‘I’ve been with Kelly, he’s pretty cut up. I never thought I would ever say this, but I feel sorry for the man.’

‘Well, Kate, we have no new developments, except that the car, the dark blue Orion that was seen on the waste ground, was also seen driving near Portaby Road earlier in the evening. A woman walking her dog said it made a U-turn near her and that’s why she remembered it. First thing in the morning we’re going to be interviewing these people.’

‘Right. I’ll see to it.’

Ratchette raised an eyebrow. ‘Let one of the youngsters do their share. It’s Boxing Day. You’ve earned your rest.’

Kate shook her head violently. ‘No, I’ll do it, sir. I want this bastard caught.’

Willis and Dawkins both looked at her curiously. She hardly ever swore.

‘Amanda, would you get me a coffee, please? Black with lots of sugar. Willis, you can start filling me in on what’s been happening here today.’

He picked up the file he had been working on and brought it over to Kate.

Ratchette watched her closely. She’d been drinking, that much was evident, but there was something else . . . something he could not quite put his finger on. Well, it would all come out in the wash as his wife was fond of saying.

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

George and Elaine had taken their Boxing Day constitutional in Grantley Woods. As they drove past Vauxhall Drive, George smiled to himself. He wondered fleetingly what Elaine would do if she knew that he was the ‘Grantley Ripper’.

At the moment though all she was interested in was her holiday with the girls, and her two nights out a week. George knew that she was a bit nonplussed at his eagerness for her to have her own social life. She thought it was an act of selflessness on his part. She could not have been more wrong.

On the nights that Elaine went out with her friends, he went out on the prowl. He liked the word. Prowler, prowling, prowl. It was similar to prowess, another of his favourites. While Elaine was out gallivanting, he could do his prowling in peace and watch his videos without interruption. He had talked her into ringing him when she wanted to come home so that he could pick her up, make sure she was safe.

He grinned to himself. All he really wanted to know was when she would be arriving so he could clear away. Her absences had done wonders for their marriage. Now, when they were in, they managed a sort of truce. He didn’t annoy her and she shut her almighty trap. He wished she had done it years ago.

Bugger Elaine! He grinned again. No chance. She wouldn’t even let him have what she termed normal sex.

‘George, what are you thinking about?’