Woman in Black Read Free

that had appeared. ‘There’s no facial cover, it’s just a robe,  like a dressing gown. Let’s see if we can zoom in.’ She ran her hand over a dial and the images refocused closer in.
    ‘Is it a man or a woman?’ Izzy asked.
    ‘Probably a woman. You can see she’s wearing low heels and has that way of walking as if she’s comfortable in them. It’s the way she’s moving too.’
    Izzy clearly agreed. ‘I doubt there are many men out there who can walk so comfortably in heels. I’m not great myself.’
    ‘There are no clear images of the person’s face. You can just about tell they’re white but nothing more. She knows where the cameras are.’
    Jessica pressed buttons to cut from one camera perspective to a second, then a third, before continuing. ‘Look at the angle of her face. She’s deliberately looking down and across because she knows there won’t be a clear view of her.’ She scrolled backwards through the footage to reinforce her point. ‘She’s turning ever so slightly as she walks to keep the angle and is wearing gloves too. This person knows what she’s doing.’
    Jessica moved the footage forward, switching between cameras until the hooded figure neared the base of the fountain where the hand had been found. Jessica slowed the stream down to regular speed, watching as the cloaked figure stopped by the edge of the fountain and crouched. She reached across herself, stretching into an inner pocket of the robe and taking out an object that had to be the hand, before placing it on the floor. It seemed as if the figure was deliberately spreading the fingers into the correct position, before nudging it towards a nook between the bench and fountain. Then they stood, walking back the way they came.
    Jessica started to ask a question but Izzy got there first. ‘Who the hell is that?’

TWO
     
    Jessica peered down at the officers in front of her, waiting for one of her colleagues to speak. She was in Longsight Police Station’s incident room in the basement, standing on a slightly raised platform next to DI Reynolds and DCI Cole. On a giant whiteboard behind them was an enlarged photo of the hand that had been found as well as stills from the video footage. In front of them was a selection of officers, some in uniform, as well as other members of CID.
    Cole was someone Jessica had a lot of respect for. Although she’d had differences with each of the previous two chief inspectors, she had worked closely with him when he had been an inspector. He had covered for her on numerous occasions and she trusted him implicitly. Her only concern about his promotion was that he knew her a little too well. As an inspector he had given her a little leeway in the way she acted but Jessica wasn’t convinced the same would apply now he had more responsibility.
    It was Cole who opened the briefing. ‘Following yesterday’s discovery, I know we have some quite serious business to go over but, before any of that, I’d like to welcome a new member to our team.’ He indicated for a woman near the front to come and stand next to him on the stage. Jessica had met her the previous week but it was the new person’s first official day in the job.
    As the woman reached the front, Cole continued, ‘It’s unfortunate the way timings have worked out but Louise Cornish will be taking the sergeant role vacated by DI Reynolds. She’s new to the area so be nice. I’ve already filled her in about which ones of you are the troublemakers.’ He pointed at a couple of the officers in front of him to a mixture of laughs, cheers and boos.
    Jessica didn’t know much about DS Cornish but was aware she had asked for a transfer to the area from somewhere around the Midlands, and that she was married with children. The sergeant was somewhere in her mid-forties and had short brown hair that was swept backwards. If Jessica had had to give one word to sum the new recruit up, it would have been ‘mumsy’, harshly thinking the woman