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

Thompson left the office in the slow shuffle of someone who knew that what they were about to face might well break them.

Beth sat at her desk to give him a chance to leave on his own terms. Her thoughts conflicted between the impossibility of the case and the terrible situation Thompson had to deal with.

As there was nothing she could do for Thompson, Beth forced herself to concentrate on the case.

The biggest issue they had was the way the team had been halved. As important as it may be to have the case Unthank was testifying about fresh in his mind, it was also vital they continue trying to catch the Lakeland Ripper and the person framing the mayor.

If Unthank and Thompson were replaced, their replacements, however good they may be, would take at least half a day to catch up on the details of this case and that was time they didn’t have to lose.

It was typical of the brass that they’d insist on the maximum effort to solve a case and then hamstring the investigating team. Beth knew she was being cynical, but it wouldn’t surprise her if they didn’t get replacements for Unthank and Thompson until Monday at the soonest. Every team in the county was stretched by the double whammies of their workload and the budgetary cuts imposed on them. When you factored in leave and stress-related sickness, it was nothing short of a miracle that so many crimes actually ended up with convictions.

Unthank walked into the office. ‘What do you call a man in a pile of leaves?’

‘Russell.’ Beth had the answer in a flash. If Unthank was going to catch her out, he’d have to become a lot more obscure.

Before O’Dowd returned from speaking to the DCI, Beth checked her emails in case anything had come in. There were a couple of missing persons’ reports that piqued her interest.

The first was a fourteen-year-old girl who’d had a row with her parents about a party she’d wanted to go to, and had stormed out of the house last night when her parents had refused to let her attend. Beth figured the girl would have gone to the party and was now avoiding her parents so she didn’t have to deal with the fallout. She’d either turn up at a friend’s house or would go home with her tail between her legs.

The second was more concerning. Willow Brown had been on a night out in Maryport and hadn’t come home. There wasn’t anything unusual in that for a women in her late twenties. She was a grown-up and could do as she wanted. Her parents had only called the police because Willow was due to join them for a day in the Lakes and a lunchtime meal to celebrate her mother’s birthday. Like the teenager’s parents, they’d tried her mobile on numerous occasions. Unlike the teenager’s phone, Willow’s had gone straight to voicemail, which indicated it was switched off.

As probable as it was that Willow hadn’t returned because she’d met a guy, something about the situation made Beth think that Willow had acted out of character. The photo the parents had given to the police showed a good-looking woman with tumbling auburn hair. Unlike the sullen and pudgy teenager, Willow would be deemed attractive by most men. While it was a fact that the Lakeland Ripper wasn’t targeting a particular ‘type’ of woman, and his victims were getting younger, her instincts were telling her that his actions were fuelled by sexual desire, and of the two missing females, Willow was by far the more attractive of the two, which made Beth fear far more for Willow than the missing teen.

Fifty-Six 26 July

Dear Diary

I have done a terrible thing and I don’t know what compelled me to do it.

You will of course remember that last night was the night when Derek threw his celebratory party.

We left the hotel and hailed a cab. He invited me back to his for one last drink.

Drunk as I was, I still knew he was trying to seduce me. I didn’t want him and I did want him.

Instead of leaving I started to unbutton his shirt and then his hands were upon me. The sense of guilt and betrayal I felt when I made love to Derek sort of… heightened the experience though. I risked everything, and for a few earth-shattering seconds, when my insides exploded, it was worth it.

I felt sick with guilt as I dressed and then left without saying goodbye. I still feel sick now.

He knew how to charm me. And I let myself be charmed.

When I look in the mirror, I no longer see a faithful wife.

Howard must never find out. Learning I’ve cheated would kill him.

I’ll be calling in sick on Monday. I’ll use the day to start looking for another job.

Until tomorrow.

Fifty-Seven

Andrew Cooper levered himself up from the table, popped a painkiller into his mouth and washed it down with a glass of water.

His nose still hurt from where Willow had butted him with her head. She’d complied with his instructions when he’d pressed the knife against her throat and told her to get into the rear compartment of his pickup, but when he’d been tying her to the bed she’d lashed out and tried to make a break for freedom. None of the others had shown such bravery. They’d all been craven in their cowardice.

It had pained him to take a hacksaw to a shotgun, but lopping eighteen inches off the barrel’s length had made it even more menacing as well as much easier to hide under a coat. Each one had answered his call for help when he’d feigned looking for his two-year-old daughter. They’d all been stupid enough to follow him to his pickup so he could get his phone to show them a photo of his ‘daughter’. He’d