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Back The Midnight Man Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. Copyright
  4. Praise for Caroline Mitchell
  5. Also by Caroline Mitchell
  6. Dedication
  7. Epigraph
  8. Prologue
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. 39
  48. 40
  49. 41
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. 46
  55. 47
  56. 48
  57. 49
  58. 50
  59. 51
  60. 52
  61. 53
  62. 54
  63. 55
  64. 56
  65. 57
  66. 58
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. About Caroline Mitchell
  70. About Embla Books

Angelica’s family were powerful. The Irvings owned the company which employed her father, for a start. They would need someone to blame, and what if they blamed her entire family? Mr Irving could drive them out of town. She’d heard of it happening to other families. One wrong step and you lost everything you owned. Thoughts swirled like leaves in a whirlwind. There was no going back. They had stained their blood next to their names and invited the Midnight Man in. All she could hope for was that the prophecy was fulfilled. The game was over. It had to be. She would never play again.

21

Sarah brushed the crumbs from her lunchtime tuna sandwich off her trousers. She was sitting in the job car, parked up in Slayton police station car park, staring at the tall, grey building ahead. She’d once been so excited to work from this building, being a detective on her husband’s team. It seemed a much more interesting prospect than walking the streets in uniform or helping with scene guard. She’d passed her CID exams with flying colours. She knew she’d get flak for being married to her sergeant but it helped that she hadn’t taken his surname. If only that was all she’d had to contend with. She had no idea how bad things would get.

Today, she felt on the outside of things, but she only had herself to blame. At least she’d been called in for a few hours of overtime yesterday. But while her colleagues were attending briefings and arranging media appeals, Sarah was on the ground with uniformed officers taking statements and conducting door-to-door enquiries. It wasn’t the return to CID she had imagined, but it had borne fruit. She had not been prepared for the brutality of it. The sight of Angelica with her internal organs exposed, lying naked in a shallow grave – it had stolen the breath from her lungs. Who could have done such a horrific thing? And why?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rotary blades chopping the air. Shrinking back in her seat, she cast her eyes upwards, relieved it was a police helicopter. At least the KCOM News budget didn’t stretch to choppers. They’d picked up the story as soon as they heard Simon Irving’s daughter was missing and their van had been seen driving around Slayton ever since. Had the Irvings been a regular family, they wouldn’t have cared. Now details of the crime were splashed all over the news, sending the town into panic. She could see it in the worried faces of everyone she spoke to, and had heard that locks and Ring cameras were selling out in the local shops.