Lost Souls Read Online Free PDF

built on the edge of town, but that was years away yet.
    Egan paced at the front of the room and stroked his chin. He looked tense. He had watched Laura and Pete walk in, the last ones to arrive.
    Egan turned to address the room, announced his presence with a cough and started with a summary of the case so far: how Jess’s body had been found, the usual list of inquiries. Boyfriends. Money. Stalker. He was a flipchart cop. He had done all the leadership stuff, put pictures of the dead woman on the wall,jotted down suspects and ideas. The others in the room had short attention spans, and Laura could sense their restlessness, as if they knew they wouldn’t get the resources to do the job properly. They had to get lucky, and quickly.
    And it might take luck, because crime scenes had already reported back and the forensic sweep was looking slim. There were DNA tests to run, fingerprints to compare, but, for a bloody murder scene like that, nothing stood out yet. No bloody handprints on the walls or the doors, or any footwear marks on the floor. The evidence might be there once everything was looked at, but nothing instant had shown up.
    Egan paused to look at Laura. ‘You spoke with the old man. How was he?’
    ‘Tired and emotional, I suppose. I told him I would call on him later to get a statement. Neighbours confirmed that he was banging on the door not long before the call was made, so we didn’t think we had enough to bring him in this morning.’
    ‘But what did
you
think?’
    ‘I don’t know. He was there, he was upset, but other than that, I’m not sure.’
    ‘Still no alibi?’
    Laura shook her head. ‘None. Just that he was at home, dreaming about her.’
    Egan looked eager at that. ‘Eric Randle has to be our target suspect. I want to know everything about him by the end of today. Where he worked, who he knows, where he goes. I want someone to keep an eye on his house. See who goes in and who goes out.’ Andthen he pointed at Laura and Pete. ‘And you two can go get his statement. Once you leave, he might think that’s it.’
    Laura and Pete exchanged glances. It seemed mundane after the pressure of the murder scene.
    ‘What about Luke King?’ asked Pete. ‘He was in the area and left in the middle of the night.’
    ‘Make some discreet inquiries,’ answered Egan. ‘That’s your job once you’ve finished with Randle.’
    Pete seemed unconvinced. ‘How long do we wait if he realises we’re watching him?’ he asked. ‘There may be the deceased’s DNA on him right now. If we wait, it’ll be gone.’
    Egan took a deep breath, looked as if he was trying to control himself.
    ‘I’m aware of that, but he has no idea that we know about him yet. Let’s just keep an eye on him, see what he does.’
    Pete didn’t reply. He just clenched his jaw and stared at Egan.
    Laura knew what Egan really meant: that if they got it wrong against a powerful family, only a confession would save them from a shift back into uniform, riding the Saturday night van for six months, fighting drunks.
    Egan split everyone up into teams of two, gave them all a task, and then broke up the meeting.
    As the room had emptied, Laura watched Pete as he walked past Egan.
    And what are you going to be doing, Dermot?’
    Egan looked him up and down, and then said curtly,‘Taking responsibility,’ before he turned and walked out of the room.
    When he had left, Laura asked, ‘Do you two have a history?’
    A smile played on Pete’s lips for a few seconds. ‘Just flashpoints,’ he said.
    He sounded calm, but Laura noticed an angry flush on his cheekbones. ‘You know what it’s like with cops,’ he continued. ‘You think you’ve got trust, but as soon as the shit hits the fan, cops like Egan point the finger like they’ve just seen the end of the fucking rainbow.’ He nodded towards the door. ‘C’mon, I’ll tell you about it another time.’
    Laura made a mental note to find out one day. The day was getting long enough