His Secrets - Episode 1 Read Online Free Page A

teaspoon's full of sugar in it.
    “Kind of.” Chris said. “Most of the clients left after dad died.”
    Joe nodded.
    “Most of my work these days is following cheating husbands.”
    “No danger of that type of work drying up.”
    “A depressing thought.”
    “True though.” Joe put another teaspoon full of sugar in his mug. “What can I do for you Chris?”
    “I wanted to ask you about a case a client brought to me yesterday.”
    “What kind of case?”
    Chris pulled the Jeremies file out of her bag, and passed it to Joe.
     
    It took him little more than ten minutes to flick through the paperwork.
    “Whose blood is this?”
    “The cheating husband of one of my clients.”
    Joe smiled – he knew Chris had trained in boxing and kick boxing.
    “What's the story?” He passed the file back to Chris.
    “The first woman murdered was my client's niece.”
    “The dentist?”
    “Yeah. My client seems to think all of these are the work of the same man.”
    “She's wrong.”
    “You sound sure.”
    “I am. You know I can't talk about individual cases.”
    “I know.”
    “These have already been cross checked. Someone had floated the idea that we might have a serial killer. There's nothing to back it up. It isn't just the MOs are different – there's nothing to connect them – no matching fingerprints, DNA – nothing. I think your client is barking up the wrong tree.”
    Chris nodded. He had only confirmed what she already suspected.
    “Thanks Joe.”
     
    *********
     
    The next morning when Chris arrived at the office there were two messages on her answer phone. The first had been left the previous day while Chris had been in the greasy spoon with Joe. It was from Celia Drake. She had thanked Chris for her help, and said she would come into the office to settle her account. She asked Chris not to post the invoice because she had moved out, and was living with her sister. Alan Drake had tried to persuade her that it had all been a misunderstanding, but Celia had decided she would no longer be a door mat. She had ended the message by thanking Chris for the work she had done on her husband's nose.
     
    Chris smiled. She hadn't been sure Celia Drake would have the courage to leave her husband.
     
    The second message had been recorded earlier that morning; only a few minutes before Chris had arrived. It was from Mrs Jeremies. Chris had intended calling her to tell her she wouldn't be able to take the case. Mrs Jeremies sounded almost manic. The message was short:
     
    “There's been another.”
     
    It didn't take Chris long to turn up the news article. The local newspaper's web site had it listed as breaking news. Susan Moore 27, an architect had been found dead in her apartment. The details were sketchy, but it appeared she hadn't shown up for a family birthday party. Her father had found her – poor sod. The police were reported as saying that the death was being treated as suspicious.
     
    The phone rang; Chris knew who it would be.
     
    “Yes, I've just read it.”
    Mrs Jeremies sounded even more worked up than she had in her recorded message. She wanted to know if Chris was going to take the case.
     
    Chris said she would.
     
    *********
     
    Mrs Jeremies had wanted to pay a large retainer upfront. Normally, Chris would have snatched her hand off, but she still didn't feel one hundred percent comfortable with the case. Joe had said there was nothing to connect the murders. If the police hadn't found anything with all of their resources, how was she expecting to? By refusing the retainer, Chris felt she could still bow out if she made no progress.
     
    Refusing the retainer from Mrs Jeremies might have given Chris some wiggle room, but it wasn't going to pay the rent. She was going to have to juggle the Jeremies case alongside her other paid work. Tonight's surveillance was a little unusual in that her client was a man. Malcolm Broomhead was convinced his wife was having an affair. Broomhead was