Free Criminally Insane by Conrad Jones Page A

last ten years, and everyone who has worked at Ashfords and had access to their keys,” Alec said. He knew that Kisha would find it a mundane task, but he needed a detective with focus to sift through the pages of irrelevant information and come up with the leads the investigation would require if they were to find the killer. She was a good detective and that was why he had picked her for the task. He knew that she wouldn’t see it that way now, but one day she would.
    “Guv,” Kisha sighed and looked disappointed. A task like that could throw up dozens of names and an equal number of dead ends. Anyone could have had a set of keys cut. She felt like she was being side-tracked from the main team and her heart sank. It was like being left on the subs bench during the cup final.
    “I also want a list of employees who worked in that factory unit and a list of service companies that have completed works on the building since it has been empty. Stevie, you take that, please. Work with Kisha and cross-check the information.” Alec didn’t rate Stevie. He was a probationary officer and his detective review date was close, but Alec couldn’t see him cutting it. He knew that Kisha would keep him on track and double-check his side of the investigation. He had paired them up for a good reason.
    “Yes, guv,” Stevie smiled and looked across at Kisha. She was gorgeous and Stevie had a thing for her, despite the fact she had knocked him back at the Christmas party. Kisha didn’t return his gaze and she certainly didn’t share his enthusiasm for the task they were to work on together. She had no interest in Stevie, or any other men, for that matter. Kisha hid her sexuality from her colleagues. She was female and black. Prejudice was frowned on in the modern police force, but it was still there, lurking in every department, and she knew it. Kisha was ambitious and she wanted to progress as far as she could on the merits of her abilities as a detective. In a meritocratic world that might have been possible, but she lived in the real world and knew that being a black lesbian would stifle her progression. Working on a list of names going back years was bad enough, but working with Stevie compounded the issue. She despised him and had no respect for his abilities as a member of MIT.
    “Get moving, everyone. I want this information collated as soon as we can, please.” Alec clapped his hands together and the detectives began organising their investigations. Within minutes they had assigned a list of names and the telephone lines were buzzing. Alec watched them delegate tasks and begin their search with a sense of pride, but there was a nagging doubt in his mind. There was more to this crime than one murder. The other blood pools were a mystery. The child’s footprints were of huge concern, but they had to start with the woman who had been tortured to death before they could piece together what had happened in that unit. The evidence didn’t add up at the moment and waiting for the forensic results to be processed was time wasted, but that was all he could do. Wait.
    He pulled out his Blackberry and scrolled through his contacts for his wife’s number. She was annoyed that her mother was visiting and Alec couldn’t take his days off. They had planned to go to Chester to shop and to have some lunch on the banks of the river, but now she would have to suffer her mother alone. Their twenty years together had been happy enough and they got on well, but their marriage was plagued with Alec’s absence. They had become brother and sister rather than man and wife. She mothered him, constantly feeding him Quorn instead of meat in an attempt to give him a healthy diet. He thought of the last lamb chop that he had tasted and he craved meat as he dialled her number.
    “Hello,” Gail sounded stressed.
    “Hi, it’s me.” Alec always said that and it irritated his wife immensely, which he couldn’t understand.
    “I know it’s you, Alec.