Free Blood Axe by Leigh Russell

real diamond ring of her very own. She had already picked one out. It had tiny little diamonds along the shoulders, and a big princess-cut solitaire in the middle. It was the most beautiful ring in the shop, and one of the most expensive.
    â€˜One day I’m going to have one like that,’ she had told her uncle, pointing to it.
    He had laughed. ‘You’ll have to find yourself a rich boyfriend first.’
    â€˜I’ll find a sugar daddy,’ she had promised him, and they both laughed.
    Uncle Tim was all right, if you caught him in a good mood. Today he was going to visit a client. He packed a selection of rings into a little black bag and tucked it in the inside pocket of his jacket.
    â€˜How can you go out with those in your pocket like that?’ It wasn’t the first time Dana had asked him that.
    Tim gave his tolerant smile. ‘They’re all insured.’
    â€˜But what if you get mugged? They could beat you up. A girl was attacked a few days ago and killed just round the corner. They still haven’t caught whoever did it. He could be out there now...’
    Tim burst out laughing. ‘For goodness sake, stop fussing. No one’s going to beat me up. No one knows what’s in my pocket. Unless you tell them, of course. Now come on, you know you’re worse than your mother. I never knew a person to be such a fusser. Don’t forget to put the alarm on and lock up properly if I’m not back in time to close up.’
    â€˜Now who’s fussing?’
    As soon as Tim left she checked the door was locked. Her uncle was probably going to be gone for most of the day. She went back behind the counter and stood near the alarm button. After a few minutes, she went over and checked the door again, even though she could see it was properly closed. Then she went and stood behind the counter again. To take her mind off the worry of being there alone, she opened the drawer and pulled out a tray of rings. Enchanted, she tried them on, one by one. Absorbed in studying how lovely they looked on her slim fingers, she didn’t notice someone entering the shop. Startled by a noise, she looked up and screamed.

14
    â€˜So what you’re telling me is that you think it might have been the boyfriend after all?’ Eileen asked.
    Ian suppressed a sigh. He wasn’t sure the detective chief inspector was really listening to him. He knew there were many aspects of the case she had to keep in mind, but he did think she could be more attentive when he was discussing a potential suspect.
    â€˜I’m only putting Gary forward as a possibility, but I’m really not sure. If it was that clear cut, we’d have made an arrest already, but it’s not that simple. And in any case,’ he explained with exaggerated patience, ‘he wasn’t Angela’s boyfriend. He was just one of the crowd she went around with. She was sixteen.’
    Eileen frowned at him. ‘I know how old she was.’
    â€˜He wasn’t her boyfriend. He was one of her crowd,’ he repeated. ‘But, according to her friend Zoe, Gary was very keen on her. I think that’s probably why he was so accommodating about turning up to buy Angela and her friends drinks. He’s eighteen, so he could get served.’
    â€˜You don’t need to remind me of the law on underage drinking. So – are you saying he’s now a suspect? On what grounds?’
    â€˜Opportunity, certainly. He was there in the pub with Angela and her friends. He must have seen her leave, and could easily have followed her.’
    Eileen nodded. ‘Do we know if the two of them left the pub at around the same time?’
    â€˜It’s hard to say one way or the other because no one seems to have noticed exactly when he left. There was quite a crowd there on Sunday evening. Zoe told us she thinks Angela left alone, but we don’t know Gary didn’t follow her. He could quite easily have left, if