Liar Liar - [48]
‘Hold the front page for me, will you?’
63
Helen crouched over Charlie as the paramedics gave her the once over in the back of the ambulance. Charlie was insisting she didn’t need to go to hospital, but Helen wasn’t convinced. She had a large bruise rising on her chin, several more on her neck and, though she could walk and appeared compos mentis, her eyes had a strangely glazed look. She was still in shock – as she had every right to be, given what she’d just been through.
‘I’m ok,’ Charlie protested, as the medics shined a torch into her eyes. ‘I know it looks bad but, really, I’m fine.’
‘Let the medics be the judge of that,’ Helen replied calmly.
She had been in this position herself and she knew that one’s first instinct in these situations was denial, batting away concern while attempting to minimize the nature of the trauma you’d been through. It made sense – if you said it wasn’t that bad, then maybe it wasn’t – but it wasn’t rational or truthful. Charlie had been through a terrifying ordeal – she just wasn’t able to admit it to herself yet.
‘She has extensive bruising to the neck, though there’s no sign of fracture. Cuts to the back of the head, facial bruising and mild concussion, I would suggest. She’ll need several days’ bed rest at the very least.’
‘For God’s sake, I’ve said I’m fine,’ Charlie said angrily, trying to rise. But Helen stopped her with a gentle hand. She could see tears pricking Charlie’s defiant eyes now so, having thanked the paramedics for their work, asked them to give her five minutes alone with Charlie.
‘Honestly, boss, I’m…’ but Charlie didn’t have the energy or conviction to finish the sentence now that it was just her and Helen.
‘Listen to me, Charlie. I know Ford was your collar. I know you want to help. But I would be a terrible team leader if I didn’t ask you to heed the medics’ advice and step back from this. I know a few days in bed isn’t realistic, but I want you to stand down for today. I’ll get uniform to take you home. Freshen up, talk to Steve, get some rest and we’ll talk in the morning. Please don’t fight me on this one, Charlie. It’s for your own good.’
Charlie’s body was starting to shake now, as the fear and emotion of the day’s events started to register. She could have been killed today. That would take a while to sink in but when it did it would be hard to shake off. Charlie had responsibilities, loved ones who depended on her. The selfishness of life in a dangerous, front-line job was something you dealt with day after day, but it was hard when you had a nice family to go home to, when events forced you to confront the prospect of your own mortality. Helen didn’t really expect to see Charlie back tomorrow, but she had to offer her that carrot for now, to ensure that she did the right thing in going home to rest.
Charlie nodded gently but said nothing. Helen could tell she was trying not to sob and laid a gentle arm around her shoulder.
‘Don’t worry, Charlie. You made it.’
Charlie leant in closer, seeking Helen’s warmth and support. Helen squeezed her a little tighter in response. Then, having gestured to a uniformed officer to bring a car round, said:
‘Now go home and give that beautiful daughter of yours a big kiss.’
64
‘Tell me exactly what you said to her.’
Deborah Parks stared at her boss, refusing to be intimidated by his aggressive manner.
‘She’s an old friend and she asked me to talk to her off the record. She wanted some background info on certain members of the team, that’s all.’
‘Your team said you were away from duties for over an hour. You must have been in a very talkative mood.’
‘It wasn’t like that!’
‘So what was it like?’
Deborah squirmed in her seat, privately cursing whichever colleague of hers had dobbed her in. Adam Latham was a canny operator, very political and extremely sensitive about both his reputation and that of the Service. He actively encouraged internal gossip and whistleblowing, as long as the matters arising could be dealt with discreetly. He prided himself on being too smart to be duped and his little network of informers helped him justify that bold claim.
‘You left your designated work to sit down with Helen Grace and within the hour one of our own officers is in cuffs. One of your colleagues. What did you say to her?’
‘She asked me a direct question about Richard Ford. And I answered as honestly as I could.’
‘Saying what?’
‘That he was a good officer, but was socially isolated.’
‘And?’
‘And that he’d failed to make promotion.’
‘Jesus Christ.’
‘I couldn’t lie, Adam. She’s a Detective Inspector investigating a double murder and she asked me a direct question.’
‘And what would she have done if you’d refused? Arrested you?’
‘That’s hardly the point. I’m loyal to this place, of course I am, but someone is doing this and we all have a moral duty to help find out who.’
