Clean Cut by Lynda La Plante Read Free Book Online Page A

flat, it did not look as if he was a professional burglar. It’s just as if he was in such a frenzy after the murder and the sexual gratification: he threw things around, searching for anything of immediate value. We know he must have bloodstained clothes; as we have not had anyone coming forwards, having seen the assailant either in or around the victim’s home, he must have somewhere close that he could walk out to.’
    Sheldon turned to face her. ‘Very good observation.’
    ‘Well, it’s all rather obvious. I also think he will have a record of violence and mental instability; he may not have killed before but he will, I am sure, have done this before.’
    ‘Done what exactly?’
    ‘Attacked. The sex we know took place after the victim was dead, or in the throes of dying. Nothing looked premeditated, apart from the entry to the victim’s flat, so there is a possibility that she knew him or had met him before. I don’t mean she knew him well, but shemay have seen him before, which again makes me think he lives close by. He could have been watching her, seen her arrive home and then moved to force her into allowing him to enter. As we know, the timeframe is short between Irene leaving work and her daughter discovering the body, so it must have all happened in less than an hour.’
    ‘What about the sandwich he made for himself?’
    Anna shrugged. ‘He was hungry.’
     
    At the briefing, Sheldon repeated almost word for word what Anna had said. She listened, taken aback; the way Sheldon talked, it was as if he had come up with the possible scenario. By now, they also had the forensic report: the killer had left fibres, two hairs and fingerprints in the kitchen, hall and the study where he had killed Irene Phelps.
    By four-fifteen, they had a suspect who had a police record for assaults on women. Arthur George Murphy was forty-seven years old and had served fewer than thirteen years of a life sentence for a violent sex attack. In other words, he was on parole! Murphy also had a record of attacks on strangers dating back more than thirty years. This convicted sex attacker, whilst on parole and supposedly under supervision, had been free to kill Irene Phelps.
    As the search went out for Murphy, more details of his past came in. The reports were astonishing. Despite his appalling history, Murphy had been considered a low risk, when he was clearly a serious danger to the public. Even a brief check of his file would have been enough to convince anyone that Murphy should not have been walking the streets. His criminal record stretched back to1975, when he was first convicted for terrorizing women. In 1990, he had been handed a nine-year term for rape. He served six years, the Old Bailey heard how Murphy turned into a snarling animal when he spied his victims. This was when he was sentenced to life; his crime had been a knifepoint rape.
    Within hours, the team had been given an address for Murphy, two streets away from Irene Phelps. There was a huge amount of press and TV coverage, warning the public that they should not approach Murphy but contact the police if he was seen. In the hostel that he had been allocated by the probation services, they found Murphy’s possessions: bloodstained clothes, a pair of trainers that had blood on the soles and over the laces, stacks of pornography and a few items of no significant value that had belonged to Irene Phelps. There were also all his social services records and probation contacts, and twenty-two pounds in cash stuffed into an envelope. But there was no sign of Murphy himself; no one at the hostel had seen him for two days.
    Sheldon was in a fury as the details came in. He was standing behind his desk, shaking his head. The fact that nobody from the probation service or the community management of offenders had reported the disappearance of Murphy to the police was disgusting. His face had gone puce with anger.
    ‘It’s fucking unbelievable; this bastard is released