‘Yes.’

Izzy shuffled nervously but Dave seemed oblivious to either her or Jessica’s discomfort and carried on. ‘They discovered the storage unit too. It was in his dad’s name which is why we hadn’t found it before. Forensics have been in but we don’t know if they have found anything yet. Iz went down to London and went over mug shots with Charlie’s former colleagues. They insist our “Charlie” isn’t their “Charlie” and we’re getting a formal identification sorted. By the time it gets to trial the bleach will have grown out of his hair and he’ll be back to dark-haired Edward.’

Jessica already knew most of it but it was good to hear they had evidence building against the man. One of the messages Cole had left her was about giving a more formal statement but she hadn’t felt ready.

Izzy leant in and picked up the conversation. ‘The biggest issue has been the CPS, although you can’t blame them. They’ve been dithering all week because they don’t know what name he should be put in front of court under. “Edward Marks” was classed as missing so it’s a bit of a mess at the moment. There was something else though.’

‘What?’ Jessica asked.

‘You asked me to look into unsolved sexual assaults where no DNA had been left. We found one where the victim identified Jacob Chrisp as her attacker. He can’t be convicted obviously but at least it’s some closure for the victim.’

‘Good.’

‘How did you figure it out?’ Izzy asked.

Jessica sighed, sipping her drink. She didn’t want to talk about it but figured she owed her colleagues some explanation. ‘A few things,’ she began. ‘When I did that careers day thing at the school one of the kids asked me about how to get away with a crime. It was just one of those silly things but it had me thinking that the best way wasn’t to leave no clues at all, it was to leave signals that pointed to someone else. If you leave nothing, people like us delve further into your background. Edward obviously didn’t want that.’

She went on to explain about the left-right-hand connection from the wedding and pointed out it had all fallen into place. ‘It was just a guess more than anything,’ she concluded.

‘Are you going to contact Sam Kellett?’ Rowlands asked. ‘None of us have but someone probably should before it gets to court.’

Jessica nodded but said nothing, not wanting to commit to any course of action. She remembered promising Garry Ashford an exclusive too and thought he would be pleased after the court case when he got all the juicy details.

She took two more large mouthfuls of her drink. ‘I think I’m going to go on holiday,’ she said, placing her glass back on the table.

It was a statement out of the blue and the two constables glanced at each other before turning back to her. Rowlands made the obvious response. ‘Sorry?’

‘I’m going to go on holiday. I’m owed loads of time off anyway and I’ve not been away properly in years.’

Jessica saw the two constables exchange another look, this time with more worried expressions, then Izzy spoke. ‘Are you okay, Jess?’

‘I just need a break.’

Dave put a hand on her shoulder. ‘I know we arse about but seriously, are you all right?’

Jessica had rarely seen him show genuine concern for her, although she knew most of their mutual teasing was for show. She nodded. ‘I’m good.’

Dave removed his hand, seemingly satisfied. ‘Are you going on your own?’ he asked mischievously.

‘Yeah, why?’

‘I hear you’ve been getting a little, ahem, friendly with a certain someone recently.’

Jessica knew exactly what he was talking about. With Caroline on honeymoon, the only person she had kept in any kind of regular contact with over the past week had been Hugo. They had exchanged text messages and he had come to her flat and cooked her tea, showing off yet another hidden talent. As she struggled to bury the feeling of helplessness from when she had been drugged, Hugo’s weirdness had helped keep her smiling.

Jessica said nothing but Dave carried on his teasing. ‘Don’t forget it was me who introduced you.’

Izzy leant in to the table. ‘Oooh. Tell me more.’

Before Jessica could speak, Dave cut in. ‘Jess has been getting friendly with our mutual friend Hugo. I hear you had a fun time together at your mate’s wedding?’

Jessica realised Rowlands didn’t know about the contact she’d had with Hugo since then. ‘So what? We only went as mates,’ she replied, trying not to sound too defensive.

‘All right, I believe you,’ Dave said, although it sounded strongly as if he didn’t. ‘You’d make a great couple anyway. He’d be the intelligent multi-talented one, while you walk around bollocking people into submission.’

‘Sod off.’

‘Detective Sergeant Jessica Patch, it’s got a nice ring to it,’ Dave said airily.

‘His last name is “Patch”?’ Jessica asked, struggling to hide the surprise in her voice.

Rowlands raised his eyebrows. ‘Didn’t you even know that?’

‘I guess not.’

‘Some girlfriend you are.’

Jessica couldn’t be bothered to argue. She took a long drink from her glass before returning it empty to the table. ‘Your round,’ she said, looking at Rowlands.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN

Jessica Daniel Book 4

One boy is dead. A killer is free. Who is next?

Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is first on the scene as a stolen car crashes on a misty, wet Manchester morning. The driver is dead, but the biggest shock awaits her when she discovers the body of a child wrapped in plastic in the boot of the car.

As Jessica struggles to discover the identity of the driver, a thin trail leads her first to a set of clothes buried in the woods and then to a list of children’s names abandoned in an allotment shed.

With the winter chill setting in and parents looking for answers, Jessica must find out who has been watching local children, and how this connects to a case that has been unsolved for 14 years.

This is Book 4 in the Jessica Daniel series, following on from Locked In, Vigilante and The Woman in Black.

An extract follows here . . .

ISBN 978-1-4472-2340-5

1

The windscreen wipers on Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel’s battered old car thundered from side to side in an attempt to clear the pouring rain. She leant forward for what seemed like the hundredth time since starting the journey, wiping a thin layer of condensation away from the inside of the front window.

Jessica steered with one hand while continuing to clear the windows, muttering curses under her breath that related partly to her car, partly to the daily commute, but mainly to the weather itself. She had lived in Manchester for over a decade and if there was one thing the natives were used to, it was rain. She shivered slightly as cool air poured out of the car’s vents. It was almost five minutes since she’d set the fans to the hottest temperature possible but they still weren’t producing anything other than a light but decidedly arctic-feeling breeze.

Glancing away from the road, Jessica looked at the man in the passenger seat. ‘If you could stop breathing for a while it would make this a lot easier.’

Detective Constable David Rowlands gave a half-smile. ‘Was that one of the selling points when you bought this thing? “Works perfectly as long as you don’t breathe when it’s raining”.’