Ultimate Dilemma (Justice Again Book 2) by M Comley (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

Charlie nodded and set off.

Katy took a few steps over to the right and snapped on a pair of latex gloves, then bent down to pick up a clear evidence bag. “A wallet, well, what do you know?” She opened it and searched inside. His driving licence gave her all the information she needed. Katy jotted down the man’s name and address in her notebook, which she struggled to remove from inside her suit, then she replaced the wallet in the bag and returned to where Patti was crouching next to the corpse.

“Any good?” Patti asked.

“Yep, I’ve got his name and address, I’ll run it through the satnav. I don’t think he was too far from home, judging by the postcode I used to get out here.”

“That’s a shame. Maybe the perp was waiting for him, anticipating his arrival and pounced.”

“Seems a pretty logical theory to me. What else can you tell me? All that blood on his shirt, that wouldn’t just be from his eyes, would it?”

“No. He has several puncture wounds all over his chest.”

“Puncture wounds? Any idea what the perp’s choice of weapon could have been?”

“Something long and thin would be my guess at this time.”

“Long and thin, eh? Such as?”

“A large needle, knitting needle possibly, or even, dare I say it, an ice pick.”

“Jesus, do people genuinely carry around either of those things on a daily basis?”

“Not to my knowledge, which would back up my account of the perp lying in wait, ready to pounce.”

“So, premeditated?”

“Definitely, at least that’s what the evidence is leading me to believe at present.”

“How many times was he stabbed, roughly?”

“I haven’t had a chance to move him yet. Let me get the photos snapped off first and then I can turn him over, see what we can find there. Jeff, any chance you can get your finger out and get the pics taken, man?”

Jeff raised a hand and shouted, “Sorry, Patti. The camera is playing up. I’m trying to fix it. I shouldn’t be long.”

Patti cringed. “That’s all we ruddy need. Jeff, leave it and grab the one off the passenger seat in my van. I can’t wait around all day. Some of us want to get home to their beds tonight.”

“I hear you. Doing it now, Patti.”

Katy sniggered, and Patti narrowed her eyes at her.

“Don’t you start. Seriously, if men had brains, the world would be a bloody dangerous place to live in, I swear it would.”

“Don’t be too harsh on him, Patti, he was doing his best to fix it.”

“Bollocks, I’m always telling him off about fiddling with the equipment.” She lowered her voice. “He’s one of these types who insist on knowing how things work and takes great pleasure in taking things apart and putting them back together again. I’m not surprised the damn thing has given up the ghost and stopped working. Grr…he’s got me all worked up now. Today has been long enough as it is and…” She waved a hand to dismiss her anger. “Sorry, you don’t want to hear me whinge on about work colleagues.”

“Fill your boots. It’s better to vent about these things than let them surface as an ulcer, love.”

“Thanks, you’re too kind.”

Patti and Katy stepped back a few paces when Jeff finally materialised. He fired off dozens of photos of the victim, taken from different angles, some low to the ground and some with him towering above. Once he’d finished, he gave Patti the thumbs-up.

“Great, thanks.” Patti returned to the corpse and removed the eyes, slotting them into another evidence bag which she handed to Katy.

“Gee, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

Patti grinned. “Thought you might. Let’s turn him over and see what we’ve got.”

“Do you need a hand?”

“Nope, I’ve got this. Right.” Patti hoisted the man over onto his stomach and assessed the wounds on his back. “Only two puncture wounds, here and here. Seems to me, he was probably running from his attacker and then, what, ran out of puff? His courage emerged, and he decided to face the onslaught head-on? Hard to tell, could be either of those scenarios. Either way, it resulted in his death. An incredibly gruesome one at that.”

“Any signs of him fighting back?”

Patti checked under the man’s fingernails and shook her head, then placed a bag over each of the victim’s hands. “Nothing, but just in case there’s something lingering under there.”

“Poor man. So he was attacked in the middle of nowhere, not far from home. How often does that happen out here in the sticks?”

“My guess would be not that often at all. Still none the wiser as to who might have killed him. I can’t see any evidence or DNA around.”

“Why am I not surprised about that? Criminals are getting smarter by the day, too many CSI programmes on the TV. Probably guilty of giving the perps ideas how to kill their victims, I shouldn’t wonder.”

“All right, steady on. Let’s not cast aspersions just yet, not before I’ve carried out the PM.”

Charlie joined them, her notebook in her hand.

“Anything, Charlie?” Katy asked, her expectations rising.

“The gent was out for an evening walk and stumbled across the scene. He rang nine-nine-nine right away. Poor bloke said he puked over in the hedge not far from the victim. Had trouble holding it in, apparently.”

“Never mind, as long as we’re aware, eh, Patti?”

“Yep, always good to know.”

“I take it he didn’t see any vehicles in the vicinity at all?” Katy asked.

Charlie sighed. “Nope, nothing at all. He’s really sad. Dale Peters is one of his neighbours.”

“Shit! That’s tough. Could he tell you anything about the victim?”

Charlie flipped over a page. “He lives at four Downey Crescent, only a few miles up the road. He’s married to Adele and has five kids.”

“Fuckity fuck,” Patti said, letting out a whistle. “The poor wife is going to be devastated when she hears.”

“No kidding,” Katy added. “Five kids! Shit, I’m not looking forward to breaking the news. Bummer. The witness didn’t call the wife, did he?”

“No, he was tempted but