Free Hindsight (9781921997211) by Melanie Casey

kidding.
    â€˜If you’ll just excuse me for a minute I’ll go and fill my partner in. Would you like a coffee while you wait?’
    â€˜No thanks, Mr Dyson.’
    â€˜Call me Ed. Mr Dyson was my father. It makes me feel ancient.’
    He gave her a quick smile and ducked out of the room. It dropped from his face as soon as the door shut behind him. He strode back down the passageway to Sorenson’s office. Giving only a cursory rap he barged in.
    â€˜Before you say anything, Detective Dyson, this is not open for debate. If Cass Lehman says she thinks she can help, she means it. I won’t have you belittling her or refusing her assistance.’
    â€˜But —’
    â€˜No buts. You will take her to the crime scene and let her see what she can see. As a matter of fact I’ll come with you.’
    â€˜But Phil —’
    â€˜You can tell Phil what’s happening and tell her she’s on strict orders to mind her manners.’
    â€˜She’s not going to like it.’
    â€˜Exactly, which is why I want you to be the one to work with Cass. Besides, she asked for you.’
    â€˜Why? Do you really think she’s legit? She saw us in the Jewel Bay Café yesterday, you know. She could be a voyeur.’
    â€˜Cass is no voyeur. She might be a bit strange, as are the rest of her family, but they’re good people and they don’t offer assistance lightly. Go and brief Phil. We leave in fifteen minutes.’ She turned back to her computer, dismissing him.
    And that was that.
    As the four of them approached the squad car, Cass turned to him and asked, ‘Has anyone died in this car?’
    The question floored him. Phil snorted and answered her before Ed had a chance.
    â€˜We’re not in the habit of bumping people off in the back of police cars.’
    Cass flushed crimson. ‘No, I just thought …’
    Sorenson’s eyes burned into Phil. ‘It’s all right, Cass, the car is less than a year old and no one has died in it.’
    The trip took place in uncomfortable silence. Ed could feel Phil’s barely contained annoyance. Cass and Sorenson were in the back and he regarded the young woman in his rear-view mirror every so often. She’d said very little since they’d left the station. She was clearly nervous and he wondered if she was having second thoughts.
    Her long curly blonde hair was parted simply in the middle. She wore no make-up. Her face was a classic oval with a high brow. Her hazel eyes were definitely her best feature. She wasn’t exactly plain but she had an aloof, distant kind of beauty.
    Still, there was something about her. He’d barely looked at other women since Susan disappeared. He’d been too busy wallowing in misery and self-recrimination, until now.
    They pulled up at Stuart Lane and Cass got out of the car. Ed walked up beside her.
    â€˜How do you want to do this?’
    â€˜Just show me where.’
    He walked her to the start of the lane and pointed to the doorway.
    â€˜Is that where she actually died?’
    â€˜Maybe, we think she was walking from this end of the lane towards the doorway when he attacked her.’
    â€˜I need to retrace her steps.’
    The look she gave him was so fraught he had to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing her arm to stop her.
    â€˜It’s better if you wait here,’ she said. She started to walk slowly down the lane. About twenty metres along she froze. Her back arched and she grabbed at her throat. Her knees buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground.
    Ed ran over to her. Her eyes were open, staring. She didn’t seem to be breathing. He started to panic and then suddenly she took a gasping breath and her eyes fluttered and focused on him. As his presence registered she shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut, tears seeping out from under her lids. He helped her to stand up.
    Sorenson and Phil joined them and they stood there