THIRD VICTIM RAISES FEAR OF SERIAL KILLER

By Alice Sark

The body of a 23-year-old male was discovered yesterday, at 9 p.m. The corpse had been concealed under a tarpaulin on a piece of waste ground near Appleton Thorn, in Warrington.

The victim – who has not been named – suffered serious head wounds which were confirmed by police as the cause of death. It is being treated as a suspicious death. No other details were forthcoming at this time.

If confirmed as a murder inquiry, the victim will be the third person killed in this manner in the Warrington area in the last four months. The body of Jane Kirkpatrick, 21, of Moston, Greater Manchester, was found under a bridge in Sankey Valley Park in April of this year. In June, the body of Amy Martin, a 31-year-old mother of two, was found in a field in Walton. Both were killed by blows to the head.

Although the latest victim is male, this has not stopped speculation that there is a serial killer at work. A spokesperson for Cheshire Police did not confirm or deny whether the force believed this to be the case, saying only that at this stage of the investigation ‘all possibilities are being considered’.

Alice read through the story. It had already had – in the hour since she had posted it – more comments and likes than any story she had ever written. People evidently loved serial killer stories, and they had a lot to say about them.

No doubt this is a serial killer. Has all the hallmarks.

Puts me in mind of the Ripper. Yorkshire variety, that is.

Bloody police need to find this bastard. Instead they’re too busy arresting parents for taking their kids on holiday. Typical.

None of them knew the first thing about what was going on, of course, but that didn’t stop them speculating; in fact, it had the opposite effect. It made them speculate more.

As she read the comments, more appeared. There really were a lot of people interested in this. She glanced at the clock. It was later than she’d thought; she was going to be late for Jo’s appointment at the doctor’s office.

She closed her laptop. She could read the comments later.

The doctor – Freya Quinn, Joanna’s paediatrician – pressed her stethoscope to Joanna’s chest. Alice watched as her daughter – already five months old, a fact that prompted everyone who met her to marvel at how quickly babies grew up – pawed at the instrument.

‘Now, now,’ Doctor Quinn said gently. ‘I need to listen to your heart. It won’t take long.’

Alice held Jo’s hands away from the stethoscope. The doctor concentrated for a few moments then smiled.

‘Sounds good,’ she said. ‘So. How is she?’ She consulted her notes. ‘Is she sleeping better? When I last saw her, your husband said she was struggling to settle at night?’

That didn’t quite cover it, but it was a start.