BooksBarbecue
Back The Game
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. NOW
  4. One
  5. BEFORE
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. NOW
  26. Twenty-One
  27. BEFORE
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. NOW
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. BEFORE
  48. Forty
  49. Forty-One
  50. Forty-Two
  51. Forty-three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. NOW
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. Fifty-Three
  63. Fifty-Four
  64. Fifty-Five
  65. AFTER
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Acknowledgements
  68. About the Author

In the meeting room, which was close to the main office, the blinds had been closed and a screen erected on one wall. As Mark walked in, a few heads turned, but no one acknowledged him. The images on the screen stopped as Mark noticed that DS Cavanagh was controlling the playback.

‘Wind it back and show Mark what we’ve got,’ DI Bennett said, her eyes lit with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

‘Must be good,’ Mark replied, taking up a position closer to the screen. ‘What is it?’

‘We’ve got CCTV from the student accommodation block where Joanna Carter lived,’ DS Cavanagh said, fingering the remote in his hand. ‘It’s the most bizarre thing you’ll ever see.’

The screen changed to black, then started up again. The camera angle was in the top corner of a lift. The door opened, no one appeared, then it closed again. A few seconds passed by; the door opened again.

‘This is her,’ DS Cavanagh said, his voice soft and quiet in the still of the room.

On screen, a young woman appeared, dressed in a red top with a black cardigan over it. Some kind of jogging pants on. What Joanna Carter’s body had been found wearing. Similar to what Emily Burns had been wearing when they saw her on CCTV last. Even now, knowing it wasn’t her, Mark could see the similarities between the pair.

Joanna Carter entered the lift, walked to the far corner, then turned towards the panel. She leaned over, a finger extended, and proceeded to press buttons in a seemingly precise manner.

More than one button.

She stood back up, waited. Then she crossed to the still-open lift doors, looking out left and right. She moved back inside, standing in the corner again for a few seconds.

‘The doors aren’t closing,’ Mark said under his breath, but everyone was still looking at the screen as Joanna moved forwards again, creeping to the opening, then she jumped through, twisting her head left and right, as if she were trying to surprise someone waiting there for her. She stepped back into the middle of the lift, her hands loosely clasped in front of her. She took a sidestep to the right, turned so her back was against the lift wall, and stepped towards the lift controls again, like she was trying to hide away from the opening.

The doors closed, Joanna unmoved from her position. The lift seemed to ascend, but it was difficult to tell. The doors opened again, but what little could be seen outside looked exactly as the previous floor did. The same corridor, the same blurred furnishings.