Page 114 of Killing Mind

He felt his heart start to beat faster. Something here wasn’t right.

He headed back around the front. The guv was already out of the car and heading towards him.

‘Nothing open?’ she asked.

He shook his head as he banged on the door again.

No response.

Bryant leaned down and poked his fingers through the letterbox. There were no brush or flaps to obscure his view.

Just inside the door was a table holding a dead plant, car keys and a couple of unopened letters. On the tiled floor were two pairs of shoes and a pair of trainers. His gaze moved forward to the stairs. His eyes travelled upwards as far as they could go and that’s when he saw them.

His stomach lurched into his throat.

‘Stand back,’ he said, urgently to the guv.

‘We going in?’ she asked.

‘Oh yeah.’

‘Okay, you top, me bottom.’

‘One, two, three,’ he called.

On the count of three the guv threw all her weight against the bottom of the door and he focussed his strength on the top.

The door burst open, slammed against the wall and headed back towards them. Bryant threw his arm in the way and pushed it back open.

‘Oh shit,’ the guv said, seeing what he’d glimpsed from the letterbox.

The lifeless body of Richard Harrison hung from the upstairs light fitting. A pair of short stepladders had been kicked to the side.

They both stared at the sight before them. There was no doubt that the man had taken his own life.

‘Well, Bryant,’ the guv said. ‘You certainly can’t do what you came here to do.’

That was a fact.

He’d been here to arrest the man for murder.

Ninety-Two

Penn registered the quizzical smile on the face of Josie Finch as she opened the door.

‘You again?’

He wasn’t offended. It was hardly a surprise. She’d had little to no interest from the police in eighteen months and now two visits in as many days.

‘May I come in?’ he asked, detecting the faint smell of burnt toast in the background.

‘Boyfriend changed the setting on the toaster again,’ she offered. ‘He likes his cremated and I like mine barely touched. Not sure how we’ve managed… I’m rambling, aren’t I?’

He smiled but said nothing as she indicated for him to take a seat.

‘I ramble when I’m nervous. You can only be back because you’ve got something to tell me, and I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about anything you have to say.’

‘Mrs…’