The Ladykiller by Martina Cole Read Free Book Online Page A

then?’
    The woman rearranged her silk scarf. In the heat of the supermarket it was beginning to make her head itch.
    ‘It was a young kid. He was on his way to deliver the papers. Well, he used the cut through from Vauxhall Drive and there she was . . . dead as a bleeding doornail!’ She shook her head again.
    ‘I bet this will just be the start. You mark my words. This is just the start.’
    Elain grimaced and totalled her till.
    ‘Seventeen pounds and eighty-five pence, please.’
    The woman opened her purse and took out a twenty-pound note. ‘Bleeding daylight robbery, if you ask me. I ain’t even got the makings of a dinner here!’
    Elaine smiled in sympathy but her mind was still with Geraldine O’Leary. Poor woman, to die like that. She shuddered.
    Giving the woman her change, she went on to the next customer.
     
    The whole of Grantley was appalled and shocked at the rape and murder. Every woman knew that it could easily have been her and they were all frightened.
    Frightened and excited. Because nothing like this had ever happened in Grantley before.
     
    Detective Inspector Kate Burrows looked down at the body and winced.
    Detective Sergeant Willis watched her surreptitiously, smiling slightly as he watched her blanch.
    Who, he wondered, in their right mind, would give a female copper a rape and murder? Women were too emotional for this type of thing.
    He looked Kate up and down on the sly. Not a bad-looking bird for her age. Bit flat-chested to his mind, but she had good legs and nice eyes. Deep brown eyes that matched her hair exactly.
    Willis dragged his mind back to the present as the pathologist spoke again.
    ‘The nail entered the head here.’ He pointed to Geraldine’s temple. ‘On the left-hand side, where it entered the brain. I would say that death was instantaneous. We found traces of semen on her thighs and breasts, which is unusual in these cases. Only a small amount was inside the vagina.’
    The man rubbed his eyes with the forefinger and thumb of his right hand.
    ‘The blow to the face was administered after she had died. As you can see, he crushed the nose. She has several broken ribs. I would hazard a guess that she had been kicked. Kicked very hard as one of the ribs broke and punctured a lung.’
    He shook his head. ‘A very brutal attack. Very calculated. She has scratches and particles of dirt on her knees. My guess is that she put up a fairly good fight.’
    ‘Any skin under the nails? Anything else for us to go on?’ Kate’s voice was low and subdued.
    He shook his head. ‘Nothing, I’m afraid. Of course we can get a DNA reading from the semen . . .’ His voice trailed off. He shrugged. ‘Maybe some traces of hair or fibre will turn up off her clothes. I’ll let you know.’ The pathologist began combing Geraldine’s pubic hair slowly and carefully, his mind back on his job. Kate turned away from the woman’s rapidly greying body.
    ‘Thanks.’
    She walked from the mortuary and Willis followed her. Neither spoke until they were back in the canteen at Grantley Police Station sipping cups of coffee.
    ‘Look, don’t let it get to you, love. These things happen.’
    Kate stared at the younger man, frowning in concentration. She took a deep breath.
    ‘How dare you?’ Her voice was low and filled with rage. Willis was shocked. ‘How dare you patronise me like that? Just who the hell do you think you are? “These things happen”! Is that what you honestly believe?’
    Her voice was incredulous. ‘Do you think that Mrs Geraldine O’Leary is standing in heaven thinking: These things happen. Do you think her husband and children are just shrugging their shoulders thinking: These things happen!’
    Her voice was beginning to rise and Willis looked around him in embarrassment.
    ‘These things don’t just happen, boy.’ She stressed the last word. ‘Out there somewhere is a murdering rapist. Do you understand the enormity of that? Do you? Well, DO YOU?’
    Willis sat