Whisper For The Reaper, Jack Gatland [good books for high schoolers txt] 📗

the room as he tried to remember events of a decade earlier. ‘He started harassing girls at the campsite. He’d started doing it to locals, but some bigger boys had cottoned onto this and gave him a beating. The campsite girls were often new and didn’t have that sort of support. There was one; I can’t remember her name, but he really fell for her. Stopped any other boy talking to her and one night he tried to kiss her.’

’Did she kiss him back?’ Jess looked up now. De’Geer nodded.

‘He was attractive and confident. It was a holiday romance, nothing more. I was doing similar with Ellie by then, but it was different. We’d known each other for years then. We were best friends. To Craig, this girl, I think her name was Sheryl? She was a trophy. They fumbled around, played the part of a lovey couple all week long, but then near the end you could see that Craig realised that soon she’d leave. And he hadn’t had what he wanted.’

‘And what was—‘ Jess stopped as realisation took over. ‘Oh. That.’

‘He took her into the woods, and later on there was crying and shouting. I wasn’t there, but I heard that her father had gone looking for her and found her in tears. Craig had tried to make her… do things. She was fifteen. Eventually he’d shouted at her and left. The father then argued with Craig’s father, while Craig claimed that it was a misunderstanding and she’d come on to him… it was word against word. Nothing happened, and the next day her family left, never to return.’

‘What about the Randalls?’

‘They carried on for a couple more weeks; this was July now. But people talked, and everywhere the family went, they heard the insults, the rumours. Then, one Sunday afternoon, Craig was found dead. I never saw the family again. I never even said goodbye to Ellie.’

‘Do you think he did it?’ Declan asked. ‘The crime report states he cut his own throat.’

De’Geer shook his head. ‘Craig was too arrogant to be apologetic,’ he replied, going silent once he’d finished. Declan considered this for a moment.

‘So he had a reputation,’ he asked. De’Geer nodded in confirmation.

‘And this new body?’ Declan asked. ‘Nathanial Wing?’

‘I don’t know much about that case—‘ De’Geer started, but it was Jess that continued.

‘Sixteen years old, was doing an Art and Design diploma at Henley College,’ she said. ‘Worked part time as a web design intern in Henley while doing the course. I think they paid for the college. Found on the sixteenth green of Temple Golf Club with his wrists slit, but no sign of a blade.’ She looked up at Declan. ‘You think that’s why it was the sixteenth green? Because he was sixteen?’

‘It’s a possibility,’ Declan replied. ‘I’ll be having another look at the golf club with PC De’Geer here later, if that’s okay with him.’

De’Geer nodded. ‘If this is a killer, then he needs to be stopped.’

‘If this is a killer, then he knows his subjects,’ Declan continued. ‘To control someone to make them take their own life isn’t something you gain on a first appearance. We might need to have a look into the weeks leading up to each case.’

‘They’re not all local,’ Jess looked back at the sheets. ‘There're cases in London, in Reading, even Dover. They go on for years.’

‘And we’ll be looking into all of them,’ Declan insisted. ‘But first we need to ensure we have the capabilities to do this. I need to make some calls. PC De’Geer will take you home. I need to go to London.’

‘I’ve got a motorcycle,’ De’Geer replied. Jess grinned.

‘That’s totally fine. I’ll hold real tight.’

Declan sighed and, taking one last look at the table and the files, he rose from the desk.

‘Take the most recent folder with you,’ he suggested. ‘I have a feeling we’ll find copies of all the others in dad’s filing cabinet.’

Jess nodded, smiling at De’Geer with the look of a slightly hungry shark.

Declan almost felt sorry for the poor man.

The biggest problem that Anjli had with the Mile End secondment wasn’t that she disliked DCI Esposito, nor was it the fact that she was back at a place where she thought she’d finally moved on from; it was the simple fact that she wasn’t with the Last Chance Saloon. She’d only been there a few months in the grand scheme of things, but at the same time she’d gained more friendships and solid work connections there in that short time than she had anywhere else. And, as she sat at her desk scrolling through social media, she leaned back in her chair, wondering whether this was truly the career for her anymore. If the Temple Inn office didn’t open again, would she stay in the force? Or would she go corporate, like so many others would?

There was a ding in her email. Switching from the browser, she frowned as she looked at the message.

There was a temporary problem delivering your message to w.fitzwarren@city.police.uk

Why was there a problem? Anjli had used that email address countless times, and the only way it’d fail was if the email had changed, or if they’d deleted it. She couldn’t help herself, she actually chuckled at this.

The Cybercrime expert had a faulty email address.

Grabbing her phone, she sent a message to Billy, letting him know of the issue, and leaned back again, staring up at the ceiling.

She was bored.

There was movement at the door to the office, and Anjli looked up to see Declan entering carefully, as if expecting to be stopped at any moment. Which was probably likely, considering that the last time he was here, he’d caused the arrest of not only a Detective Constable but also the then Detective Chief Inspector.

Seeing that Anjli had seen him, Declan motioned for her to join him outside, retreating through the doors. Looking to Esposito’s office, Anjli saw that there was no movement; the DCI hadn’t noticed Declan’s brief appearance.