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“Exactly. Only in this case he forced her over to the side of the road.”
“The gear stick,” A
“What?” Gristhorpe asked.
“The gear stick. She was trying to get away. She was trying to reverse.”
“That’s the way it looks,” said Stefan.
“But she wasn’t fast enough,” said A
“No. And she stalled.”
“Do you think,” A
“Why?” asked Gristhorpe.
Stefan looked at A
“Yes,” said A
“Hmm,” said Gristhorpe. “Interesting. And possible. Let’s keep an open mind for the time being. Anything else?”
“Not really,” said Stefan. “The victim’s been taken to the mortuary and Dr. Glende
“Any ideas about the sort of weapon used?”
“We’ve found no trace of a cartridge, so either our killer was smart and picked up after himself, or he used a revolver. At a rough estimate, I’d say it’s probably a twenty-two caliber. Anything bigger would most likely have left an exit wound.” Stefan paused. “We might not have had a lot of practice with gunshot wounds around these parts,” he said, “but our ballistics specialist, Kim Grainger, knows her stuff. That’s about it, sir. Sorry we can’t be a bit more helpful right now.”
“Early days, yet,” said Gristhorpe. “Keep at it, Stefan.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Has anyone verified the woman’s identity yet?” he asked.
“Not yet,” said A
“And there are no reports of her car being stolen?”
“No, sir.”
“So it’s still more than within the realm of possibility that the registered keeper of the vehicle is the person found dead in it?”
“Yes. Unless she lent her car to a friend or hasn’t noticed it’s gone missing yet.”
“Do we even know for certain that she was alone in the car?” Gristhorpe asked.
“No.” A
Stefan nodded. “Perhaps.”
“Anyone run her name through our system?”
“I did, sir,” said Winsome. “Name, prints, description. Nothing. If she ever committed a criminal act, we didn’t catch her.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Gristhorpe said. “All right, first priority, find out who she is and what she was doing on that road. In the meantime, I assume we’re already making door-to-door inquiries in the general area of the incident?”
“Yes, sir,” said A
“Nobody heard the shot?”
“Not so far.”
“An ideal place for a murder, then,” Gristhorpe commented. He scratched his chin. A
Finding herself doodling a cartoon of Kev Templeton in full seventies gear, complete with the Afro and tight gold lamé shirt, A
“Sorry, sir?”
Gristhorpe frowned at her. “I said do we have any idea where the victim was driving from?”
“No, sir,” said A
“Then perhaps we should set about canvassing all-night garages, shops open late, that sort of thing?”
“If the victim really is Je
“Motorway service stations, then?” Kevin Templeton suggested.
“Good idea, DC Templeton,” said Gristhorpe. “I’ll leave that to you, shall I?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to get the local forces on it, sir?”
“That’ll take too much time and coordination. We need results fast. Better if you do it yourself. Tonight.”
“Just what I always fancied,” Templeton grumbled. “Driving up and down the M1 sampling the local cuisine.”
Gristhorpe smiled. “Well, it was your idea. And I hear they do a very decent bacon panini at Woodall. Anything else?”
“DC Jackman mentioned that there had been a similar crime some months ago,” A
Gristhorpe looked at Winsome Jackman, eyebrows raised. “Oh?”
“Yes, sir,” said Winsome. “I checked the details. It’s not quite as similar as it appears on first glance.”
“Even so,” said Gristhorpe. “I think we’d like to hear about it.”
“It was near the end of April, the twenty-third. The young woman’s name was Claire Potter, aged twenty-three, lived in North London. She set off at about eight o’clock on a Friday evening to spend the weekend with friends in Castleton. She never got there. Her car was found in a ditch by the side of a quiet road north of Chesterfield by a passing motorist the following morning and her body was found nearby – raped and stabbed. The way it looks is that her car was forced into a ditch by her assailant. The pathologist also found traces of chloroform and characteristic burning around her mouth.”
“Where was she last seen?”
“Trowell services.”
“Nothing on the service station’s closed-circuit TV?” asked Gristhorpe.
“Apparently not, sir. I had a brief chat with DI Gifford at Derbyshire CID, and the impression I got was that they’ve reached a dead end. No witnesses from the cafeteria or garage. Nothing.”
“The MO is different, too,” A
“Yes,” said Gristhorpe. “Je
“Well, sir,” mused Winsome, “there are some similarities: stopping at the services, being forced off the road, a young woman. There could be any number of reasons why he didn’t assault her this time, and he could certainly have acquired a gun since his last murder. Maybe he didn’t enjoy stabbing. Maybe it was just a bit too up close and personal for him.”