Chapters (68)
- Cover
- Dedication
- NOW
- One
- BEFORE
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- NOW
- Twenty-One
- BEFORE
- 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
- NOW
- Thirty-Nine
- BEFORE
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- NOW
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- AFTER
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
The usual early morning meeting was about to start when he arrived in the room, taking a seat near the back. Filled with faces he recognised, but couldn’t name.
‘Joanna Carter,’ DI Bennett said, bringing the room to a quiet. ‘Positively identified by family and we’re treating it as a suspicious death now.’
‘Not suicide?’
‘Highly unlikely, I would say, given the CCTV,’ DI Bennett said, turning to Mark’s least-favourite fellow DC. The smarmy Dale Williams. ‘We’re going through the last of the CCTV now, but it looks like whoever was with Joanna that night knew to keep themselves hidden.’
On the screen behind her, there was a blown-up image of the figure that Mark had seen the day before, following Joanna onto the roof. He still couldn’t see any facial features, but he leaned forward anyway, trying to see anything recognisable at all.
‘So, we’re trying to track down whoever this person is,’ DI Bennett continued, gesturing behind her to the screen. ‘This is our most important piece of evidence at the moment. Tech officers are going through the victim’s computer and phone as we speak. At the moment, we don’t have even a possible ID for this person yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find him. I want this to be the main focus of today. Take this picture around the building, to all the occupants. The photograph will also be released to the media in a couple of hours. Someone, somewhere, knows who this man is.’
Mark listened as DI Bennett went on, talking about a case he increasingly felt was way out of his control now. He waited until the meeting had ended before speaking to her. She was expecting him, it seemed, as he made his way past the other people in the room to the front, where she was leaning against the table, arms folded across her chest.
‘So…’
‘It would have been much easier if there was a link, Mark,’ DI Bennett said, shrugging as she finished. ‘We still haven’t found any link between the two and you would think in this day and age that wouldn’t be difficult to find. They’re not Facebook friends, don’t follow each other on Twitter, no emails or WhatsApp messages. We can’t find a single thing. Plus, it doesn’t look like Emily in the CCTV. I’m positive about that.’
‘So am I,’ Mark replied, as DS Cavanagh joined them. The room had emptied out now, leaving them alone. ‘I don’t like coincidences though.’
‘None of us do.’
‘So, what if Emily is a victim as well? What if she saw something that night and has been dealt with in the same way?’
‘Until we have something concrete, we don’t have the manpower to cover that angle at this time. We need something to connect them, Mark. You know the score.’