Cold Kill by David Lawrence Read Free Book Online

followed her to her office. So I could go back there any time, any weekday, and wait for her to come out. Then follow her home.’
    â€˜Where was that?’ Harriman asked.
    Kimber gave an address in Penzance Place; it was the right address.
    â€˜You followed her when she went jogging,’ Harriman observed. ‘You jogged along behind her, did you?’
    Stella detected the edge in Harriman’s voice: irritation or disbelief. She said, ‘You knew her routes.’
    â€˜Short run: Holland Park. Long run: Hyde Park. I didn’t need to go. I could wait until she got back.’
    â€˜But you were in the park. She died in the park.’
    â€˜Well, I always walked that way to get to her flat. Sometimes I saw her running through. That was wonderful. As if she was coming to find me, you know? Putting herself in my way.’
    â€˜You wanted to be up close when you killed her: is that what you said?’
    â€˜That’s right.’
    â€˜Tell me about that.’
    â€˜Why not kill her in her flat?’ Harriman asked. ‘Break in, kill her there.’ Stella dropped her head and turned it a fraction to the side, as if Harriman’s interruption had arrived on a cloud of bad breath.
    Kimber was looking at Stella. He said, ‘She had alarms.’ Then, ‘Up close in the circle of light; up close when she died. How could it be any other way?’
    â€˜You took a risk.’
    â€˜It was almost dark.’
    â€˜There were people about.’
    â€˜The park was closing. It was dusk: everyone making for the exits.’
    â€˜Other joggers.’
    â€˜Joggers don’t see anything. They’re running. They hear their own breath, they think about the next step. Why do you think it was so easy to catch her?’
    â€˜You strangled her.’
    â€˜Up close. And you can see the life going. The light going from her eyes; a stillness coming over her.’
    Kimber’s eyelids drooped. He looked a little dazed.
    Stella’s voice was low, almost a whisper. ‘How did you do that?’
    For a moment, Kimber didn’t react; then he looked at her, eyes wide, as if startled. ‘Do what?’
    Stella could see the change.
Lost him
.
    â€˜You strangled her.’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Tell me how you did that.’ Then, in the hope of finding her way back, ‘What was it like?’
    Kimber folded his arms and placed them on the table, then bent over and rested his head.
    He said, ‘I’m tired now.’
    â€˜If I’m trying to sneak in through the window,’ Stella said, ‘I’d prefer you didn’t kick down the fucking door.’
    Harriman shrugged. ‘Sorry, Boss. It seemed like a good question at the time.’
    â€˜I lost him.’
    â€˜He’ll talk some more; he’s a sicko.’
    â€˜You’ve got him down as a time-waster…’
    Harriman shrugged. ‘He’d been following her, so he’d know her hair colour, know she tied it back when she went jogging.’
    â€˜But wouldn’t know she’d been stripped.’ As if she were reading his mind, she added, ‘I know it’s slim.’
    â€˜What will you do?’
    â€˜Call this his statutory rest period, talk to him in the morning.’
    â€˜Not charge him?’
    â€˜Not yet. We need to find out where he lives: internetsearch, listings CD, old-fashioned electoral register. Get down there, toss the place, find something helpful.’
    Sorley had gone to his office to sketch a report for the case-log: just the bare bones. They had taken DNA samples with the suspect’s permission: a mouth swab. They had suggested he might like to have a solicitor present and told him that they could provide him with one if necessary. The suspect had declined. He had smiled and declined. Sorley made a call to say he was on his way home. He was in a newish second marriage after a bad divorce and was still edgy about the hours he