The Turning of our Bones

THE TURNING OF OUR BONES DI ROB MARSHALL BOOK ONE ED JAMES CONTENTS Other Books By Ed James 1. Kate 2. Marshall Chapter 3 Chapter 4 5. Wendy 6. … 7. Marshall Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 11. … 12. Wendy 13. Marshall Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 18. … 19. Marshall Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 29. … 30. Wendy 31. Marshall Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 43. Wendy 44. Marshall Chapter 45 Chapter 46 47. … 48. Marshall 49. … 50. Marshall Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Afterword About the Author Other Books By Ed James Marshall Will Return In Ed James Readers Club OTHER BOOKS BY ED JAMES DI ROB MARSHALL SCOTT BORDERS MYSTERIES Ed’s first new police procedural series in six years, focusing on DI Rob Marshall, a criminal profiler turned detective. London-based, an old case brings him back home to the Scottish Borders and the dark past he fled as a teenager. THE TURNING OF OUR BONES WHERE THE BODIES LIE (May 2023) Also available is FALSE START, a prequel novella starring DS Rakesh Siyal, is available for free to subscribers of Ed’s newsletter or on Amazon. Sign up at https://geni.us/EJF9FS SCOTT CULLEN MYSTERIES Eight novels featuring a detective eager to climb the career ladder, covering Edinburgh and its surrounding counties, and further across Scotland. GHOST IN THE MACHINE DEVIL IN THE DETAIL FIRE IN THE BLOOD STAB IN THE DARK COPS & ROBBERS LIARS & THIEVES COWBOYS & INDIANS HEROES & VILLAINS CULLEN & BAIN SERIES Six novellas spinning off from the main Cullen series covering the events of the global pandemic in 2020. CITY OF THE DEAD WORLD’S END HELL’S KITCHEN GORE GLEN DEAD IN THE WATER THE LAST DROP CRAIG HUNTER SERIES A spin-off series from the Cullen series, with Hunter first featuring in the fifth book, starring an ex-squaddie cop struggling with PTSD, investigating crimes in Scotland and further afield. MISSING HUNTED THE BLACK ISLE DS VICKY DODDS SERIES Gritty crime novels set in Dundee and Tayside, featuring a DS juggling being a cop and a single mother. BLOOD & GUTS TOOTH & CLAW FLESH & BLOOD SKIN & BONE GUILT TRIP DI SIMON FENCHURCH SERIES Set in East London, will Fenchurch ever find what happened to his daughter, missing for the last ten years? THE HOPE THAT KILLS WORTH KILLING FOR WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU IN FOR THE KILL KILL WITH KINDNESS KILL THE MESSENGER DEAD MAN’S SHOES A HILL TO DIE ON THE LAST THING TO DIE Other Books Other crime novels, with Lost Cause set in Scotland and Senseless set in southern England, and the other three set in Seattle, Washington. LOST CAUSE SENSELESS TELL ME LIES GONE IN SECONDS BEFORE SHE WAKES CHAPTER ONE KATE TWO YEARS AGO Middle of summer and Kate Pierce finally felt cool air on her skin. The temperature had dipped to almost warm, rather than melting your bones. She walked away from the hospital, yawning into her fist. Half past four and the sun was still asleep, like the rest of London. She needed her bed and it’d be a while until she got there. She halted at the bus stop and a second yawn engulfed her. She opened her eyes again and the bus was waiting there. Hadn’t heard it arrive. She stepped onboard and swiped her Oyster card. The machine beeped and flashed red. The driver was a big guy, strong and lean. Pencil-line beard. Ice-cold eyes. ‘Swipe it again, darling.’ The guy was looking her up and down. Perv. Kate swiped again and it beeped. Green. She smiled at the guy – just because he was a perv didn’t mean he didn’t deserve to be treated with respect – then walked upstairs. Just one guy up there, sitting at the back. Phone blasting out music. Stinking of ganja. Kate sat right at the front and nudged her earbuds in. Billie Eilish picked up where she’d left her earlier. She shut her eyes, drifting away into the null space where— Someone prodded her shoulder. Kate jerked forward, music still blaring in her ears. Donny. Smiling at her. Baseball cap low. Where the hell had he come from? She paused the music and eased the earbuds out. ‘Sorry, I was half asleep there.’ ‘Looked fully asleep, Katie.’ He laughed. ‘How you doing?’ ‘Knackered. Long shift. Tough times we live in.’ ‘Tell me about it.’ ‘How are you, Donny? Things getting any better?’ He sat on the seat over the aisle from her, clutching his own phone, staring out at the passing city. ‘Not so great, but thanks for asking. Just been to see Mum. They’re great at the hospice, you know, letting me in after hours and all that. Because of my shifts.’ He looked out of the side window. ‘Not long left, they say.’ ‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’ ‘Is what it is, eh?’ Donny turned back around. ‘Enough about me and my travails. You just off work?’ ‘Yeah. Tough shift today. Covering A&E. Thursday nights are almost as bad as Fridays now.’ ‘Know what you mean. Coke’s so cheap these days, all the nut jobs are doing so many lines their hearts explode. Or they’re kicking lumps out of each other.’ ‘That. Exactly that.’ ‘Tough one.’ Kate looked out the front. The art deco curves of Willesden Green Station lurked in the shadows up ahead. ‘Sorry, Donny, this is my stop.’ ‘Oh, yeah. Sorry. See you around, Katie.’ He nodded at her then slid over to the window side of his seat. ‘You too.’ She got to her feet but she was so dog tired. Took all she had to traipse