Follow the Leader Read Free

sigh.
    ‘My work ID pass.’ Mark scrambled around inside the kitchen drawer, scattering receipts and takeaway leaflets all over the kitchen floor. ‘I’ve only been off for ten bloody days.’ He scratched his head. ‘Have you seen it anywhere?’
    Allie bent down to pick up the leaflets, put them back into the drawer and closed it. Then she reached into the cupboard above Mark’s head, where he kept his spare change on a saucer. By its side was a box that had contained a watch she’d bought him for their tenth wedding anniversary. She opened it and produced the card, waving it in front of his face.
    ‘It’s where you always put it and where you always forget you’ve put it,’ she told him with a shake of her head.
    ‘I didn’t put it there! You must have moved it.’
    ‘No, you put it there.’
    ‘Well, I can’t remember –’
    ‘It was you!’ Allie snapped. ‘I’m not one of those women who go through their partner’s pockets.’
    ‘Always time for that yet.’
    ‘Why, you cheeky git. I’ll have you know –’
    Allie’s phone went off. This time the sound of The Kaiser Chiefs’ I Predict a Riot . Her heart skipped a beat as she knew its importance. It was the ringtone for the police station contacting her.
    ‘DS Shenton,’ she answered.
    ‘Change those bloody ringtones, will you!’ Mark’s parting words as he went out the door. Allie stuck two fingers up to his disappearing form, and leaned her back against the worktop as she listened to the caller. Within seconds, she was alert and running upstairs to get dressed.
    A body had been found near to Caldon Canal.

    Allie crossed the bridge over the canal and caught sight of a uniformed officer. A member of the public stood by his side, one hand on a post, the other clutching his chest. An older man, late sixties at a glance. From the look on the man’s face Allie surmised he was the person who had found the body, and wondered if his stomach was doing a loop-the-loop as much as hers was.
    It was a strange feeling to be excited about being called out to the scene of a death. Would it be suspicious? Would it be a suicide? Maybe just a prank gone horrifically wrong? An act of violence gone too far? Or even murder with intent? She wondered what she would find today. Couldn’t help feeling adrenaline building up inside her at the thought of a case to get her teeth into. Getting justice for a crime committed was why she had joined the police force, and until she didn’t get this buzz any longer she was staying with it.
    She stepped over a low wall, climbed down the bank, treading carefully and then steadying herself as momentum made her jog the final few steps onto the level. As she walked, she swept her long dark hair away from her face and secured it into a ponytail with a band, so that it wouldn’t get in her way whilst she looked around. Then she pulled on a woollen beanie hat to keep her ears warm. Her breath formed clouds of mist in front of her. Ahead, she noticed PC Andy Rathbone standing guard. Although he’d been an officer for a few years, he was new to their station. He seemed adept at his job, a strong man to have on side.
    ‘Morning, Andy.’ She gave a faint but friendly smile. ‘Not a good start to the year.’
    ‘Morning, Sarge. No, it’s a bit of a bloody one, I’m afraid.’
    Andy marked down her time of arrival before she slipped on shoe covers, gloves and a white suit. Then she lifted the flap and stepped into the tent.
    The victim was on his back a few feet away from the tarmacked path. Fully dressed, a swollen, bloodied face with puffed eyes, clipped auburn hair, a silver stud earring in his left ear. By his side, a pool of blood had formed; a limp hand had fallen into the middle of it. Allie recoiled momentarily as flashbacks of the last murder she’d dealt with on her patch came rushing into her mind. A local woman, Steph Ryder, had been murdered in early December 2011. The back of her head had been bashed to a pulp