Adam Latham eyeballed Deborah silently, while chewing on his biro. She refused to blink, refused to bow her head in contrition – she had to front this out. But already she could feel the ground shifting beneath her feet. Latham was an old-fashioned guy who prized loyalty and solidarity above all things, and she knew that in talking to the ‘enemy’ she had committed a cardinal sin. There was only one way for Latham –
The international bestseller that "grabs the reader by the throat" (Crime Time).First in the new series featuring Detective Inspector Helen Grace.Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.It's a game more twisted than any Detective Inspector Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn't spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn't believe them.Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case-with its seemingly random victims-has her baffled.
Детектив-инспектор Хелен Грейс расследует серию преступлений, в каждом из которых похищены два человека. Похититель ставит свои жертвы перед страшным выбором – убить другого или умереть самому. Как долго продолжится эта смертельная игра, зависит только от Хелен. Ведь этими похищениями маньяк шлет послание лично ей.
Detective Helen Grace is on the trail of a twisted serial killer in this riveting thriller in the gripping * international bestselling series."Ruby wakes up in a strange room. Her captor calmly explains that no one is looking for her. No one wants her. Except him."When the body of a woman is found buried on a secluded beach, Detective Helen Grace is called to the scene. She knows right away that the killer is no amateur. The woman has been dead for years, and no one has even reported her missing. But why would they? She s still sending text messages to her family.Helen is convinced that a criminal mastermind is at work: someone very smart, very careful, and worst of all, very patient.
Detective Helen Grace faces her own dark compulsions in the new thriller from the international best-selling author of Pop Goes the Weasel and Eeny Meeny.In a world where disguises and discretion are the norm, and where one admission could unravel a life, a killer has struck, and a man is dead. No one wants to come forward to say what they saw or what they know – including the woman heading the investigation: Detective Helen Grace.Helen knew the victim. And the victim knew her – better than anyone else.
From the international bestselling author of Eeny Meeny comes the second thriller in the truly excellent series * featuring Detective Helen Grace."A man s body is found in an empty house.A gruesome memento of his murder is sent to his wife and children."He is the first victim, and Detective Helen Grace knows he will not be the last. But why would a happily married man be this far from home in the dead of night?The media call it Jack the Ripper in reverse: a serial killer preying on family men who lead hidden double lives.Helen can sense the fury behind the murders.
Валентин Владимиров живет тихой семейной жизнью в небольшом городке. Но однажды семья Владимировых попадает в аварию. Жена и сын погибают, Валентин остается жив. Вскоре виновника аварии – сына известного бизнесмена – находят задушенным, а Владимиров исчезает из города. Через 12 лет из жизни таинственным образом начинают уходить те, кто был связан с ДТП. Поговаривают, что в городе завелась нечистая сила – привидение со светящимся глазами безжалостно расправляется со своими жертвами. За расследование берется честный инспектор Петров, но удастся ли ему распутать это дело?..
Если вы снимаете дачу в Турции, то, конечно, не ждете ничего, кроме моря, солнца и отдыха. И даже вообразить не можете, что столкнетесь с убийством. А турецкий сыщик, занятый рутинными делами в Измире, не предполагает, что очередное преступление коснется его собственной семьи и вынудит его общаться с иностранными туристами.Москвичка Лана, приехав с сестрой и ее сыном к Эгейскому морю, думает только о любви и ждет приезда своего возлюбленного, однако гибель знакомой нарушает безмятежное течение их отпуска.
Если весь мир – театр, то балетный театр – это целый мир, со своими интригами и проблемами, трагедиями и страстями, героями и злодеями, красавицами и чудовищами. Далекая от балета Лиза, живущая в Турции, попадает в этот мир совершенно случайно – и не предполагает, что там ей предстоит принять участие в расследовании загадочного убийства и встретиться с любовью… или это вовсе не любовь, а лишь видимость, как всё в иллюзорном мире театра?Этот роман не только о расследовании убийства – он о музыке и о балете, о турецком городе Измире и живущих в нем наших соотечественниках, о людях, преданных театру и готовых ради искусства на все… даже на преступление.
В номере:Денис Овсянник. Душа в душуИгорь Вереснев. Спасая ЭрикаОксана Романова. МощиТатьяна Романова. Санкторий.
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