TRACE - CSI Reilly Steel #5 (Forensic novel Police Procedural Series) Read Free Page A

them that she’d had with the American equivalents she’d worked with in the past. Though it had taken a little time in the early days (especially with Kennedy), after over two years working side by side they were respectful of the way she did things, and she in turn was open to their ideas.
    They had proven themselves in the past, not only as investigators, but as colleagues she could rely on. Friends almost, if Reilly was the kind of girl who went in for that kind of thing.
     
     
     
    Later at the lab, she looked up to see Lucy hurrying over to her desk. ‘Welcome back. I can’t believe I missed your first week.’
    Reilly was fond of Lucy Gorman. She was the daughter of senior GFU investigator Jack Gorman, but that didn’t win her an easy ride in the unit. On the contrary, Jack would have wanted his daughter anywhere else but working in forensics. But both he and Lucy had special reason to be here, in this job. Lucy’s sister, Grace, had gone missing ten years before, and the case had never been solved. Never even a reliable lead.
    Until recently.
    ‘Thanks. Did you enjoy your time in Scotland? She was glad the younger tech was back from her holidays; her own leave of absence had been hurried and she hadn’t had an opportunity to talk to Lucy before she’d left for Florida.
    And they had much to talk about.
    Reilly knew what it was like to have loved ones snatched away from you. She knew what it was like to feel that every day you did this job you were avenging something. She also knew how it could take you over, each and every case feeling like it had personal meaning. Reilly didn’t have a very fulfilling personal life, and she didn’t want to see that happen to Lucy as well. She had promised that she would push the task force investigating her sister’s disappearance at every opportunity, but she hadn't had the opportunity to do that while away in Florida.
    Now that she was back, she would redouble her efforts to try and get closure for the Gorman family. Something about Lucy reminded her of herself when she was younger. Back when she was a little softer.
    Lucy shrugged and her face darkened, obviously thinking of the same thing. ‘Good to get away from this place for a bit I suppose.’ Then she forced a smile, obviously eager to move on to happier subjects. ‘You look so tanned though.’
    ‘Not for long, I’m afraid,’ said Reilly. ‘I’ll be pasty again in two weeks, no doubt about it.’
    They were interrupted by the shrill bleat of Reilly’s phone. ‘Reilly? It’s Karen. I’ve got the results on the Armstrong autopsy if you want to come over.’
    Dr Karen Thompson was one of Reilly’s favorite people. It wasn’t just that she was another strong woman in a male dominated work force, but that she was impressive on merit alone. Driven, capable and extremely detailed, Reilly trusted her implicitly. She sometimes wished she knew Karen outside of work; that they could sit and chat over a glass of wine. But that wasn’t how either of them did things.
    ‘Thanks, I’ll be over in about half an hour. Let me check with the lab first and see what if anything we have.’
    As she made her way down the hallway Reilly ran into Gary. At the moment he was doubling up on IT duty while Rory, the GFU’s resident cyber whizz was on holiday.
    His boyish face broke into a grin. ‘Just to let you know that I’ve got your vic’s laptop, so you can expect some dirt in….oh, I don’t know. An hour?’
    ‘Don’t strain yourself, Gary. I wouldn’t want you to miss something important.’
    ‘Have I let you down before? I’m trying to break my personal best.’
    ‘We’ll see what you come up with,’ she said, trying not to smile. ‘I’ll reserve judgement until then.’
     
     
    At the morgue, on the other side of the city, the air was brittle with cold. Reilly, Chris and Kennedy all donned masks and nose plugs. Reilly was especially sensitive to the smell of death, even when a corpse was this fresh.