Cruel Justice (DI Lorne Simpkins (Book one)) by Tania Mel; Tirraoro Comley Page A

mates, hasn't seen her since the weekend."

    "Get someone round there to question him, he might be telling the parents what they want to hear."

    "Anything else, boss?"

    "Get Mitch to check out the staff, previous employers, reliability. You know the kind of thing."

Chapter Thirteen

    Every news channel ran the footage of the conference that evening and the local newspaper carried the headline: CORPSE FOUND IN COPSE. Somehow they had tracked down Doreen for an interview and she was pictured holding a photo of her taken with her sister. The woman looked ghastly and Lorne was livid at the paper's intrusion into her grief. She made a mental note to call round to see the old lady the following day.

    * * *

    "I don't believe it," the woman cried in disbelief as she stared at the front page of the local evening paper.

    "What's that?" her male companion asked.

    "That woman."

    "What bloody woman?"

    "The woman you killed … you made a mistake."

    The man snatched the paper from her trembling hand. His eyes darted across the main storyline and his pulse raced as the anger mounted. He shot his companion a venomous look.

    "What do you mean, I made a fucking mistake? You're the one who gave me the information, you dozy cow." He threw the paper across the room and it drifted to the floor, the front cover landing face-up, taunting him further.

    "I…I thought it was her, when I saw her in the paper giving that award, I put two and two together and…"

    "Came up with five. What have I told you about getting your facts right." He jumped up from his seat and towered over her. She reacted quickly, putting her hands up to cover her face. She shook uncontrollably. Taking pity on the woman he knelt beside her, took her in his arms and gently rocked her back and forth. He softly sang the lullaby he used to sing to her as a child, " Hush a bye baby, on the tree top …"

    The woman hummed along to the tune and once again felt secure in his strong arms.

    The man's thoughts returned to his childhood. The beatings he and his sibling endured from their over-dominating parents. The sexual favours he had to perform on his mother and father and the many friends they invited into their shabby home.

    " But, Dad, please, I don't want to do that ," he had pleaded from the age of six, but his pleas were shamefully ignored. And when he refused to accommodate one of his father's friends, he was beaten to within an inch of his life and thrown in the cellar for days.

    He became a recluse at school but no one bothered to analyse him. He was just another pupil they had to deal with. Years passed and when his sister was nine and tiny breasts developed, their father turned his attention to her.

    The boy struck his father on more than one occasion, trying to defend his sister, and his mother clobbered him with a bar from behind. He was locked in the cellar while his sister was forced to carry out unspeakable sexual acts on groups of five or more men. The boy heard his sister's screams, he felt ashamed and riddled with guilt that he was unable to help her. To protect her.

    After that terrible ordeal he decided to ask for help at school. But the school stupidly told his parents what he'd confided. The children's lives were a darn sight worse after that. Pain and anger gnawed away at him for months before finally he gained enough courage to end their ordeal…

Chapter Fourteen

    After a good night's sleep Lorne set off for the station early, the dewy autumn morning caused her to shiver slightly, she switched on the car heater to combat the chill lingering in the car. It pleased her to hear the radio station was still running the conference and the number for the information line. This usually generated a good number of leads so she prepared herself for a long day ahead.

    Call after call flooded in, they had to draft in extra personnel to man the phones. Lorne and Pete personally chased up a few of the calls, but they proved to be hoaxes, stupid ignoramuses