Free Blood & Magic by George Barlow Page A

seconds,” Chris said.
    “Why stab him through the chest
and
slice through his neck?”
    “Now that I cannot explain.”
    “You'll get us your full report on this one as top priority, right?”
    “Of course,” Chris said and returned to examining the corpse.
    Alex stood back from the body, processing it all as she twiddled the clasp of her necklace. It had been a Christmas gift from
him
two years ago, a sliver pendant inlayed with her birth stone. She didn't want to think of him now, she couldn't.
    This murder was different somehow, something had gone wrong, although she had no doubt it was the same guy as the others. Drew was by the gate on the opposite side of the park, a small figure lit up by the forensics lights. Along the route, bodies in white jumpsuits examined the ground for trace evidence. Alex walked along the temporarily erected walkways that had been laid out so as not to disturb anything.
    “Tell me you've found something?” Alex said.
    “I am supposed to ask you that. We think it started here, there is blood by the railing. Perhaps he was attacked before fleeing into Greys Inn? Thing is, the gate has been bashed in with real force, the lock is completely broken. I can't imagine our victim doing that, doesn't look strong enough,” said Drew.
    Alex looked around, the lock lay in the dirt to the side of the gate, a small yellow flag sticking out of the ground to mark it's position.
    “But he couldn't have jumped over the gate, it’s spiked,” Alex said.
    Spotlights had been set around the gate, making it brighter than in daylight. There was a lot of blood. If it all belonged to the victim, how had he managed to cross the park? Alex glanced along the street and spotted something odd.
    “What the hell happened to all the lights?” Alex said pointing up at the street lamps. The whole row stood in darkness apart from one, further along the street than the gate.
    “No idea. One mystery at a time though Alex?” Drew said.
    “These are barristers chambers, you think they would let half the street be left in darkness like this?” Alex said.
    Alex retrieved her phone from her pocket and switched on the torch app, harsh white light pouring from the phone's camera flash. There was more blood to the right of the gate than the left as she stood facing the gardens. What if the victim wasn't first attacked here? If he escaped, where did he come from? Minerva would be checking the CCTV, but Alex could find it faster. She walked toward the dark end of the street, Drew following at her heel, to where a side gate opened onto a parallel street, separated by a high stone wall. Alex paused just past the gate, her instincts verified. A small drop of blood on the pavement gleamed in her torch light and in the distance, she could see another.
    “Oi, you?” Alex said, shouting back down the street to one of the forensic technicians. “Go and get some more guys, I don't think we've found where he was first attacked yet.”
    Drew crouched down and stared at the spot of the blood, glancing at Alex with pursed lips. Alex followed the dotted trail of blood down the lane, along Jockey's field and into Bedford Row. The drips on the concrete grew larger and lost their circular shape the further they got from Greys' Inn. The victim had obviously fled quickly and then slowed as he reached the park. Whether he thought he was safe, or could no longer run, Alex couldn't tell.
    “The blood stains are getting pretty large now, it must have been a bloody great wound,” Drew said.
    “But that doesn't make sense, does it? How would he stop losing blood so quickly and then was back to losing a lot of blood by the time he got to the gate?”
    “Well, he could-” Drew said and then stopped, no explanation available.
    They came to a halt, with the blood trail, outside a house on Bedford Row. Above the entrance was a 'For Sale' sign and beneath, the door was ajar. Alex made the age old call of 'Police,' into the darkness, the light from