In Chance Encounters, Meredith & Hodge have numerous cases on the go,here’s another excerpt for you. Louie Trump is heading up the murder of Vicky Phoenix, a visiting officer is asking why he chose it:
Grace walked across to Trump, who smiled and told her to pull up Tom Seaton’s chair to join him. Once settled, she opened her notebook and asked, “So, what case are you working on, and why did you choose it?”
“I chose the case of a murdered singer, Vicky Phoenix. She disappeared after a gig in town at The Bierkeller. There were few sightings of her once she’d left the venue. The case got lots of media coverage, but no joy. Vicky’s body was discovered two days later in Netham Park, a few miles away. Someone had given her a beating before a final and fatal blow to the side of the head killed her. CCTV footage of Vicky was found less than ten minutes after leaving the venue. It was the last sighting of her outside the bus station. Sad case, although aren’t they all? She was due to fly out on holiday with her partner. He had an airtight alibi. There were no suspects, and no obvious motive. It wasn’t a sexual attack.”
“When was this, and why did you choose it?” Grace asked.
“Two thousand and two, and because I heard her sing. She was good. Only the once about six months before she was killed. I wasn’t a fan, you understand, I was a student, it was a gig with cheap beer. But it was a connection of sorts, so I thought, why not?” Trump paused in his commentary. “You look confused, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
“I am. What a ridiculous way to choose a case. Patsy tells me she liked the victim’s face, and he was young, and now you’re telling me you felt a connection because you once heard her sing. Wouldn’t it be better to concentrate on cases that you believe you have a good chance of solving?”
“Oh, if only that were an option. The thing—”
Meredith had walked over to join them. “How many murder cases have you worked, Slaney?”
Grace shrugged. “Half a dozen. Why? What relevance has that got?”
Meredith ignored the question. “How did you choose them?”
“They weren’t cold cases, M…sir, they were fresh to the slab.” Grace smirked. “I’d say live, but not so much.”
“Did you solve them all?”
“No.” Grace shifted in her seat and avoided looking him in the eye. “You can’t win them all.”
“Why not? What did you do wrong?”
One hand on a hip, Grace turned to look at Meredith. “Nothing. There were…Oh, okay. Point made.” Grace felt the heat in her chest and hoped she wasn’t blushing. It was a long time since someone had had to point out the bleeding obvious to her.
I hope you enjoyed that. Only a few weeks until Chance Encounters is live on Amazon. You can get your copy by clicking HERE.
That’s it for today, have a great weekend.
Happy reading
aha, Meredith is right up to speed! It will be another ‘hot’ one.
I hope you enjoy it!