The Killer Inside: A gripping serial killer thriller (Detective Jessica Daniel thriller series Book 1) Read Free Page A

know why criminals can’t stick to office hours,’ Jessica replied.
    ‘I’ve been saying that for years. If you’re going to commit a crime, can you at least have the decency to do it between nine and five, preferably Monday to Friday?’
    Jessica gave a short laugh. ‘Dave’s off to pick up the husband. Have they found anything inside?’
    ‘I don’t think so.’
    Forensic tests often gave them their best leads, but could sometimes throw up as many questions as answers.
    ‘It’ll be someone the victim knows,’ Cole added.
    Jessica gave a small smile, but it wasn’t sincere. ‘Any estimated time for results?’
    ‘If we’re lucky, we might get a formal identification, plus a time and confirmed cause of death by Monday. I’ll phone the chief inspector so he knows what’s going on.’
    Jessica nodded. Wait for the autopsy, wait for the SOCO team to report. Door-to-doors. The usual. ‘Back to the station?’
    ‘Not much more we can do here. Let’s hope someone saw something.’
    Jessica turned to look towards the Wilsons’ house. There had been lots of curtains twitching earlier, but she doubted anyone had been watching when it might have been of some use.

    T he journey to the Longsight station wasn’t a long one in theory, but the traffic had started to back up on the main roads as people woke up and realised that, for once, the sun was shining. Sunny days in the north of England seemed to bring out two types of people: those who hopped in the car and raced to the coast – and those who went to the pub.
    When Jessica eventually emerged out of the traffic, she parked at the station. It had been renovated recently, and its sandy brick colour on the outside was now visible, unlike a lot of the local stations where the dirt had long since taken hold. It was two floors high, but also had a basement that housed the incident room, as well as a separate area for the cells. Many officers also worked down there who didn’t have set desks. The top floor was where the chief inspector’s office was, along with a lot of storage and some other administration areas.
    Jessica walked through the station to the canteen. It didn’t have the greatest choice at the best of times, but there was never any hot food available on a Saturday, so she crouched in front of a vending machine before settling for the sandwich that seemed to have the least curled-up corners.
    Cole was already setting up the recording equipment in one of the two interview rooms. Eric Christensen wouldn’t be under arrest, but he would be cautioned and interviewed.
    Jessica swallowed a mouthful of sandwich. ‘We must be the only organisation in the world keeping the manufacturers of cassette tapes in business.’
    Cole jammed the final tape in the machine and looked around at her. ‘I know! We’re supposed to be getting video cameras rolled out.’ He pointed up to the empty corner of the room, where there most definitely was not a video camera.
    Jessica nodded at the tape device. ‘I can get a better quality recording on my phone than on this thing.’
    There was a knock at the door. Rowlands entered, with two men following a little behind. Jessica recognised one as a duty solicitor, meaning the other had to be Eric Christensen. He was tall and blonde, casually dressed in a pair of jeans and loose-fitting shirt. He didn’t seem particularly upset, considering he had just heard of his wife’s death, but then it was hard to tell for sure.
    Cole gave Eric Christensen the standard caution and the rest of the interview went pretty much as Jessica had anticipated. Christensen said he was shocked by his wife’s death and insisted he would never have meant her any ill will. Their divorce was going to be a formality. They had separated five months ago, after having simply drifted apart over the years. Now that James had gone to university, they no longer saw the need to stay together for his sake. There had been nothing spiteful about their