Series: DCI Will Scott #1
Published by Urbane Publications on October 4 2018
Genres: Thriller
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The first thrilling book in the DCI Will Scott series.
In a sleepy northern seaside resort, The Eastborough Police Force is shocked into action when a heavily mutilated body is found in a quiet suburb. Murder rarely happens in these parts. Within a short space of time, the body count begins to rise rapidly, as a serial killer runs amok.
DCI Will Scott is tasked with finding the murderer. In so doing he treads paths he never expected to traverse and uncovers a web of deceit where no one can be trusted.
The killer relentlessly continues to strike terror across the community, but without warning, the killing ground changes. Where will the killer strike next …?
CHAPTER FOUR
Mel had taken the kids out shopping to allow Will to catch up on some hard-earned sleep and said she would bring something home for dinner. Will loved the way that, having been in the job herself, she understood the demands of the work. He had barely dropped off to sleep when his mobile rang. He reached out and answered it.
‘Hello, this is DI Scott.’ It was Steve Fletcher. ‘Sir, sorry to bother you, I think you’d better call Detective Superintendent Kilpatrick straight away, he’s asking to speak with you directly. Sounds extremely urgent.’
‘Did he say anything else?’
‘No sir, just that you were to call immediately, he sounded as though he was in a good mood if that means anything? He’s on
Will made the call knowing that the DS would be questioning him about all aspects of the case and reminding him that the first 48 hours are the most important in any investigation.
‘Sir, It’s me, Will Scott.’
‘I gather you’ve got your hands full at the moment with this murder. Are you getting all the support you need from the Divisional Superintendent?’
‘Yes, sir, he’s fine. It’s the Chief Inspector whose acting like a spanner, he’s already tried to pull rank about resource issues
‘Well, that’s easily sorted. With immediate effect, I’m temporarily promoting you to Detective Chief Inspector, that’s backdated pay and pension from yesterday when you took control of this case. I will circulate a memo to all senior officers and staff right away. I’ve spoken with the Chief and he agrees. This is your case Will, I’m off on holiday for three weeks from tomorrow, so the decisions are all yours. Don’t let the bureaucrats grind you down Detective Chief Inspector Scott. Understand?’
Will wasn’t sure what to say but needed some assurance that he would still be allowed to lead the CID team from the front. ‘I don’t want to be one of those desk-bound chief inspectors
‘Will, it’s a title only to give you additional authority, it isn’t substantive. I never have liked the rank of Chief Inspector, it’s neither something or nothing. A halfway house which sits uncomfortably on the
Will thanked him for the opportunity. After the call ended, his mind went into overdrive, the temporary promotion was great but he still had a murder case to solve. He was certain that somewhere within Roberts’ background there was likely to be something that would help crack the case. The phone buzzed again, this time it was a voicemail message. ‘Sir, it’s Daisy Wright here, sorry to disturb you, but I can’t sleep. I’m heading back into the office now. If anything major comes up I’ll call you on your home number, if you need me to come and pick you up later today, let me know. Bye.
Fuck it,’ Will exclaimed. Daisy wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep. He quickly showered and got dressed before making
He was pacing, constantly clock watching. The minutes seemed to be dragging by. He recalled a time when a now-retired DI had told him that every minute is valuable in a murder investigation, yet here he was, drinking coffee and doing nothing remotely useful to catch Allan Roberts’ killer. He had to go back into work.
He picked up the phone and called Mel. ‘Darling, it’s me, how are you?’
His wife was surprised by the call. ‘I’m fine, so are the kids, why are you up?’ The sound of his wife’s voice gave him a warm feeling inside.
‘I can’t sleep, there is so much going through my head, and … guess what? Detective Superintendent Kilpatrick just rang me, he’s given me temporary promotion to the rank of DCI, and I’m being paid at that rate.’
Mel was thrilled by the news and at the same time she was aware that her husband was pushing himself extremely hard, promotion and to be in charge of a murder investigation was huge kudos. She also knew that Will wouldn’t want to let anyone down and would push himself to the very limits. ‘Will, that’s fantastic news, but listen to me for just a moment. You need to rest, can you remember the man who once told me, I work to live, not live to work? That was you, don’t make yourself ill over this murder, please, promise me. You have a wife and two children who love you very much, you mean everything to us, remember that. I know what’s coming next, you are going back into work aren’t you? Well, listen to me for once, take it steady, don’t damage your health over some filthy dead paedo.
‘What did you just say? Paedo, where did you get that from?’
‘I met Jenny Doyle this morning. She told me, apparently some of the local kids called that councillor, the kiddie fiddler. It seems it was common knowledge in the town, but no one ever had the balls to report it. So he got his just rewards. It’s probably nothing Will. The bloke was odd and morally very different to most folk, so it’s natural, that kids being kids, they pick up on things like that and give him a nickname. Please tell me you knew all of this?’
Will laughed, ‘No I didn’t, not until you just told me. We’ve got bugger all to go on at the moment and every lead is important, so it’s something I can look into. It’s like I say, I can’t sleep so I’m going to head back into the office, I’ll leave the Audi here and get Daisy to pick me up in the work car. Okay darling?’
While he was waiting, he mulled over the paedophile suggestion mentioned by Mel. The more he thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed. Surely a paedophile working in the crime and disorder partnership would have to go through security checks and would get noticed? He laughed at the thought of all those high-ranking bureaucrats working alongside an active paedophile – that really would be politically and professionally embarrassing for all concerned.
Will recognised the blue Vauxhall GTC as an unmarked police car as it pulled up outside his house. He could see Daisy smiling behind the wheel. Throwing on his jacket, he rushed out and jumped into the passenger seat. ‘What are you looking so happy about?’ he asked.
‘Well, Detective Chief Inspector, I believe congratulations are in order? Fucking hell boss, that was sudden, wasn’t it? The whole nick is talking about it. You are hashtag trending in the canteen gossip. The only one who’s not so happy is Chief Inspector Hayes, he’s well fucked off by the news. That bloke always struck me as a bit weird anyway, bit of a perv. He could be a bloody paedo with those freaky glasses and that curly hair, skinny rake of a man. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about him. Have you seen him cycle into work in those Lycra shorts? The man’s got issues, I can tell you.’
Will sat bolt upright. Twice in the space of a few minutes the term paedo had come up in conversation. Dismissing it from his mind, he explained the call with DS Kilpatrick. ‘Title only, Daisy, I expect we can relax back into our usual roles once we’ve got the nutter who killed this councillor banged up.’
At the station, two booted and suited forensic officers were waiting to speak with him. One was Mark Daniel. ‘DI Scott. It’s about this laptop you seized from the crime scene. We’ve uncovered quite a bit of detail from it. For a start, it’s council property, it’s been set up by their IT department, so there’s confidential information stored on it. Christ only knows why it’s not encrypted – typical council, doing things on the cheap.’
‘We’ve also found 41 names listed on a word document. There’s no other detail, it’s simply a list. Curious?’
‘Can you get to the point? Why do you think the list is so important?’
‘Well, ordinarily, it wouldn’t be. But when it’s taken in context with what else we’ve found, then it has a sinister aspect to it.’
The forensic officer spun the laptop screen to face Will. ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, no, please no!’
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