The Advent Killer by Alastair Gunn Read Free Book Online Page A

of an hour. At least her administrational autopilot was working as well as ever.
    Festive crowds filled the pavement, umbrellas clashing, routes in constant states of adjustment to preserve momentum through the rain. Hawkins backed up as a group of gabbling youths emerged from the crowd and headed for the station entrance. They passed in a whooping haggle, a couple of the taller boys eyeing her up as they passed.
    She made a point of looking disgusted, turning away to scan the street for a way that might provide some cover, finding none. There was no time to hang around until therain stopped; Lawrence Kirby-Jones was waiting. And he was a man who took his role as head of the Specialist Crime Directorate more seriously than Hawkins had ever imagined possible. Of greater concern, though, was the fact she’d been summoned to meet him at New Scotland Yard, instead of Kirby-Jones’ office at the Met’s Becke House facility in Hendon.
    She had already updated him on the small amount of progress in the investigation during their increasingly regular morning phone call. Initial results from the team regarding things like debt and previous interactions with the police weren’t exactly encouraging: Glenis Ward had been a hypochondriac; Tess Underwood had missed a few mortgage payments prior to getting married. And Jessica Anderton had recently fielded volleys of mail from a zealous admirer called Derek who, at eighty-three, hadn’t proved a plausible suspect, especially after the lengthy consolatory cuddle he’d required from the male detective sent to question him.
    In short, the victims’ lives remained frustratingly unconnected.
    So, apart from being able to link the victims, their best chance of tracing the killer was still via the Taser.
Thinking of which …
    She found her mobile and selected Frank Todd’s number. She had the DI and a couple of newly recruited constables looking at known suppliers of such weaponry. Their initial research had shown that, while public ownership of stun guns or Tasers was still illegal in the UK, hundreds were ordered online every year, and a good percentage made it through customs. They had replacedconventional firearms as tool of choice in bank robberies, and their use was on the rise.
    He picked up on the fourth ring.
    ‘Frank, it’s Antonia. Any progress with the Taser?’
    ‘Sort of.’ He sniffed. ‘We got that firearms consultant in like you said. He looked at the bodies, reckons it was the same medium power Taser used on all three. Some of these things go over two million volts now, but this one’s more like eighty thousand. Killer probably went for that type because they sell in higher numbers, and customs don’t go Spartacus if they find one.’
    ‘What are our chances of tracing it?’
    ‘Difficult to say. We can be semi-specific about the model now. Apparently it uses detachable nitrogen cartridges to fire the projectiles, although it can also be used in direct contact with the body if no cartridge is attached. He’s used three cartridges so far, although they might not have been ordered with the weapon, and they have a ten-year shelf life, so there’s no knowing how long he’s had any of the gear. And there are loads of online suppliers.’
    ‘OK, Frank.’ Hawkins thought for a moment. ‘Get the Borders Agency to send over a list of all similar weapons seized in the last ten years, including the addresses they were headed for. The killer may have ordered others that didn’t get through. Even if the list’s huge, at least we’ll be able to check suspects against it.’
    Todd agreed and rang off.
    Hawkins checked her watch. She didn’t have time to ring Yasir, who was looking into whether the killer could have sourced the Taser locally from one of the capital’s illegal arms suppliers. It was less likely; those transactionswere usually done in person, and he’d been too careful with everything else to make that sort of mistake. But it was possible.
    She had less