Hindsight (9781921997211) by Melanie Casey Read Free Book Online Page B

there’s some additional information that’s relevant to the investigation so if you don’t mind, I was just going to ask Detective Byrnes to explain.’ Sorenson gave Phil the full blast of a Medusa-like glare.
    â€˜Thank you, DCI Sorenson.’ Byrnes took his cue. ‘As you said, on the surface this case appears to be a Tier 2 murder which automatically warrants our involvement —’
    Phil snorted.
    â€˜â€” however, the victim, Janet Hodgson, was also in the witness protection program so we need to investigate her death to see if her murder was related to her previous life.’
    There was silence as Ed and Phil processed the bombshell.
    Ed recovered first. ‘Well, that would explain why her apartment felt like she was only camping there and why she didn’t have any close friends or family.’
    Byrnes turned to him. ‘She’d been in the program for about eighteen months. She moved here from Sydney. She was married to a schmuck who was into everything from cocaine to money laundering. She met him when she was only nineteen, he turned on the charm and they got married a year later. She didn’t realise what the family business was until it was too late. She threatened to leave him. He threatened to kill her and her mother. A real class act, this guy.
    â€˜Her mother passed on about two years ago. Up until then she put up with his crap. He was a violent, abusive thug and she finally decided she’d had enough when he just about beat her to death. She was in hospital for two months. That was when she agreed to give evidence against him on the condition that we put her in the program.’
    â€˜So where is he now?’ Phil asked.
    â€˜Serving life. He got done for killing another scumbag. The real issue is whether one of his cronies managed to somehow track Janet down. Her ex’s not a very forgiving guy and I’m sure he won’t be heartbroken when he hears she’s dead.’
    â€˜Mmm, I don’t normally believe in coincidences,’ Ed commented, ‘but this just doesn’t feel like an organised hit. It’s too personal. A hit is normally cold and clean.’
    â€˜Yep, but if that’s true then this chick must have been one of the unluckiest women on earth,’ Rawlinson drawled.
    A knock on the door interrupted them.
    â€˜That’ll be the preliminary results from the pathologist,’ Sorenson said. ‘Come in. Yes, Sonya, we’re ready for you now.’
    Sonya wore the professional mask she always wore. Ed and Phil had known her for years and respected her talent and dedication. They’d shared too many cases with her to remember them all and had drunk just as many beers to help them forget the rest.
    â€˜The lab results have come back negative for just about everything. No foreign blood, no semen, no skin cells and no clean fingerprints. The preliminary autopsy report indicates that the victim died from a heart attack induced by severe stress. She had a congenital heart defect that she probably wasn’t even aware of, but the attack caused enough stress to trigger a massive heart attack. He literally scared her to death.
    â€˜What’s interesting is the small puncture wound on her neck. She was injected with a combination of a sedative and a fast-acting muscle relaxant. It’s a curious one. If she hadn’t had a heart attack the small dose of muscle relaxant would have hit quickly, rendering her immobile and then the sedative would have knocked her out after about ten minutes and would have kept her out of it for about ten to twelve hours. The attacker didn’t want her dead. My guess is he wanted her unconscious until he could come and collect her.’
    She stopped talking and passed a hand wearily over her face to tuck a stray strand of hair behind one ear. The humming of the air conditioner and the murmur of voices from outside the office filled the silence. No one said anything