in their files we can pretty much discount them already; again, no obvious motives and both are older than Longman was, assuming either is still alive.’
‘Lucky break.’ Hale’s tone suggested that he could use some of the same luck himself. ‘So you really think Penfold’s your man?’
‘He ticks the boxes.’ Levy’s answer was as close to commitment as Hale would get. ‘He’s capable of that level of violence. Plus he had motive – revenge – against both Longman and Blunt. And now it looks like he’s gone off-radar just in time for the murders. Long enough to do his homework and get started, not so long that anyone would have looked for him before the fact. He meets the criteria perfectly.’