Poisoned Blue (Jamie Stanley Crime Scene Investigation Series Book 1) by Katie L Thompson

get out of the car. He walked straight into
Jamie’s whiteboard. “I do wish you’d leave that thing tucked up in the corner,”
he said, rubbing his leg.
    “It wouldn’t
be a problem if you watched where you were going.”
    “Whatever.” He
slumped down at his computer desk.
    “One of us
should probably go and check on Danny. Relieve Alex for a little while.” Jamie
checked her mobile for any messages, but there weren’t any.
    “I’ll go in a
minute,” Carl said, his head still in his arms on the desk, “just give me a few
minutes. Some of us didn’t have a lie in like you.”
    “I’d hardly
call eight fifteen a lie in.”
    The phone
rang, and Carl stretched to answer it, his head still on the desk, grumbling as
he did so. “Uh huh … great … thanks for letting us know.”
    “What?” Jamie
asked when he’d hung up.
    “That lady you
gave a card to, one of the neighbours, says the car is back.”
    “Car?”
    “The one that
picked the girl up.”
    Jamie didn’t
look any the wiser.
    “The girl on
the doorstep. The one who stood there for a while waiting for the door to open
and then got picked up when it never opened. The one we think all the phone
calls were from. The last person to speak to Sara.”
    “Oh okay. No
need to go on, I know who you mean.” Walking out of the door, she said, “What
about Danny?”
    “He’ll have to
wait.”
    It was after
Carl had locked the door that Jamie remembered her cup of coffee, still sitting
on her desk.
    “Can I drive?”
Jamie asked when they got to the car, she didn’t like the idea of climbing over
the seats again – the handbrake always stabbed her and made her leg go dead.
    “Maybe another
time, we’re in a bit of a hurry now.”
    “So, what’s
the plan?” They were driving down the country roads at eighty kilometres per
hour, if she didn’t speak she’d scream.
    “See if we can
catch this person and ask them some questions.”
    “We don’t even
know who’s going to be driving.”
    “From what
we’ve been told, it’s not going to be the girl, is it? The neighbour estimated
she’d be around fourteen years old. Maybe it’ll be a parent or older sibling.”
    Jamie sat back
in her seat and held on tight. She was determined not to make a fuss, although
they were going about ninety kilometres per hour when it was only safe to do
around fifty.
    “Okay,” Jamie
screamed when they whizzed around a tight bend, “just ‘cause it says you can do
one hundred kilometres per hour doesn’t mean you have to do it.”
    “Sixty miles
per hour, darling. We’re not in Canada now,” he said, showing no intention of
slowing down.
    “I don’t care
what you call it, slow down.”
    “Don’t you
want to catch this guy? It might be our only chance.”
    “Yes, but I
don’t want to die in the process.”
    “We won’t die.
I’m used to these narrow roads.”
    A car came in
the opposite direction, and Carl swerved into a passing place to get out of the
way.
    “If that
passing place hadn’t been there we’d be dead right now.”
    “Just as well
it was there then, eh?”
    “You are
unbelievable.” She tightened her grip and ducked her head – she couldn’t watch.
    “We’re almost
there now.”
    The car
screeched around another bend.
    “Look, the
car’s still there.”
    Carl pulled up
behind the other car. “You see if there’s anyone in the car. I’ll go up to the
house.”
    Jamie obeyed,
happy to have her feet on firm ground.

 
    Chapter Eight
     
     
    “Can I help you?” Carl stood
behind a black haired guy who was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a dark brown
leather jacket.
    The guy turned
around to face Carl. “Oh … uh. Sorry officer. I wasn’t doing anything bad. I
promise. It’s just … no one’s answering, and I was–”
    “It’s a crime
scene. No one’s allowed inside so of course no one will answer.”
    “Crime scene.”
His eyes widened. “What happened?”
    Now Carl
realised that this guy was likely to be no