Trespass (P.I. Johnson Carmichael Series - Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

three cases would be heard simultaneously and the police were confident of securing convictions in all three cases. D.C.I Derek Turnbull, who had overseen each of the investigations, had openly suggested that they believed Green had ‘probably committed more’ and that these three cases were ‘merely the tip of the iceberg.’ The press loved a sensational story and had promised mass coverage of this trial for the duration.
    The three victims had all been attacked in Hampshire but the investigation had been supported by the best detectives the Met could provide. The first two victims had described being attacked by a tall, strong man, wearing dark clothes and a balaclava. The attacker had subjected them to physical as well as sexual abuse, punching and kicking them before forcing them to perform a variety of sexual acts on him. They had both described how he had used a small knife to cut at them and that his fingers had been long and perfectly manicured.
    Caterina Jurdentaag, Cat to her friends, had come forward following her attack but initially had found the police less than helpful in wanting to hear what had happened to her. It was not that they couldn’t be bothered, but that resources had just not been available to collect the statements and evidence needed in such cases. The successful conviction rate for sexual assault was already at an all-time low, and the single W.P.C. assigned to investigate had been inexperienced and more of a sounding board than a force to be reckoned with.
    That had all changed when the body of a third victim, Patricia Tropaz, had been found in a pool of blood on the floor of her flat. The murder had received huge coverage from the local press and this had increased the pressure on the Hampshire Constabulary to locate the perpetrator. A nearby CCTV camera had captured the image of a masked man fleeing the property. When the post mortem confirmed that the victim had been subjected to an extreme sexual assault shortly before death, the detectives on the case began to look for other sexual assaults in the area with a similar modus operandi , notably the balaclava, dark clothes and knife. They stumbled upon Cat’s case and suddenly she received the attention she deserved. Of course it was a little late for fresh samples to be taken, and door to door enquiries, to locate potential witnesses to the crime on Cat, proved fruitless. The police were still keen to secure her personal account of that fateful night, as, if she was attacked by the same man, then she could potentially identify the murderer.
    The investigation into Patricia’s murder lasted months, and as the time dragged by, Cat became despondent that the police would ever find the man. It was eventually decided to undertake a nationally televised reconstruction of the two crimes on the BBC’s prime-time Crimewatch show. It was hoped that the short video would trigger the memories of some potential witnesses, but might also encourage further victims of the man’s crimes to come forward. D.C.I. Turnbull had consulted a forensic psychologist about the likely nature of the offender and she had suggested that he would certainly have attempted rape previously.
    Sarah Hanridge had not told anybody of the ordeal she had endured, not even her best friends. She had been at her parent’s place when the reconstruction had started. Watching the masked man, following the Caterina-character home had sparked a series of memories in her mind and she had broken down in tears. Her parents, obviously concerned by this reaction, had asked her what was wrong. She had opened up to them and they had encouraged her to telephone the police and report the ordeal. She had told her story to a detective on the phone but had remained reluctant to attend the station and re-tell the story via a statement. After considerable pressure, she had agreed and attended the station for an interview but had stated she would not be prepared to stand in the witness dock and