surely it didn’t warrant a whole page – it was just a house being demolished.
She went over the conversation she’d had with Jonathan in the foyer a couple of hours ago. He couldn’t wait to get away from her. Why? She shrugged off her pointless reverie. He was bound to have a lot on his mind with tomorrow’s events. She was still puzzled as to why he didn’t want her going with him. He always sought her advice.
She decided to attend anyway, keep out of sight so Jonathan didn’t see her. She wanted to be there. She wanted to see his emotions; the agony, the relief, the heartache and the horror so she could be there for him later when he came home from work. She had a strange unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was going to happen. Change was coming. Whatever it was, she hoped she wouldn’t lose Jonathan because of it. She couldn’t cope with losing anyone else.
Chapter 9
Overnight the temperature had plunged to a perishing minus five degrees. By 6 a.m. everything was covered in an icy white glaze. Pavements were slippery underfoot; frost crunched under the weight of tyres; and the dead, frozen body of a man was discovered behind an industrial bin in Sheffield City Centre.
A man on his way to work, taking a short cut to the tram stop on West Street, stumbled across the body next to an 80s themed nightclub on Holly Lane. He dialled 999 then waited impatiently for uniformed officers to arrive. By the time they did, not only was the witness hopping from foot to foot to keep warm but he was thoroughly pissed off at being late for work on employee evaluation day.
A tall constable tentatively made his way to the steel bin. A pair of legs was sticking out from behind but nothing more. The closer he went more of the body was revealed. When he reached the face he quickly clamped a leather gloved hand over his mouth. It looked as if the victim’s head had exploded.
The call came through to the MIT and was answered by DS Sian Mills. When she relayed the news to Acting DCI Hales he almost punched the air with excitement.
‘Grab your coat and a DC and let’s go,’ he said to Sian. He was out of the door before he’d finished talking.
At fifty, Ben Hales had never quite reached his full potential and didn’t know why. He was a well-built man with plenty of padding around the middle and dark salt-and-pepper hair cut short. His personality was prickly, which, if you didn’t know him, could be mistaken for severe. Nobody in work knew him. A fact that he didn’t care about.
‘Blimey, what’s got into him?’ Faith Easter said. She’d nearly been sent flying by a departing Ben Hales as she entered the room.
‘Don’t bother taking your coat off. Uniform have found a body. Come on.’
It wasn’t far from South Yorkshire Police HQ to the murder site and there was no great rush, but Hales had his foot firmly pressed on the accelerator all the way there. Sian was in the passenger seat sending a text to DS Aaron Connolly letting him know where they all were, while Faith was in the back seat holding on tight to the door strap.
Hales pulled the Audi up at a dodgy angle and jumped out of the car. The two uniformed officers had been joined by a further five who were busy securing the area with blue and white police tape. A small crowd of perverse onlookers had already gathered.
This was exactly what Hales had been hoping for; an active murder investigation he could get his teeth into and show his bosses who had the ability to lead the Murder Investigation Team. He clapped his hands together as he approached the uniformed officers.
‘Right then, who was first on the scene?’
‘We were, sir. I’m PC Ashcroft and this is PC Rutherford.’
‘What have we got?’
‘A dead man behind the industrial bin. He’s been very badly beaten.’
‘Who found him?’
‘A passer-by on his way to work.’ He looked at his notebook. ‘Jason Patterson. I’ve got his address and contact
She went over the conversation she’d had with Jonathan in the foyer a couple of hours ago. He couldn’t wait to get away from her. Why? She shrugged off her pointless reverie. He was bound to have a lot on his mind with tomorrow’s events. She was still puzzled as to why he didn’t want her going with him. He always sought her advice.
She decided to attend anyway, keep out of sight so Jonathan didn’t see her. She wanted to be there. She wanted to see his emotions; the agony, the relief, the heartache and the horror so she could be there for him later when he came home from work. She had a strange unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was going to happen. Change was coming. Whatever it was, she hoped she wouldn’t lose Jonathan because of it. She couldn’t cope with losing anyone else.
Chapter 9
Overnight the temperature had plunged to a perishing minus five degrees. By 6 a.m. everything was covered in an icy white glaze. Pavements were slippery underfoot; frost crunched under the weight of tyres; and the dead, frozen body of a man was discovered behind an industrial bin in Sheffield City Centre.
A man on his way to work, taking a short cut to the tram stop on West Street, stumbled across the body next to an 80s themed nightclub on Holly Lane. He dialled 999 then waited impatiently for uniformed officers to arrive. By the time they did, not only was the witness hopping from foot to foot to keep warm but he was thoroughly pissed off at being late for work on employee evaluation day.
A tall constable tentatively made his way to the steel bin. A pair of legs was sticking out from behind but nothing more. The closer he went more of the body was revealed. When he reached the face he quickly clamped a leather gloved hand over his mouth. It looked as if the victim’s head had exploded.
The call came through to the MIT and was answered by DS Sian Mills. When she relayed the news to Acting DCI Hales he almost punched the air with excitement.
‘Grab your coat and a DC and let’s go,’ he said to Sian. He was out of the door before he’d finished talking.
At fifty, Ben Hales had never quite reached his full potential and didn’t know why. He was a well-built man with plenty of padding around the middle and dark salt-and-pepper hair cut short. His personality was prickly, which, if you didn’t know him, could be mistaken for severe. Nobody in work knew him. A fact that he didn’t care about.
‘Blimey, what’s got into him?’ Faith Easter said. She’d nearly been sent flying by a departing Ben Hales as she entered the room.
‘Don’t bother taking your coat off. Uniform have found a body. Come on.’
It wasn’t far from South Yorkshire Police HQ to the murder site and there was no great rush, but Hales had his foot firmly pressed on the accelerator all the way there. Sian was in the passenger seat sending a text to DS Aaron Connolly letting him know where they all were, while Faith was in the back seat holding on tight to the door strap.
Hales pulled the Audi up at a dodgy angle and jumped out of the car. The two uniformed officers had been joined by a further five who were busy securing the area with blue and white police tape. A small crowd of perverse onlookers had already gathered.
This was exactly what Hales had been hoping for; an active murder investigation he could get his teeth into and show his bosses who had the ability to lead the Murder Investigation Team. He clapped his hands together as he approached the uniformed officers.
‘Right then, who was first on the scene?’
‘We were, sir. I’m PC Ashcroft and this is PC Rutherford.’
‘What have we got?’
‘A dead man behind the industrial bin. He’s been very badly beaten.’
‘Who found him?’
‘A passer-by on his way to work.’ He looked at his notebook. ‘Jason Patterson. I’ve got his address and contact
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