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Back The Shadow Man
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR HELEN FIELDS
  3. PRAISE FOR THE SHADOW MAN
  4. Dedication
  5. Prologue
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Chapter Thirty
  36. Chapter Thirty-One
  37. Chapter Thirty-Two
  38. Chapter Thirty-Three
  39. Chapter Thirty-Four
  40. Chapter Thirty-Five
  41. Chapter Thirty-Six
  42. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  43. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  44. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  45. Chapter Forty
  46. Chapter Forty-One
  47. Chapter Forty-Two
  48. Chapter 1
  49. Chapter 2
  50. Acknowledgements
  51. Keep Reading …
  52. And if you enjoyed The Shadow Man, you’ll love the D.I. Callanach series from Helen Fields …
  53. On a remote Highland mountain, a body is burning …
  54. Welcome to Edinburgh.Murder capital of Europe.
  55. The worst dangers are the ones we can’t see …
  56. When silence falls, who will hear their cries?
  57. Your darkest moment is your most vulnerable …
  58. He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying …
  59. About the Author
  60. By the same author
  61. About the Publisher

‘We’re currently working on the basis of a character from an animated film. I’m not sure how well that’s going to translate into enabling a real-world capture. We have descriptions from the girl at Meggy’s school and an inebriated homeless man. Is there anything in particular we should be looking out for?’ he asked.

‘What’s interesting is that, in spite of the fact that we only have evidence from a child and someone who was drunk, they vary remarkably little in detail. The man you’re looking for is thin to an extreme. This is making his head appear larger and his eyes look sunken and dark. He’s wearing clothes that are tight enough to show how emaciated he is. The description of the denim jacket is interesting. It sounds like something from the 1970s.’

‘So we’re looking for a skeleton who hasn’t updated his wardrobe for forty years,’ someone laughed.

‘Essentially yes. This skeleton, if giving him a name helps fix him in your heads, is delusional. He’s gathering jigsaw puzzle pieces from his fantasy to take somewhere and fix together. He’s willing to be seen and willing to kill to bring his imagined scenario to life. The emaciation of his body that both witnesses describe might be part of a physical illness that’s contributing to his delusions, or it might be a symptom arising from the delusions. Either way, he’s making no effort to hide his physical condition, which gives us the benefit of using it to try to identify him.’

‘So we should be approaching healthcare workers, clinics, local mental health services to see if they recognise anyone of this description?’ Baarda asked.

‘That’d be a great start,’ Connie said. ‘Focus on referrals for eating disorders or physical conditions that involve wasting. What I’m more concerned about is the link between his physical appearance and his psychological condition. If he’s collecting people, he has an end goal. Given how reckless he’s becoming and how coldly he killed Danny tonight, I’d say he’s getting close to the end. Too reckless too early and he’d be jeopardising his big ending.’

‘And what might that so-called big ending look like?’ Overbeck asked.