Blood Axe Read Online Free PDF Page A

like this. It’s no good for anyone. It’s time we had words with her.’
    â€˜Words?’
    â€˜Tell her she has to leave, find somewhere else to live.’
    â€˜No! Frank, you can’t do that. She’s my daughter.’
    â€˜Well, she doesn’t behave like a daughter. She’s no good, Moira. Getting up late is one thing, but this…’ He pulled a face. ‘Staying out all night! She did it deliberately to spite us. We can’t carry on like this…’
    He was interrupted by the doorbell.
    â€˜Right!’ He turned to the door. ‘Leave this to me!’
    â€˜No, Frank, she’s my daughter. I’ll speak to her.’
    The doorbell rang again. Frank flung the door open. A man was standing on the doorstep. Towering over Frank, he held up an identity card.
    â€˜May I come in?’
    â€˜Oh shit, now she’s got herself in trouble with the police. I knew this would happen,’ Frank growled. ‘Look, officer, Angela’s not a bad girl. She’s just fallen in with the wrong crowd. She’s only sixteen. Whatever it is, we’ll sort it out with her. We were just saying we need to keep a closer eye on her, weren’t we, Moira?’
    â€˜May I come in?’ the detective repeated.

6
    The detective chief inspector gazed sternly round the room and the assembled team fell silent under her gaze. Eileen Duncan was a thickset middle-aged woman, with a square chin and a determined air. Although he was wary of working with such a forceful woman, Ian had to acknowledge that she achieved results. Her gaze lingered on him in silent acknowledgement of his presence.
    â€˜What have we got?’ she asked.
    With a nod, Ian stepped forward. He wished he was better prepared to brief the team.
    â€˜The body of Angela Jones was found just after seven thirty this morning by a hospital surgeon, Mr Charles Everleigh. His wife was with him. They were on their way to work. He was going to drop his wife at the station on his way to the hospital. She works in Leeds. We haven’t got the post mortem report yet but the victim appears to have died from a head wound caused by a single slash with a sharp weapon, a cleaver or a large knife of some description. Hence all the blood,’ he added, turning to glance briefly at the image on the screen behind him.
    â€˜She looks very young,’ someone commented.
    â€˜Only just sixteen,’ Ian confirmed. He paused while a faint sigh whispered around his assembled colleagues. ‘The doctor at the scene placed the time of death at between ten thirty and eleven thirty on Sunday night.’
    â€˜Just sixteen,’ Eileen repeated loudly. She sounded angry. ‘And no one noticed she hadn’t come home last night.’
    Ian wondered if Eileen had a daughter. She wore a plain gold band on her wedding finger, but it was hard to imagine her as a mother. She seemed too fierce to have cared for children, although he realised she must behave differently away from work.
    Ian nodded. ‘Mother and stepfather didn’t notice her absence until this morning. They thought she must have come in after they went to bed at around ten thirty. Mother said she would have waited up but the stepfather refused to allow it. He seems to be very much in charge in the relationship, although possibly less able to control his teenage stepdaughter.’
    â€˜Angela Jones wasn’t his own daughter,’ Eileen commented thoughtfully.
    â€˜But she was his stepdaughter,’ Ian replied. ‘She lived with them.’
    â€˜What do we know about the weapon?’ Eileen asked, turning back to the evidence.
    â€˜Well, not a lot as yet, only it must have been pretty heavy and sharp to slice through her skull.’
    â€˜And presumably whoever was wielding it was strong,’ Eileen added. ‘Oh well, let’s not speculate about that for now. We’ll know more when we get the result of the post mortem,