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Back What Lies Beneath
Chapters (70)
  1. Cover
  2. Get more of my books FREE!
  3. Map of Rutland
  4. Map of Oakham
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. On Borrowed Time
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. Adam Croft

As she flicked through the sheets of paper and read the notes left by Dexter, Sara and Aidan, she felt immensely proud of her little team. They were severely under-resourced in comparison to other major incident teams, and the thought of a team of four solving a double-murder case was practically unthinkable. Even a simple house burglary tended to involve a much larger team in most other forces. This was precisely why major cases tended to be handed over to their colleagues in EMSOU.

She moved a pile of papers to one side, knocking a small object to the floor. She recognised it immediately as a USB stick. She put it in her laptop and waited for it to be recognised. As soon as she opened the folder, she noticed the name, which told her it was the CCTV footage from outside the library in Oakham.

She loaded up the files and played them, skipping through to the time the death threat had been emailed to Roger Clifton. The footage was from inside the library. And as she watched, a cold chill ran down her spine.

Her first thought was that Sara had clearly made a mistake. Caroline knew exactly who the person on the tape was. How had Sara not spotted him? But then the horrible truth dawned on her. Sara had never met this man. He’d never even been a suspect. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest as it all started to make sense and she realised she was staring at their killer.

54

It seemed to take an age for Dexter to answer his phone, but in reality it was only a few seconds.

‘Dex, I know who it is. I know who killed Roger and Arthur Clifton.’

Dexter was silent for a moment. ‘Right… Who?’

‘Howard Smallwood. And no, it’s not another one of my wild theories. It all makes perfect sense.’

‘Smallwood? The history guy?’

‘Yes. He was on CCTV using his laptop in the library around the time that email was sent to Roger Clifton. He knew all about the history of the area and what had happened. Of course he did. It’s literally what he does. He was at the scene that morning, too, remember? The first time we met him, he stopped us as we came out of the Waterside Cafe. He knew we were police officers and he couldn’t help but give us his two cents. He’s been toying with us all along. Dex, how closely did you look at that list of families who were displaced from the Hambletons?’

‘Uh, well, not that closely. Sara and Aidan were doing most of the checking and cross-referencing.’