Hard Girls by Martina Cole Read Free Book Online

glad to have Kate back in the building. The place was a hive of activity, everyone was in, no leave, no days off, and no way of knowing how it would pan out. It was being treated as a one-off murder, but no one believed that. This was the gut instinct of every officer, an instinct that the good ones hone over years and trust to give them a heads-up when needed. It was telling them all that this was the start of something big. Annie knew that Kate’s expertise would be invaluable, she also knew that she was going to be the cause of her friend being deeply troubled within the next few hours. She wished she knew how to lessen the blow. It was laughable really, but not so unexpected, if there hadn’t been a murder it would have gone by without a mention.
    Oblivious to the underlying tension in the room, Kate looked over the evidence reports and wondered at how no one could have heard anything. The block of flats was small. A low-rise with three storeys and a well-tended frontage, they were not cheap. Well built, they had an entry phone system, along with an expensive alarm system. They were not the type of flats that were easily accessible to the usual burglars or teenage thieves. They were in a nice, quiet road, and they backed on to the woods, from which you had access to the golf course. So someone had to have heard a commotion, had to have heard something.
    Kate would talk to everyone who lived there herself. The neighbours would be over the initial shock of the slaying and might open up about the girls’ work, the type of clientele that frequented the premises, if there was much foot traffic and, more importantly, how the men got access to the flats and if they parked in the car park or on the road.
    They had to have seen something, someone. It was amazing what people didn’t see, what people ignored, what they became immune to. They must have guessed what was going on there, and yet they were claiming ignorance. Kate had said as much to Annie Carr.
     
    ‘Well, Kate, you know what people are like. Anyway, they were probably worried about complaining.’
    ‘I suppose so. Annie, have we got the name of the person who owns the flat yet?’
    Annie nodded, and passed her a pale buff folder saying pointedly, ‘Peter Bates. But, Kate, I think you had better look at who he co-owns it with.’
     
    Kate felt the breath leave her body as the implications of her friend’s words sank in.
     
    ‘I’ve kept a lid on it, Kate, but I don’t know how long before someone else susses it out.’
     
    ‘Is it Patrick by any chance?’
    ‘I’m afraid so, mate.’
    Kate could hear the sorrow in Annie’s voice, and that just made the anger mounting inside her colder. She was numb with the shock of Patrick’s duplicity. He knew she would find this out, and yet he didn’t even attempt to give her a heads-up, { display: block; font-size: 0.75rem; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1em; margin-left: 8em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } .fmepiv19lthe had allow her to at least have some dignity when the truth finally emerged. She had to be told by a subordinate, by someone who looked up to her and respected her.
    It meant that they were living off immoral earnings, that even though he was loaded, he still had to have a dabble, as he would put it. What was running through her mind now was, what else was he up to? What else was Pat hiding from her?
     
    Once this came out she would be implicated in it, and that was the last thing any of them needed. The crime scene had been messed with by either Bates or one of his minions, so that again put a different perspective on everything. Tampering with the evidence suggested to Kate that whoever visited the flat might not be just the usual weirdos, but could include rich, well-known weirdos. People with too much to lose and a lot to hide. It was an upmarket establishment, and that meant their job would be much harder.
    Kate couldn’t speak, she felt as if all the air