Cold Kill

Susan HandleyCold Kill Table of Contents1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.44.45.46.47.48.49.50.51.52.53.54.55.56.57.58.59.60.61.62.63.64.Acknowledgements Published by Sunningdale BooksAll rights reserved© Susan Handley, 2023Susan Handley has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this bookThis book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. 1.‘So, Mr Rudd, you just happened to be parked outside the jeweller’s and the two men jumped into the back of your car?’ DI Matt Fisher asked the man sitting opposite.‘That’s right.’‘Why were you parked there?’‘Why shouldn’t I be parked there?’ Rudd grumbled.‘It’s double yellows.’‘Yeah well, I couldn’t find a space anywhere else, could I? Hey, are you really blind?’Fisher felt a waft of air cross his face. He shot his hand out and snatched hold of the other man’s wrist.‘What’ya doing? Let go!’ Rudd tried to yank his hand away.Fisher released his grip and heard Rudd clatter back into his seat.‘Try something like that again and you’ll find assault of a police officer added to your charge sheet.’‘You assaulted me. What sort of scam are you running, making out you can’t see?’Fisher wasn’t about to let on that Rudd wasn’t the first person to wave a hand in front of his face, nor that he’d simply struck lucky with his aim.‘I take it you’ve never heard how losing your sight sharpens the other senses?’A look of disbelief must have crossed Rudd’s face, as DC Beth Nightingale, sitting next to Fisher, said, ‘It’s true.’‘Take my sense of smell,’ Fisher went on. ‘As keen as a dog’s. Which is why I know you’re lying. You reek of guilt. It’s oozing out of your pores like a bad case of B.O.’‘Yeah. Well sniff this,’ Rudd said, snorting out a reedy laugh.Fisher turned to Nightingale.‘He just stuck his middle finger up at me, didn’t he?’‘Yes, sir, he did.’Fisher swivelled his head back towards the other man.‘Glad to see you’re taking the situation seriously.’ He slammed his hands down on the desk. ‘Enough of the fun and games. Aside from the fact you were caught attempting to flee the scene this afternoon, a man matching your description was also seen in a car outside Fremlin’s jeweller’s when that was hit last month. An ID parade is being arranged in which you will be—’Rudd didn’t wait for Fisher to finish.‘Bring it on.’‘You don’t seem unduly worried.’‘Like I’d be stupid enough not to wear a hat and keep me head down. That is, if it was me. Which, of course, it wasn’t.’‘Ah yes, a hat. Now that would be sensible. Though not if it was like the one we found in your car at the time of your arrest, which was a baseball cap with a logo that’s as discreet as a whore at a vicar’s tea party.’ Fisher shook his head. ‘You’re an idiot. You know that?’ He turned to Nightingale. ‘Detective Constable, I think we’ve got everything we need. Would you do the honours, please?’Nightingale cleared her throat and said, ‘Interview suspended at fourteen hundred hours.’Fisher and Nightingale left Rudd in the hands of the custody sergeant, and started back to the office.‘Do you think anyone will ever buy it… the superhuman senses bit?’ she asked.‘Does it matter?’ Fisher replied, swinging his white stick in front of him in a wide arc. ‘It’s not like they’re going to plead guilty either way, but I like to think it puts the wind up them a bit.’Fisher stopped speaking, aware of approaching footsteps — a woman’s heel, short and clipped. He recognised the gait as belonging to DCI Anita Fallon.‘DI Fisher,’ she said, curt as always.‘Ma’am.’‘Have you seen Dave Beswick? I was told he was down here interviewing.’‘He’s taken one of the suspects to hospital, reckons his nose is broken. Me and Beth are free, if something’s come up?’‘It’s okay. It can wait,’ she replied, before striding off in the direction she came from.Luna greeted Fisher enthusiastically on his return to his desk. He’d left her there, opting to take advantage of the relatively safe confines of the station to practise with his white stick. He sat down and patted her flanks.‘You missed me, huh?’‘I’ll just top her water up,’ Nightingale said, brushing past him as she reached for the bowl.As she walked away, Fisher reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile, unmuting it with the flick of a switch. The phone gave a ping, signalling a new message. He deftly swiped his thumb across the screen, listening to the automated voice read out the icons as he scrolled through to voicemail. He hit play.‘Hi. It’s Andy. Give us a call when you’re free, will ya?’He thumbed the screen to return the call.‘Andy, it’s Matt. What’s up?’ Fisher listened until the sergeant had finished, then, after heaving out a sigh, said, ‘I bloody knew it. Thanks for the tip-off.’Ever since his return to work, after being blinded in an acid attack, the DCI shied away from giving him any major cases to work. Something he suspected was more to do with the fact he’d once made the mistake of blurring the lines between work and pleasure than because she lacked confidence in him now that he was blind; he was learning first-hand what lengths a woman scorned might go to. Thankfully, he could still count on the rest of his team.He ended the call and reached for Luna’s harness. A moment later, they were standing outside the glass box that was the DCI’s office. Finding the door open, he rapped his knuckles on the frame.There was a slight pause, perhaps as the Falcon considered feigning her absence, then after an audible sigh, she gave