Indefensible (DI Sara Ramsey Book 12), M Comley [world of reading TXT] 📗

nurse. He hadn’t thought about that before he had fallen asleep. He had the man’s name, why hadn’t he gone inside to check with reception if he’d arrived or not? His head was a mess. I’m losing it! Father, you’ve done this to me. You have always been a waste of space over the years. You’re still making me mess up now!

The ambulance arrived, and he released a relieved sigh when the woman who had chased after him got out of the back of it. He settled down in the car and waited. Sensing he could be in for a long wait if the wife was going to be sitting beside her husband all the time.

Maybe he’d have to kill her as well.

9

Sara received the call from the control centre around five that morning. With sore eyes needing matchsticks to keep them open, she drove to the scene of the crime.

Carla was already there, talking to Lorraine, when she pulled up alongside them.

“Let me tog up and I’ll be with you shortly.” She fetched a new protective suit and shoe covers from the boot and slipped into them.

The morning was frosty and chilled her to the bone, especially after leaving her warm bed so early. “Blimey, it’s cold enough to freeze your tits off this morning. Not what I was expecting at this time of year. Anyway, that’s my morning moan out of the way. What have we got, Lorraine?”

“Good morning to you, too. You should have been here when I first showed up, a couple of hours ago, it was a lot colder then. Bloody climate change, fancy having to contend with freezing overnight temperatures in May. Anyhoo! Getting back to the poor victim. We have a young female nurse. Raped and stabbed.”

“Shit! I need to ask the most obvious question, any DNA left at the scene?” She gave Lorraine a hopeful smile.

Lorraine winked. “There just might be a soupçon left in the vagina, by the look of things. I’ll know more when I get her back to the lab.”

“Good news at last. I don’t suppose there were any witnesses.” Sara glanced up and down the road that narrowed a few feet ahead of her. There were houses at the top of the street and a line of garages in front of them.

“None that were hanging around waiting to speak to us; of course, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any. Maybe the woman screamed, perhaps someone heard her and chose to ignore it.”

“Possibly. Who called it in?”

“A woman who was on her way to fetch her car to go to work. She lives at the house on the corner of the next road. She was severely traumatised when I got here, so I sent her home. Lizzie Martin is her name.”

Sara peered over her shoulder. “Which house? Can you point to it?”

“The one with the blue door.”

“Thanks, we’ll go and speak to her soon. Can you tell me anything else about the victim?”

“Bruising is developing on her face, across her mouth. I suspect she was grabbed violently from behind by her killer, forced to the ground, subjected to her heinous ordeal and then stabbed a number of times.”

Sara stared down at the pretty victim, shook her head and said, “Why? Why kill her?”

“That, my dear friend, is for you to find out.”

Carla stepped forward and stood beside Sara. “Lorraine, would you say there are similarities between this and the recent rape-kill case we’re working on?”

Sara faced her partner. “You’re right.” She turned to the pathologist and waited for her answer. “She’s spot on, isn’t she?” Sara prompted when Lorraine didn’t answer right away.

“To me, yes, there’s no doubt in my mind.”

Sara bashed a fist against her thigh. “I fucking knew it. This means that the wrong man has been sent to prison.”

“Whoa! Wait just a minute, you can’t be sure of that,” Carla jumped in.

“Can’t I? Zappel was resolute he didn’t commit the second murder. If you remember back to the interview, he appeared bloody shocked when I even mentioned the incident.”

“So, what are we saying? There were two murderers out there?” Carla said on a heavy sigh.

“Seems that way to me. Jesus, Lorraine, the DNA, can you get that sample dealt with ASAP? I mean, as in get it to the lab within the next thirty minutes for me?”

Lorraine got to work with her equipment. She took the sample, placed it in an evidence bag and sealed it. Then she summoned a member of her team. “Stuart, get this over to the lab, quickly. Instruct them to drop everything and to get the results back to me today, if at all possible.”

“On my way now, boss.” The man jumped in a van and tore away from the crime scene.

“Thanks, Lorraine. I appreciate it. I’m so cut up about this. I’m guilty of taking my eye off the ball for a second or two, and this is the bloody result. This woman’s death was an unnecessary consequence of an ongoing investigation that I should have dealt with properly. I feel sick to the stomach.”

Lorraine placed a consoling arm around her shoulder. “Don’t you dare go down that route, Sara, you hear me? You’re not to blame. The only person who should feel any guilt or responsibility, should be the killer.”

“It’s not going to help, Lorraine. This is down to me. I should have listened to the suspect.”

“I won’t have you beating yourself up like this, Sara. Suspects deny their involvement in crimes all the time. It’s natural for them. You mustn’t blame yourself for this, you hear me?”

“I hear you, but it’s not going to alter the devastating feeling running through me. I’m to blame, there’s no getting away from that, no matter what type of spin you put on it.”

Carla sighed. “You’re wrong, Sara. None of this is down to you, to us even, I was in the interview room with you, remember? If you’re blaming yourself, then you should be apportioning some of that blame