Stark Contrasts (An Adam Stark novel Book 1) by Peter Carroll

enthusiastic this morning.
    “I'm going to hand over to DI Stark and DC Katz who will be leading the investigation and will get you up to speed with what we know so far.”
    Stark was a big guy, like me. Well-built, imposing and, if I wasn't a thoroughly heterosexual dude, I might even say handsome. Scottish: been in London for a while though, so the accent wasn't as thick as Taggart or Rab C. Nesbitt. Katz, on the other hand, was an out and out babe. Her incredible eyes were obvious from across the room, as were her dazzling, pearly whites. She has a kind of Latin look about her but I think someone told me she was English. Stark took the lead on filling us in.
    “Thank you, sir. Good morning everyone. As DCI Hargreaves just said, we appear to have a vigilante on the loose. However, at this stage we can't rule out the possibility that there are two or more people involved.”
    A murmur sprung up, heads shook and sceptical glances were exchanged.
    “Yes, I know, that's pretty unusual, but once you see where we're at, you'll understand why we can't totally discount it yet.
    “It started with the assault of a young black man called Dwayne Clements. He had his teeth yanked out and his mouth sewn up for the heinous crime of...wait for it...chewing gum. More specifically, for not disposing of it appropriately. The attacker left a note explaining why they did it.”
    A few folks snorted with disbelief, a few 'no ways' were uttered, but Stark just carried on with the briefing. I was more than a little perturbed at how familiar that sounded.
    “Next up, was a guy called Ernie Martin; white, poor, lorry driver. He got crushed between his truck and his van for being a tailgater. His wife says he was abducted by two guys and terrorised in a game of chicken a week before he was killed. Story checks out with the local plod - Martin reported it but the locals had nothing to work with. The problem we have here is that the note left at the scene of the murder is written in the singular. It makes no mention of a team effort.”
    I looked over at Garry, our eyes widening in unison. I shook my head to indicate that we should try not to draw any unwanted attention to our mutual anxiety. Stark went on.
    “Then, last week, a city trader called Calvin Jacobs was shoved in front of a Tube train during the morning rush hour. This time the excuse given by our new hero was Jacobs shoved folks out of the way to get on trains, so he deserved it.”
    Again the muttering and gesticulations began to grow in volume and obviousness and Hargreaves felt compelled to intervene.
    “Ok, people, let's settle this down shall we, and let DI Stark finish the briefing.”
    Reluctantly, the room came to order again.
    “I know this all sounds a bit nuts. Frankly, it is. You could argue that whoever is responsible for these attacks is motivated by a sense of public duty. However, the extreme nature of the punishments handed out for the misdemeanours being committed, suggests mental imbalance. It also makes them very dangerous. If there is more than one perpetrator, then this case might veer even further from the beaten track.
    “DC Katz and I set up an incident room and an evidence wall to track what's going on. I'd like you all to familiarise yourselves with it and keep your eyes and ears open while you're on the street. Somebody will know this person or persons and, sooner or later, they'll make a mistake and we'll get them.”
    A hand went up. Rob Kowalski, a good cop and a seasoned veteran, asked a good question.
    “Do the press know about any of this?”
    “Unfortunately, the bad guy or guys contacted Floyd Callahan at the Daily News and alerted him to their campaign. Me and Floyd go back a ways so, I asked him to lay off for now. But, you know journalists, they're under immense pressure to bring in big stories and this is a humdinger. I think we can safely expect the proverbial to hit the fan tomorrow.
    “The problem is the public and the media will lap