Free Assassin by Tara Moss Page B

personally and professionally. ‘I mean, you are the one who figured out Ed Brown. And that other fucker. That rapist.’
    ‘At the SVCP we use a combination of profiling methods, but …’ Andy trailed off. But it doesn’t seem to matter. The future of the unit is uncertain.
    My future is uncertain , Andy thought.
    Their conversation paused. They sipped from their drinks. The air felt heavy.
    ‘So what about this murder in Surry Hills?’ Jimmy began. ‘You think it’s a serial? That he’ll do it again?’
    Andy nodded. ‘Given the opportunity, yes.’ That was the fear. Any kind of domestic murder was a tragedy, but with a killing like this there was the very real danger that it would happen again, possibly soon, after a cooling-off period of unknown duration. Crimes like this were rare, and driven by intensely sadistic compulsions, not by the more normal motivations of greed or jealousy. Andy believed the murder of Ms Hempsey was not the result of a personal relationship, and clearly that was Inspector Kelley’s suspicion, otherwise he would not have been called in.
    ‘So what about the husband? The boyfriend? He in the clear?’
    Apparently Victoria Hempsey’s boyfriend hadn’t been on the scene long. He was an IT guy. No record. On the night of the murder he was with five colleagues at a popular restaurant in the city.
    ‘The husband died some time back. So far, Kelley doesn’t like the new boyfriend for it,’ Andy explained. ‘We’ll see. His alibi is good. Kelley did dig up a couple of sexual assaults thatmight be related. It could give us more to go on, if we’re lucky. Do you remember a rape in Strawberry Hills years ago? The woman who was tied up? It was quite a brutal attack.’
    Jimmy nodded. ‘The one where her shoes were stolen and we all thought it was the Stiletto Killer come back to haunt us?’
    Andy flinched.
    ‘So this might be the same guy who did the rape?’ Jimmy continued, frowning and rubbing his lower lip with the side of one hand.
    ‘Could be. The same guy struck again a year later,’ he said of the Graney assault.
    Jimmy nodded to himself, paused and nursed his drink. ‘Sick bastard. You got DNA?’
    ‘They found semen on the victim. They’re running it for a match to the DNA from the rape cases to see if there is a link,’ Andy explained. ‘Maybe they’ll get their results tomorrow, but it could take a few more days.’
    It wasn’t like CSI , on which you could get DNA and solve a case in thirty minutes, minus commercials.
    ‘Sick fuckers,’ Jimmy said. ‘I’ll never understand where these arseholes come from.’ He tilted his head and finished most of his glass, the ice clicking against his teeth. ‘Another?’ he offered.
    To his own surprise, Andy still found himself resisting. He wanted to be sharp for Inspector Kelley in the morning. And for Dana, he realised. ‘No, thanks,’ he managed, though he knew he sounded weak. His friend raised an eyebrow, then went quiet for a while, rolling his empty tumbler from side to side on the tabletop, making wet crescents.
    Something was on his mind.
    ‘Go on,’ Andy prodded.
    Jimmy took a breath and exhaled loudly through his nose. He seemed to consider his words carefully. ‘Has there been any word on … her ?’
    Makedde.
    Andy’s chest tightened at the mention of her and that thing in his chest squirmed. He shook his head. ‘Not a damn thing.’
    ‘I fucking hate to ask, you know, but Jesus . You still hearing from her dad?’
    Andy nodded.
    ‘ Skata. And he hasn’t heard anything from her?’
    They both knew what that meant. It meant she was likely dead. What other explanation could there be, two months on? Why stay in Europe? Why do a runner on a hotel and disappear? Unless Makedde hadn’t planned it. Unless Jack Cavanagh was responsible. Before the news from Inspector Kelley, Andy had spent much of the morning making discreet enquiries about the case against Jack and Damien, a case that seemed to be