Blind Alley Read Online Free Page A

million Brits permanently lived abroad. That was almost one in ten of the UK population. Not that he could blame them.
    Brady scanned what he could of the street; it looked normal. Whatever ‘normal’ meant. However, at night it was a different story. The small, rundown seaside resort had a dark underbelly to it. And somewhere out there a sadistic rapist waited. He was upping his ante – the question was, why?
    ‘What day is it, Conrad?’ Brady asked, his back to Conrad.
    ‘Sir?’
    ‘Friday. The answer is Friday. Which means that we’re going to have another weekend of watching and waiting to see if he strikes again. It’s exactly seven days since he last attacked and given the fact that his cooling-off period is lessening, I would say he’ll be starting to look for another victim.’
    Brady turned around.
    Conrad was silent. He rarely spoke unless it was necessary, but Brady knew there was something wrong. He could read it in Conrad’s face. His narrowed eyes and tightly clenched jaw always gave him away.
    ‘What aren’t you telling me, Conrad?’
    ‘The victim was raped, sir.’
    The news didn’t surprise Brady – sex workers were at high risk of sexual and physical assault purely by the nature of their job.
    So far, the rapist had only ever attacked in Whitley Bay in the early hours of a Saturday or Sunday morning. And so far, he hadn’t attacked prostitutes.
    ‘And . . .’ Conrad faltered. He knew what would be going through his boss’s mind; that it couldn’t possibly be their suspect. But there was something about the injuries that this victim had sustained that leaped out when Conrad learned the details. He’d made quite a few friends during his police training days; one of them was stationed at North Shields. They still got together for drinks every other week – mainly to gripe about their bosses and the impossible tasks they were asked to perform. Conrad hadn’t needed to update her on the serial rape case. After the third victim, it had made national news. But Conrad had told her the gruesome details that had been held back from the press. His friend contacted Conrad as soon as she could after being called out to the new crime scene. The victim had suffered an unusual wound that was startlingly similar to the one found on the third rape victim. When she told Conrad, he knew it was something he couldn’t ignore.
    ‘Go on,’ Brady prompted.
    ‘From the update I received, it appears as if this new victim was hurt in the same way Chloe Winters was.’
    ‘You’re absolutely certain?’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘So why didn’t you say so when you first walked in?’
    ‘I was trying to, but . . .’ Conrad faltered.
    Brady wasn’t listening.
    He grabbed his beat-up black leather jacket from the back of his chair and snatched his phone and car keys from the desk before turning to Conrad.
    ‘Come on. What are you waiting for?
    Brady was worried that his deputy had returned to duty too soon after his injury. So he made a point of doing whatever driving was required. Conrad had been off for six months after being shot in the left shoulder during their last major investigation. Despite the months of sick leave, Brady was certain he shouldn’t be back at work. More so when he saw Conrad grimacing in pain when he thought no one was looking.
    Brady hadn’t known whether Conrad was going to make it after he had been shot; let alone ever be fit enough to return to work. No one at the station had been more pleased than him when Conrad had reported for duty that Monday at 7:00 a.m. Conrad was irreplaceable. Something Brady had had no qualms in telling Gates when he tried to assign a replacement. But the last thing Brady wanted was Conrad causing long-lasting damage to himself because he’d returned to duty early. Conrad had an unfailing sense of loyalty to him, and Brady knew that Conrad would have felt obliged to return to work as soon as he could to help catch the serial rapist – especially once