Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone #10)(93)

He had chosen to injure his own head, which would bleed profusely due to the number of tiny veins and arteries that lay just below the surface of the skin. Head wounds were rarely as serious as they appeared but had to be dealt with seriously for fear of concussion and brain damage.

The screaming around him had reached fever pitch as inmates pushed, shoved and punched each other with no idea why – but a fight was a fight.

A pair of legs fell against him as he made the second cut across his scalp. The blood began to gush over his forehead and into his eyes. Perfect.

He heard the gates open and the deafening sound of a herd of officers in full gear.

Inmates began to move aside, realising they didn’t even know what it was all about. The scenery opened up around him as he lay his head down on the ground and closed his eyes.

He sensed someone tower above him.

‘Shit, over here, quickly,’ Lord shouted. ‘This man needs an ambulance.’





One Hundred Twenty





‘You don’t look like you’ve walked in here with that Friday afternoon feeling, Stone,’ Woody said, with the hint of a smile. ‘And I hear that congratulations are—’

‘No, sir, they’re not,’ she said, sitting down before she’d been invited, which prompted an immediate expression of concern from her boss.

‘But I heard your main suspect had been found dead and—’

‘Sir, do you have a direct line to Bryant that I don’t know?’

‘I saw it on the system, Stone,’ he corrected. ‘I’m just now confused as to why this is not a good thing.’

‘There are too many loose ends, too many connections we can’t make between Duggar and events,’ she said, trying to temper her frustration.

‘Like what?’ he asked, lacing his fingers beneath his chin.

‘I can’t find a definite link from Duggar to Amy and Mark.’

‘Didn’t he view the flat they were found in?’

She nodded. ‘I’m not saying he didn’t get the key cut, but if he called to get them to the flat, why’d they take him flowers?’

‘Did they arrive with the flowers?’ he asked.

‘Don’t know,’ she answered honestly.

‘So, they could have been for someone else. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they were dropped off en route and had no link to their murder.’

Kim had never been keen on eliminating facts for the purpose of trying to make something fit, but he did have a point.

‘I don’t know how Duggar would have come by the drug that—’

‘An ex-prisoner able to get his hands on drugs. Yes, that’s a stretch.’

‘But, why did Duggar get so violent with Billie? He loved her.’

‘It wasn’t about Billie Styles though, was it? It was about his hatred for you.’

‘Sir, my stomach is positively growling at you right now. We’re making too many concessions, too many what ifs or could haves. My jaw is tightening at the route we’re taking. Where is the solid evidence?’

‘So, nothing I’ve said is plausible?’ he asked.

‘Plausible but not solid. I mean, do you remember us ever having a conversation like this before?’ she asked.

Right now, it felt to her they were doing a jigsaw and trying to force similar-shaped pieces into the available holes just to get it finished.

‘Not every case weaves neatly into the plait at the end, Stone, but that’s not why you’re objecting to the facts and the possibilities. What’s really driving the motor in your gut?’

‘The end game, sir. There isn’t one. Right at the beginning of this case it was clear that the motive was to hurt me as much as possible, to cause me the maximum psychological pain. There’s no point to all these murders to leave me alive at the end of it. Someone with this much hate needs to see me dead. It’s the only thing that makes sense. With Duggar gone there’s no end game and no signs of there being one. What was his plan? What was he going to do with me? We all knew that was the aim once Alison actually—’

‘And what’s her take on this? Does she think Duggar’s your man?’

‘Nice one, sir. I’d have liked to ask her that one myself, so great time to release her back to West Mercia.’

Kim frowned as his eyebrows moved towards each other.

‘Stone, I’m not sure what you’re talking about but Alison Lowe has not been reassigned.’





One Hundred Twenty-One





‘Try her again, Stace,’ Kim said, pacing the office. ‘And Penn, see if the squad car got to her home yet?’

‘Will do, boss,’ they said together and looked at each other before reaching for their phones.

‘Yes, I know it’s only been a few minutes but every second counts, right?’

‘Nothing, boss,’ Stacey said. ‘Straight to voicemail.’

‘And DCI Merton said she left them last night at?’

‘About half an hour after me,’ Stacey answered. ‘Around midnight. She gave a statement and a squad car took her straight home. Merton told her he’d be in touch if he needed anything further during questioning of Jamie Hart, but he’s not spoken to her since.’