Free Random Targets by James Raven

he got my number.’
    Temple made some notes and then asked her if she could draw a diagram showing exactly where the man crossed the road.
    ‘I can do better than that,’ she said. ‘I can show you if you like.’
     
    Five minutes later they were approaching the bridge over the motorway.
    ‘It was about here.’ Mrs Larkin said suddenly and Temple pulled over to the kerb. ‘He was standing in the middle of the road having got half way across.’
    Both sides of the road were lined with deep foliage all theway to the bridge about thirty yards ahead. The pavements were narrow and deserted. There were no walkers, joggers or people with dogs.
    He twisted round in his seat to look back the way they’d come. Mrs Larkin’s small housing estate was about a quarter of a mile away and there was nothing but trees and bushes between there and here. So where the hell had the guy walked from and how far had he come? And why did he cross the road at this particular point?
    Then Temple spotted a small side road about twenty yards back. It was half hidden by bushes and he hadn’t noticed it when they drove past.
    ‘What’s through there?’ he asked.
    Mrs Larkin turned and followed his gaze.
    ‘It leads to a small industrial estate,’ she said. ‘Most of the units are vacant, though.’
    Temple wondered if maybe it was a good place to leave a car or bike. It was just a short walk from the bridge and hidden away from the passing traffic. Definitely worth checking out, he thought. He shoved the car into gear and said, ‘Can you show me exactly where you next saw the man?’
    He drove on to the bridge. A bunch of people had gathered to look at the flowers and stare down at the motorway. The westbound carriageway was still littered with debris and groups of people in high visibility jackets were busy clearing up. He saw three police cars and a fire engine, plus a tow truck.
    Mrs Larkin told him she saw the man standing at about the centre of the bridge looking over the railings at the oncoming traffic.
    ‘He was by himself,’ she said. ‘I didn’t see any other pedestrians.’
    Temple stayed on the bridge just long enough to take in the surroundings. The embankment was still cordoned off and SOC officers were carrying out a fingertip search around the bushes in the hope that daylight would undercover some vital evidence. The embankment was steeper than Temple thought and there was much more vegetation. But there was nothing unusualabout the spot. It was just an ordinary motorway overpass, like hundreds of others across the country. He wondered why the shooter had decided to come here. Was it a random choice or was the location significant? Had he planned it weeks in advance or was it a spur of the moment decision?
    He took Mrs Larkin back to her house, thanked her and gave her one of his cards.
    ‘If you remember anything else about the guy then please give me a call on my mobile, day or night.’
    He drove straight back to the little lane leading to the industrial estate. The tarmac surface looked almost unused. So did the units. He reached them after about twenty yards. The prefabricated buildings were small and squat and windowless. There were six of them in all and four had ‘to let’ signs out front. Only one seemed to be in use and the sign above the entrance read Global Imports. There were two small vans parked outside with the Global Imports logo on the sides.
    Temple stopped the car in a small parking area on the other side of the road and took out his phone. He called the incident room and got someone to run a quick check for him. He wanted to know if the estate had been visited by either a detective or a uniform.
    After a short wait he was told that armed officers had searched the grounds last night during their sweep of the area and hadn’t found anything. A uniformed officer also went there later but all the units were locked up. However, the officer noted that the buildings all had video surveillance cameras.