A Room Full of Killers, Michael Wood [best books for students to read txt] 📗

House. If he had escaped and climbed over the fence he might have got caught on barbed wire but that wouldn’t have torn his clothes to this extent.’

‘Anything else?’ Adele asked, trying to suppress a smile.

Matilda looked to Christian and rolled her eyes. It was like being back in training. ‘Well, I’m not an expert on tree climbing but looking at the trunk there’s no way you could climb that without a ladder. As there isn’t one around and Jacob is dangling several feet from the ground, I’m guessing someone killed him then strung him up.’

‘Well done DCI Darke. You can join my department any day.’

‘That’s handy to know.’

Adele leaned in to Jacob Brown to have a closer look at the rope around his neck. ‘There is bruising, but it’s not sufficient with the type of rope used and with the drop. Judging by the size and shape of the marks I’d guess he was strangled and then strung up. It’s not easy to tell from this angle, or this light. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of a broken bone either,’ she said, firmly holding Jacob’s head with both hands.

Matilda shivered as a gust of wind tore through the woods. ‘Do you think he was killed here and then hanged, or killed elsewhere?’

‘It’s difficult to tell,’ Adele said looking down at the mud. ‘The ground is very soft due to the amount of rain we’ve had. It’s obviously disturbed because we’ve all been walking on it, and the fallen leaves and branches from the recent storm could have covered up a lot of evidence.’

‘What about time of death?’

‘Due to the weather conditions since the time he was reported missing I’d say he wasn’t missing from Starling House for long before he died.’

‘So he was lured from Starling House, for whatever reason, brought here and strangled,’ Christian said. ‘But the killer wanted to make it look like suicide.’

‘It makes no sense,’ Matilda said, shaking her head. ‘We’re within spitting distance of Starling House. Why stage an escape just to make it look like he committed suicide when he could easily have been hanged in his cell?’

‘Do you think Jacob was silenced?’

‘It’s a possibility. Maybe Jacob saw who killed Ryan Asher and tried to blackmail them. If it was one of the guards, Jacob could have said he wanted out in exchange for his silence. However, Jacob would have been a loose cannon so the killer lured him here and strangled him.’

‘And made a botched attempt to make it look like suicide,’ Adele said as she cautiously made her way back down the stepladder.

‘Maybe not botched. Maybe it isn’t supposed to look like a suicide at all. Ryan Asher was stabbed twelve times, which we’ve said is reminiscent of twelve members of a jury. Maybe Jacob is hanging as if he’s been sentenced to death by hanging for his crime,’ Matilda said.

‘But, like you said, why break him out when he could easily have been killed in his cell?’

‘Jacob Brown was sentenced for killing his girlfriend. She was found raped and murdered in woodland. Maybe the killer is copying his crime. A sort of quid pro quo.’

‘In which case,’ Christian said, ‘there are six more victims waiting in Starling House for the killer to choose from next.’

FIFTY-ONE

By the time Matilda left the woods it was pitch-dark and a fine drizzle had begun. Between them, she and Christian had decided not to interview the inmates and staff of Starling House that night but to leave them until the morning. In the meantime, uniformed officers were posted inside the building overnight to make sure another inmate or member of staff didn’t flee, or wasn’t murdered.

Once Adele had finished examining Jacob Brown in the woods, he was carefully cut down and taken to the mortuary, where Adele would carry out a post-mortem first thing in the morning. That left Matilda with nothing to do but go home and lick her wounds.

She had only been home a few minutes when her phone beeped an incoming text message:

My son has just told me his bosses have found out about us looking into the Hartley case. He’s been suspended. Not sure how it leaked out. I’ll phone you tomorrow. Pat.

Matilda didn’t bother replying. It hadn’t been the best day in either investigation. Ideally, she would like an evening off and to think of nothing work related. She knew that wouldn’t happen. Her mind wouldn’t allow it.

She should have a bath. A long soothing soak in the tub. But the thought of lying in warm water with her own filth floating around her didn’t sound too relaxing so she settled on a shower instead. She turned the temperature up to as hot as she could stand it and stood under the cascade of scolding needles. When she stepped out her face was bright red from the heat, but she felt cleansed. She needed to feel the pain in order to begin to relax.

With James’s dressing gown almost burying her, she slipped her feet into novelty slippers, made herself a mug of tea and went into the living room.

Starling House had been allowed to operate almost behind closed doors for twenty years. Kate had covered up every incident from minor ones to the biggies like Elly Caine assaulting Jacob Brown. She hadn’t wanted the adverse publicity, that was understandable, but she must have realized one day it would all disintegrate around her ears. That day had arrived and Kate had to be held accountable.

She was struggling with these cases. Whatever was going on at Starling House was frightening, and Matilda was starting to worry she was in over her head. Kate Moloney was obviously a loose cannon. It was shocking to see how such a together, stern person when she first met her was now beginning to fall apart. Kate reminded her of herself. Matilda presented herself as a ball-buster at work who stood for no nonsense. Would she eventually implode and allow her emotions to get