A Body in the Lakes by Graham Smith (great books of all time .TXT) 📕

The bad news was now that they’d established the mayor’s innocence, they had no clues as to who was behind the murders. A dozen and one questions burned in Beth: Was the mayor’s presence at two sites a coincidence or was it something that linked the killer as well? Was the killer part of the mayor’s entourage? Now that the mayor was off the suspect list, who should be on it? The invitation and the mayor’s credit card being found at the site where Felicia’s body was dumped, along with the anonymous letter that was sent to the chief constable, made Beth think that someone was trying to frame the mayor.

The thing which troubled Beth the most was that she couldn’t work out if the mayor was being framed as part of a vendetta or as a way to deflect attention from the real killer.

She planned to pore over the reports of those who’d investigated each murder, memorise the details and compile her spreadsheets until she had every fact and detail at her disposal for cross-referencing. There had been no other credible suspects and after the fiasco in the interview rooms, she realised just how tenuous the mayor’s involvement now looked.

Beth couldn’t help but feel frustrated and aggrieved at the way they’d wasted their time investigating the mayor when they should have been following normal procedure for the murder of Felicia Evans.

As much as Beth was sure the mayor was a major player in the dating field, she couldn’t stop herself admiring his drive. Even as he’d been leaving, he’d repeated his request that she get involved when he managed to set up his charity.

As much as she’d wanted to tell him where to get off, she’d stayed her tongue and had accepted the card he’d given her. If he was true to his word, he might well do some good and, if she did get involved, she would make sure the charity also focussed on helping to bring rapists to justice.

Beth joined O’Dowd once she had finished her phone call and set off back towards Carleton Hall. The DI was silent and Beth could feel the waves of fury emanating from her boss. It was an anger she shared, but Beth could also feel a pulse of excitement acting as a breakwater.

The FMIT had four murder cases to investigate and, because of this, she’d be given a chance to deliver some closure to the victims and their families. Above anything else, it was the desire to see wrongs righted that had compelled Beth to join the police. Now that she had a chance to tackle three unsolved cases plus the murder of Felicia Evans, she knew that she’d do whatever it took to find the killer and stop him before he killed again.

‘See when we get back to Carleton, Beth, you and I need to have a not-so-little chat about how to conduct yourself in a professional manner.’

Thirteen

Beth kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the floor as O’Dowd raged at her. On a deeper level, she knew that half of the DI’s anger was directed at the hopelessness of the case they’d been landed with, the fact that they had to deal with the political hot potato of the evidence against the mayor, and that they’d picked up three incredibly cold cases.

‘Answer me, Beth. Tell me what made you think it was appropriate to give the mayor such a hard time when the evidence against him was so circumstantial?’ O’Dowd flumped herself into her seat and scowled at the world in general. ‘Well?’

‘Maybe I could have chosen my words with more care, but come off it, ma’am.’ Beth knew she may be digging herself deeper into O’Dowd’s bad books, but she couldn’t help but speak her mind. ‘Just because he’s got a fancy title that comes with a red shawl and a blingy chain, it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be questioned with the same thoroughness that any other suspect gets. I was trying to get under his skin. Okay, I failed, but I don’t think I was harder on him than other suspects I’ve interviewed.’

‘That’s enough. In a perfect world, all people would be created equal. Tell me, do you think we’d have jobs if we lived in a perfect world? Like it or not, some people are more equal than others.’ O’Dowd stood and flashed a hand at the papers strewn across Beth’s desk. ‘You’re on the cold cases. Get your head down and find me a lead to pursue on who did rape and murder those poor women. I’m going to go update the DCI, and forewarn him of the complaint that may very well come from the mayor’s lawyer.’

As O’Dowd stomped her way out of the office, Beth reached for the files on her desk. So far she’d made some notes, but she hadn’t yet found the time to create one of her spreadsheets. She knew that different things worked for different people and her preference was to see all the relevant information in one place. For her, neat columns and ordered rows were the key to aligning similarities and matching known facts across different elements of a case.

DI O’Dowd had an artist’s pad on her desk that she filled with haphazard scribbles as thoughts and ideas came to her. The two other members of FMIT – Thomson and Unthank – both tended to rely on memory and, while Beth knew it was sexist of her to do so, a part of her wondered if the reason they leafed through the files and trusted their brains had more to do with male arrogance than anything else.

They’d be leading on the murder of Felicia Evans and, if the truth was told, Beth would rather be investigating a current case than a bunch of cold ones, but she supposed this was O’Dowd’s way of rapping her knuckles.

As she bent to her task, she was spurred on by the desire to not