A Deadly Imperfection: Calladine & Bayliss 3 by HH Durrant Read Free Book Online

killer, in fact, a woman.
    ‘Rocco, did you get that CCTV from the neighbour’s houses?’
    ‘Yes, Guv – I’ve got it setup ready to go.  It’s from a house three doors down from the Doctor’s.  They have two cameras and one faces the drive and catches the footpath.  It’ll only be a snippet, if that, but given what we know about the hair now, it’s worth a shot.’
    Calladine was hoping that even a stray shot of their killer would solve the gender question.  ‘Will you get that sorted, Rocco?  Get stills of everyone who passed that driveway after nine o’ clock Monday night.’
    ‘Imogen – dig around a bit, will you?  Dig around in Doctor Ahmed’s past and see what you can find.  We’ll leave his patients until later – we’ll look at personal stuff first.’
    This wasn’t going to be easy – they were a man down and Thorpe was useless.
    ‘Ruth, we’d better go see the fortune teller now,’ he rolled his eyes.
    ‘You shouldn’t scoff,’ she warned.
    ‘I’m not scoffing just dubious,’ he corrected her.  ‘First the shop and then we need to do something about the Doctors patients.   We’re going to have to go through them all.’
    ‘The hospital won’t like it, Guv.  We’ll need special documents, the lot.’
    ‘We’ll get a warrant, whatever it takes but we’ll leave it until it becomes vital,’ he decided.
     

Chapter 5
 
    As Harriet Finch opened her eyes the full horror of what she’d done hit like a thunderclap.   The old Harriet was back – the one who knew full well that her recent actions were horribly wrong.  The one with the conscience was on her case, urging her to stop before things got out of hand. 
    Too late for that - she’d killed two men in as many days.  What in hell’s name had possessed her?
    Stupid question – she knew very well.  A woman she barely recognised was responsible, a version of Harriet Finch who was eventually going to take over her mind completely.  This new version was hell bent on revenge - she was a woman on a mission.  But what was worse - she was pressed for time.
    She lay in bed and stared at her bedroom ceiling - she was a devil, a murderer. Could she be stopped?  No, not now, it was far too late.
    The panic struck her stomach like a blow from a heavy fist.  She coughed violently, made a dash to bathroom and threw up down the toilet. 
    Calm down, you’re safe – the new Harriet reassured.  But was she?  Harriet was living in a sort of bubble, but a bubble that could burst at any time.  When it did, she’d be carted off to prison.  The ignominy, the shame – what was left of her family would never cope with it.
    She crawled back to her bed and sat on the edge, exhausted, her body shaking.  You have to finish this, the cold, hard voice told her.  You promised and you owe it to those you love.
    ‘Loved,’ Harriet corrected out loud.  ‘They’re nearly all gone, and that’s the whole point,’ she sighed wearily.  ‘That’s what you want, isn’t it - revenge, chaos and more misery?’
    There was laughter in her head - the voice was taunting her. This wasn’t who she was.  Harriet Finch wasn’t a killer – not the old Harriet Finch anyway.  It was the cancer that had changed her.  The cancer had taken on a personality, a personality with raw intent.  It demanded and it pushed, and Harriet could refuse it nothing. She was powerless against its energy, its will.
    The voice was insidious, it warned that she had to act now – she must be quick and avenge those she’d loved.  So she was compelled, haunted by the faces of those long dead.  They cried out to her in her dreams, in her head when she was awake, as they joined the voice.  They wanted vengeance too, and like it or not, they’d made her their vehicle.
    She had to take control if she was to see this through to the end.  And control started now, today. Harriet, the new Harriet, had to get on with it. She might feel like crap, but there