STRANGE BODIES (a gripping crime thriller) Read Online Free PDF

rarely socialise, so that charity event must have been special to lure them out. Can we find out if it was genuine?’
    ‘Good thinking. We’ll check that later.’
    ‘You know, something rings a bell here,’ said Holly Vaughan. ‘Another strange murder. Trees, forest … mutilations, maybe torture. Of course, d’you remember that bloke they found up in, where was it … North Queensland … tied to a tree?’
    Jacobsen nodded. ‘Yes, couple of weeks ago up in the Daintree, the rain forest, but how could they be connected? They’re a weird mob up there—could’ve been some strange bloody ritual.’
    ‘Well, it was strange, and this one’s strange too. Torture is pretty unusual. That new liaison team they call the Flying Squad went up—Cairns coppers called them in but last I heard they hadn’t come up with anything yet.’
    Jacobsen said, ‘I’ve got a feeling we’ll be calling them in on this one too.’
    A shrill beep cut the air and ended the speculation. Kerry Jacobsen glanced at the screen then spoke. ‘SOCOs are here … Okay, Baker. tell them we’ll be about four or five minutes. Oh, and ask them to get the gates open.’
    Marino said, thoughtfully, ‘They weren’t robbed. That jewellery must be worth millions.’
    As they packed up their gear Jacobsen said, ‘It’d be damn near impossible to pawn or sell that stuff—it’s unique. But it tells us that this murder was personal, very personal. When we get back to Sydney we’re going to have a close look at the Richardsons. It’ll be there, buried somewhere in their past. I might need the cyber geeks in CECI to do a bit of digging for that.
    ‘I’ll brief the SOCOs, then we can pack up and get back to Sydney. We’d better get a team into the Richardsons’ house as soon as possible.
    ‘Holly, I want you to go to Jim Lawrence’s house in the morning and go over his statement with him. Sergeant Marino, can you organise someone from Penrith to relieve your chap this evening, please? I don’t want Jim Lawrence on his own.’
    ‘Forster can stay overnight with him.’ said Marino.
    ‘I want him kept away from the bloody press. If they’re not already there, it won’t be long. There’s a leak somewhere,’ he said darkly. ‘And the bastard will be leaking a lot more when I catch up with him.’
     
    They made their way back along the track still keeping to the sides. The gates had now been dragged open. Jim’s car had gone and the area was filled with the big forensics ATV, and an unmarked body wagon. The Medical Examiner, Dr Rainbird, emerged from his sleek Honda Sun-CAT3000 GTX.
    ‘Right. I want each of you to report, briefly, on your impressions. Inspector Isles, could you call your SOCOs over here and we’ll bring you up to date on what’s happened so far. Dr Rainbird, would you care to join us.’
    Jacobsen summarised and mentioned the tentative identity of the bodies.
    Dr Rainbird said, ‘My wife mentioned that article in Circe about the Ice Queen diamond. It’s South African I think, has a bad reputation. Every owner—there’ve been three or four—has come to a nasty end, accident, murder, suicide in one case. Her husband bought it for her birthday last April. Looks like the bad luck has struck again.’
    ‘You know, reading between the lines there was a hint about the Richardsons not being quite, you know, kosher? It was one of their pieces, by what’s her name, Verity something,’ said Holly.
    ‘Still needs to be confirmed as the Richardsons,’ said Isles. ‘And from what you’ve said, we won’t be able to do that till we’ve got the bodies down.’ He frowned. ‘That could be a problem.’
    ‘Well,’ said Marino, ‘Maybe you could take the ATV down there—use the winch. If you tie onto the rope, then cut the one holding the bodies you can winch them down slowly.’
    ‘Right, that could work.’
    They moved aside and continued discussing the logistics of getting the bodies down. The doctor checked his watch