She fell to her knees, hands trying to clamp the gaping hole in her stomach shut. She was aware that it was just as bad at the back and that this was probably the end of her.

‘Please …’ she whimpered, unsure what she was pleading for. In a way, she was intrigued by the situation, which she knew wasn’t the right way to feel.

‘I can make this last more or less time. It’s up to you.’

‘All things considered, I think I would like it to be over.’ She tried to play it cool, but the truth was, this hurt. She was done, this was the end of her fight, she had no reason to protect anyone else any more.

‘Then you have to give me something and it will be over in seconds.’

‘What is it you want?’

‘A name.’

Chapter Fifteen

Imogen stared down at the body of Gillian Mitchell. She lay with a pattern akin to blood-red wings spread out from her neck and waist, almost like a butterfly. Her stomach was an unholy mess. The rest of the room was untouched; this scene looked nothing like the scene of Hugh Norris’s murder. There was a calculated calm to it, a measured approach, confident. They would have to wait for the forensic evidence, but every part of Imogen knew that this was not the same killer. She was also completely convinced that this was no coincidence. Two killers? Both brutal, victims in the same building, the same department? What were the chances? What the hell was going on? She needed to find DCC Trevor Sneddon again and hurry him up. The sooner he wrapped up his investigation into the false rape allegation against her partner, the sooner things could return to normal. She needed Adrian.

‘What caused those injuries?’ she asked Karen Bell, the forensic tech standing next to her

‘Whatever it was, it went straight through her. In and out. There was no way she would survive it,’ Karen said.

‘Then why cut her throat?’

‘Well, maybe it was to shut her up, or even an act of mercy. It would take a bit longer to bleed out with that stomach wound.’

‘Mercy? Why?’

‘Don’t ask me. That’s your job.’ Karen bent down onto the ground and continued placing markers.

She looked around as much as she could without disturbing the crime scene. DI Walsh was waiting outside on his mobile, talking to DCC Trevor Sneddon. Imogen folded her arms and waited patiently for his phone call to finish. She took the moment to really study Matt Walsh; with all that had been going on, she had forgotten about her initial curiosity. He had a lovely face really, not something she would normally think about someone, but there was something genuinely lovely about his features. He looked trustworthy. How does a person look trustworthy?

It was always hard getting used to a new team member, deciding whether to put your life in their hands. With everything she had been through in the past with former colleagues who’d stabbed her in the back – and sometimes even the front – trust did not come easy.