Seven Days to Die

SEVEN DAYS TO DIE An absolutely gripping crime thriller with a massive twist MICHELLE KIDD DI Jack MacIntosh Mysteries Book 1 Originally published as Seven Days Revised edition 2023 Joffe Books, London www.joffebooks.com First published in Great Britain in 2020 as Seven Days © Michelle Kidd 2020, 2023 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The spelling used is British English except where fidelity to the author’s rendering of accent or dialect supersedes this. The right of Michelle Kidd to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. We love to hear from our readers! Please email any feedback you have to: [email protected] Cover art by Nick Castle ISBN: 978-1-80405-583-0 CONTENTS Love Free Bestselling Fiction? Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Chapter Thirty-Six Chapter Thirty-Seven Chapter Thirty-Eight Chapter Thirty-Nine Chapter Forty Chapter Forty-One Chapter Forty-Two Chapter Forty-Three Chapter Forty-Four Chapter Forty-Five Chapter Forty-Six Chapter Forty-Seven Chapter Forty-Eight Chapter Forty-Nine Chapter Fifty Chapter Fifty-One Chapter Fifty-Two Chapter Fifty-Three Acknowledgements Love Free Bestselling Fiction? The Joffe Books Story A Selection of Books You May Enjoy Glossary of English Usage for US Readers Love Free Bestselling Fiction? Join our mailing list and get a FREE Kindle book from a bestselling author every week! Click here to join our mailing list and also get a free box set of short stories! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @joffebooks Chapter One Thank you for choosing this book. Please join our mailing list for free Kindle books, new releases and our best deals. Join today to get a free box set featuring five of our bestselling authors! CLICK HERE TO GET MORE LOVELY BOOK DEALS Time: 7.35 a.m. Date: Friday 20 July 2012 Location: Southeast corner of Hyde Park, London Had the grass been any longer, he might not have seen it. And had the diamante buckle not caught the early morning sun, glinting lazily through the light summer dew, he might have carried on walking and missed it altogether. DI Jack MacIntosh knelt down in the ankle-deep grass at the edge of the park and parted the fronds with a gloved hand. “Over here.” Careful not to disturb the scene, Jack straightened up and took a step backwards. The crime scene manager was already making a beeline for him, closely followed by two suited-and-booted scene-of-crime investigators. The shoe was gently lifted from its resting place on the bed of grass, and slipped into a waiting evidence bag. “Wait.” Jack motioned for the bag to be passed to him. Taking it in his still-gloved hand, he cast his eyes down on the newly found shoe. “Shit,” he muttered, the beginnings of a frown appearing on his forehead. “Shit.” Jack returned the evidence bag and carefully retreated, allowing the scene to be secured and processed. He knew the drill — he’d been through it often enough. Making his way back across the grassy wasteland, he headed towards the small white tent which was already buzzing with white-suited bodies. As was true of most murder scenes, the atmosphere was heavy and somewhat subdued. There was a calm, respectful silence as people quietly went about their work; whether it was out of respect for the dead or for the living, Jack was never quite sure. “DI MacIntosh.” A tall man with a wiry frame stepped out of the tent and nodded his balding head at Jack. He unzipped his white protective suit to reveal a well-tailored light grey suit beneath, complete with waistcoat and bow tie in an oddly contrasting burnt orange. “You know how to keep a man busy on his day off.” Jack offered a brief smile. “Can’t have you taking it easy with a boiled egg and the Daily Telegraph, can we, Doc?” Dr Philip Matthews, the Metropolitan Police’s senior pathologist, returned the smile, his light blue eyes twinkling. “Indeed we cannot, Detective Inspector, indeed we cannot.” Jack self-consciously rubbed a hand over his chin’s three-day stubble, trying not to notice the immaculately shaved features of the police pathologist. He gestured towards the white tent. “Anything?” Ducking beneath both inner and outer cordon tapes, Dr Matthews headed away from the scene. Jack followed, watching the pathologist shed his protective suit as he reached his aged Volvo, parked illegally by the side of the road. At just after seven thirty on a Friday, the area was already building up with traffic; bad-tempered drivers leaning on their horns as they negotiated around the well-polished Volvo that was impeding their crawl to work. “Just the preliminaries. You’ll get my full report tomorrow, after I’ve had a chance to look at her properly. But for the moment — white female, approximately twenty to twenty-five years of age, slim build. Well nourished. Obvious ligature marks to the neck, but I’ll need a closer look before committing myself to the cause of death.” Dr Matthews paused by the side of the Volvo, catching Jack’s gaze. “And yes, before you ask, just the one shoe on the victim.” “Like the other one.” Jack felt the all-too-familiar clenching in the far reaches of his stomach. “Indeed,” concurred Dr Matthews. “Just like the other one.” With a curt nod, the pathologist slipped into the driver’s seat, no doubt heading home to Mrs Matthews to explain, once again, how his leisurely day off was to be disrupted with another urgent post-mortem. Jack sighed and made his