Little Boy Blue - [25]
For the first time since they’d started, Helen saw Jackson react. Clearly he was not keen on his wife being dragged into this.
‘Furthermore, we’ve had a chance to look at some of the other messages and texts you sent from this phone. And it’s interesting that the same grammatical tics that we see in your texts also crop up in the Snapchat messages that Mr Elder received. You always seem to leave a gap between a word and a question mark, for example, and you’re pretty scrupulous about using commas. Not everyone is as fastidious in their messaging these days.’
It was said with a smile, but provoked a blank response from Jackson.
‘This is all circumstantial,’ Spitz butted in. ‘Do you have any actual evidence against my client?’
‘Apart from the DNA evidence, you mean?’ Helen rejoined. ‘I should point out that no other DNA was found on the victim, hence our interest in talking to your client.’
Helen let that settle before continuing.
‘I’d like now to move on to your movements on the night of the fourteenth. You told my colleague that you left work at seven p.m. and went for a drink at the Saracen’s Head.’
Jackson said nothing. He appeared to be waiting for Helen’s next move before committing himself.
‘That’s strange, because your phone was transmitting in the Banister Park area of the city – very near to the Torture Rooms – at around eight p.m. that night and again at just after twelve thirty a.m. the following morning. I’m assuming that in the interim you were in the basement club and thus out of reception?’
‘I don’t know anything about the Torture Rooms or Banister Park. Somebody’s obviously messed up -’
‘Yet another mistake, you do seem to be unlucky…’
‘I went to the Saracen’s Head, I watched the game, had a few drinks -’
‘Why the Saracen’s Head, out of interest? You work in Lansdowne Hill, you live in Freemantle. Going to a pub near the hospital seems an excessive diversion.’
‘For God’s sake, I like the beer there, so -’
‘What beer do they serve?’
‘Shepherd Neame, I think… Adnams, a couple of local brews.’
‘Actually they haven’t served Shepherd Neame in over two years,’ Charlie interjected. ‘I went there yesterday afternoon, spoke to the bar staff. Nobody remembers seeing you there on Tuesday night. In fact, I couldn’t find a single person to back up your version of events.’
Spitz looked at his client, hoping for more defiance, but none was forthcoming. Helen took over, adopting a more emollient tone.
‘I know you’re in a fix here, Paul. You’re thinking of Sally, of the twins, of what this will do to them. But lying won’t help. We have firm evidence you knew Jake and were active on the S &M scene. Your phone places you near the scene of the crime, yours is the only DNA on the body and I have no doubt that one of those present at the Torture Rooms will positively ID you as having been there that night. So let’s start again, shall we?’
Helen looked Jackson straight in the eye.
‘Tell me what really happened on Tuesday night.’
39
She didn’t see her coming until it was too late.
Sally Jackson had been in the midst of a particularly difficult conversation when the call came. Paul’s PA had seized the nettle, ringing Sally to tell her that her husband had been arrested and taken to Southampton Central. She’d been irritated when the phone rang – she worked at a local Family Centre and was busy explaining to an irate dad why his meetings with his estranged children had to be supervised. These discussions required finesse and patience, not interruptions, so she was tempted not to answer. But when the phone kept ringing, her curiosity was aroused.
She didn’t know what to say at first, other than to check that it wasn’t a joke and that she was sure. But the tone of Sandra Allen’s voice – tight, sombre, with a hint of embarrassment – convinced Sally that she was. What do you do in these situations? Sally had extricated herself from her work, claiming a migraine, and hurried to her car. But once inside she just sat there, trying to process what was happening. Why hadn’t Paul contacted her? Terrified, she’d considered calling a lawyer friend, then, discarding that option, decided to go to her sister’s. In the end, she’d done neither, driving home instead. It was like she was on auto-pilot, heading to the place she felt safest.
‘Mrs Jackson?’
She had just stepped out of the car when the woman approached. She was curious to look at – beautiful from one angle, but scarred on the other – and the situation was made stranger still by the look of concern on her face. How did she know so soon? Who was she?
‘I’m Emilia Garanita from the Evening News. I understand you’ve had a terrible shock.’
