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at the front. The stains indicated that the chair had had a man tied to it. “Okay, I’ll buy that.” Alec moved closer to the second chair. “What about this one, what is bothering you, Doc?”
    “There are no footprints in the blood here but the seat pad is still stained with secretions.”
    “So what?” Will asked.
    The doctor raised his eyebrows and frowned again. “Someone was tied to this chair but their feet did not reach the floor.”
    Alec felt a cold shiver touch his spine and his stomach tightened. “Even a small adult would touch the floor with their feet.”
    “Exactly,” the doctor nodded slowly.
    “A child?” Will felt stupid for not seeing it earlier.
    “Well done, inspector.” Dr. Libby said. “You got there in the end. Look here.”
    They walked away from the hanging corpse and the doctor knelt down near a cone-shaped marker. “There are tyre tracks everywhere, as you would expect, but these are fresher.”
    “The killer brought a vehicle in here?” Alec followed the marks towards the shutters with his eyes.
    “We think so,” the doctor nodded. “Now look here.”
    Alec and Will looked at each other in shock. They were processing the evidence, trying to make sense of what they were seeing. “That means they were taken away from here alive?” Alec said.
    “Maybe,” the doctor was hesitant. There were footprints near to the tyre tracks. Small footprints, smeared in blood. “They were probably carried from the chair and then put down on the floor here while the attacker opened the vehicle door.”
    “How long will it take for the preliminary results?” Alec asked. He had seen enough for now. They had a missing child and a dead woman to identify, and a vicious killer to catch.
    “The bloods will be back tomorrow and the DNA within a few days if we work flat out.”
    “Will, have we got a list of missing persons yet?” Alec turned to walk away. The stench of decay followed him. “Why haven’t we heard about a missing child?”
    “Smithy is collating all missing person reports we can access,” Will followed Alec. “It should be on your desk already, guv.”
    “Okay, cancel all leave and call the team together. I want a full briefing when the blood reports come in.” Alec knew he would have to go straight back to the office. His mother-in-law and his wife would have to lunch without him. It would cause tensions at home, but he had a job to do. He walked out of the unit and thought about calling home, but he decided that he could do it later. He took a deep breath of fresh air through the mask. Alec took off his mask when he stepped outside and breathed the sea air deeply into his lungs. It couldn’t erase the fetid stench of putrid flesh. The sea breeze cut through his clothing and chilled him to the bone.

Chapter Four
Connections Nightclub
    When the masked men appeared, the laughter around the poker table stopped. One of them covered the poker players with his weapon while his accomplice threaded a thick steel chain through the door handles leading into the club. He fumbled with the links as he padlocked them closed. He slammed the bolts home at the top and bottom of the door to ensure no one could disturb them. There were at least a dozen minders on the other side of the doors, waiting for their bosses while they played their game. They would be drinking free cocktails and eyeing up the young women that filled the dance floor. The last thing on their mind was their employer’s welfare. There were no weapons allowed in the poker room ;tempers could fray during the game, especially as the alcohol went down.
    “Do you have any idea who we are?” Leon growled. He twisted his mouth into a scowl. The men at the table looked at each other for a silent signal from someone. A sign to make a move and rush the gunmen, but they were covered with automatic weapons. One wrong move and eight of the city’s most prolific criminals would be twitching in their own blood on the carpet.