Free DARK CRIMES a gripping detective thriller full of suspense by MICHAEL HAMBLING

it’s difficult to be sure.’
    ‘How do they match up with the position and marks on her mother’s neck? You haven’t started her autopsy yet, have you?’
    ‘No, it’s scheduled for mid-morning. But there are close-up photos of her injuries. I had them taken when her body was brought in yesterday evening. I haven’t had a close look yet.’
    They moved to his desk, and he opened a file of digital images on his computer. He placed a set of ruler guides on the screen, and took measurements. When they returned to the photos of Donna and compared the relative positions of the marks, there was little variation.
    ‘Looks similar,’ Goodall concluded. ‘But then it could be argued that there won’t be much of a variation in position, no matter who the strangler was. The pressure points are pretty localised.’
    ‘Even so. There was a strangling of a young woman yesterday in Bournemouth, over by the railway station. It might be the same guy. Her post-mortem will be late today at the infirmary, I expect. I wonder if it’s possible for you to have a word with whoever does it about getting really accurate measurements for the neck marks, and some close-up images? We could then compare all three.’
    She looked again at the photos of Donna’s mother on the computer screen.
    ‘Is it possible to make any conclusions about the ligature used?’
    ‘Not from the girl, no. The marks are too faint to be certain. But we might be able to from the marks on her mother’s neck. My guess is some kind of cord, but I’ll do some measurements during the examination.’
    ‘Fine. Any information is better than nothing.’ She pointed to the X-ray still clipped to the backlit screen. ‘Did she have treatment for that fracture? Can you tell from the scan?’
    ‘It would have been very painful, and would have induced swelling. Most people would have got it checked out. Standard treatment would have been a cast for three or four weeks to allow a clean knitting of the bone tissue. A hairline fracture like that would probably have healed cleanly if she’d strapped it up tightly herself and kept off her feet for a couple of weeks. But how likely is that? My guess is that she had it treated. Most people would because of the pain.’
    ‘That means there must be hospital records somewhere. Can you be any more definite about a possible date for the injury?’
    ‘Not really. I’m sticking my neck out a bit with the guess I’ve given you. Don’t take it as gospel, and be prepared to go for dates before or after.’
    ‘Look, I’d better be getting back to Swanage. The team have been chasing up some loose ends, and I want to see how they are getting on. And the DNA results should be coming in soon.’
    ‘By the way, Sophie, there were no signs of recent sexual activity. And there’s something you need to know about the knife injury. It didn’t do nearly as much damage as the doctor at the scene thought.’
    ‘What does that mean?’
    ‘She may not have died instantly. There’s a distinct possibility that she bled to death, maybe taking up to ten minutes or so.’
    ‘Would she have been conscious?’
    ‘Unlikely. At best she would have been drifting in and out of consciousness, and that only for the first few minutes. The main cause of death would have been blood loss.’
    ‘That’s given me something to think about. Thanks.’
    She shook his hand and turned to leave.
    ‘I was hoping for a goodbye kiss,’ he said.
    ‘You’ll wait a long time for that, young man,’ she laughed. ‘Any more cheek and I’ll set my six-foot-four, rugby-playing husband onto you.’
    ‘Is this someone new? Martin is a five-foot-ten maths teacher who shares my hobby of birdwatching. He hasn’t played rugby since we were at school together, and he hated it then. But thank you for the “young man” compliment.’
    ‘You’re most welcome. Bye, Benny.’
    * * *
    Sophie was back in Swanage by ten. The incident room was busy, with all of the