She was so blind-sided by the woman’s sudden approach – had she been lying in wait for her? – that initially Sally was struck dumb.
‘There’s no way you can be alone at a time like this, so why don’t I sit with you until someone else comes?’
Sally was surprised to see that the woman had taken her arm and was now guiding her towards her own front door.
‘Your hands are shaking, poor thing. Give me your keys and I’ll do the honours. Then we can have a nice cup of tea.’
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.
THE FOURTH DI HELEN GRACE THRILLER BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR M J ARLIDGE 'Helen Grace is one of the greatest heroes to come along in years' JEFFERY DEAVER In the dead of night, three raging fires light up the city skies. It's more than a tragic coincidence. For DI Helen Grace the flames announce the arrival of an evil she has never encountered before. Because this is no firestarter seeking sick thrills, but something more chilling: a series of careful, calculating acts of murder. But why were the victims chosen? What's driving the killer? And who will be next? A powder keg of fear, suspicion and dread has been laid.
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.
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.
Красивая хозяйственная жена, муж-военный с белозубой улыбкой, очаровательная дочка – казалось бы, рецепт идеальной семьи. Но если бы все было так просто, журналистка Лола, которая прославилась на всю Италию репортажами о самых громких криминальных происшествиях страны, осталась бы без работы. Жена исчезла, муж безутешен, весь городок Черенова – от военной части до местного ночного клуба – переполнен жуткими слухами. Видимо, Лоле снова предстоит броситься в самую гущу событий, обходя конкурентов на поворотах.
Май 1899 года. В дождливый день к сыщику Мармеладову приходит звуковой мастер фирмы «Берлинер и Ко» с граммофонной пластинкой. Во время концерта Шаляпина он случайно записал подозрительный звук, который может означать лишь одно: где-то поблизости совершено жестокое преступление. Заинтригованный сыщик отправляется на поиски таинственного убийцы.
Молодая женщина, известный в сети блогер, однажды исчезла из своей квартиры. Какие обстоятельства стали причиной ее внезапного исчезновения? Чем может помочь страница в «Живом журнале» пропавшей? На эти вопросы предстоит найти ответы следователю Дмитрию Владимирову. Рассказ «Затерявшаяся во мгле» четвертый в ряду цикла «Дыхание мегаполиса», повествующего о судьбах наших современников — жителей больших городов.
Подруги Юля и Катя, не раз уже распутавшие самые таинственные криминальные дела, получают новое опасное задание — вычислить террористов среди участников реалити-шоу. Неразлучным подругам приходится разделиться: Юля остается в Москве на шоу «Спорт для неспортивных», а Катя отправляется в Тихий океан на шоу «Герой необитаемого острова». О террористах, планирующих устроить взрыв в прямом эфире двух игр одновременно, известно только, что это мужчина и женщина, но неясно, кто из них попал на какое шоу. Под подозрением все! Вскоре выясняется, что террористы — не главная проблема.
А с вами случалось такое? Когда чья-то незримая жизнь играет внутри вас будто забродившее вино, она преследует вас с самого детства и не даёт покоя ни днём, ни ночью. С ней невозможно договориться, у неё нет ни ног, ни тела, ни голоса. У неё нет ничего. И, тем не менее, она пытается по-своему общаться и даже что-то рассказывает. Что это: раздвоение сознания или тихое сумасшествие? А может, это чья-то неуспокоенная душа отчаянно взывает о помощи? Тогда кто она? Откуда взялась? И что ей нужно?
Первый официальный роман по мотивам культового сериала «Нарко» от Netflix. Удивительно подробное и правдивое изображение колумбийской наркоторговли изнутри. Хосе Агилар Гонсалес – sicario, наемный убийца медельинского картеля. Он готов обрушиться на любого врага Пабло Эскобара – и сделать с ним все, что прикажет Патрон. Он досконально изучил весь механизм работы кокаиновой империи, снизу доверху. Он глубоко проник в мысли и чувства Эскобара. Он знает, как подойти к нему даже с такой просьбой, которая другим показалась бы самоубийством, – и получить желаемое.