The Last Girl Read Online Free Page A

would make a good suspect. If he didn’t have an alibi.’
    ‘Which is?’
    ‘The first officers who responded found him lying unconscious in his bedroom – he was out cold. He’s the other person who was attacked. If you can work out how he beat himself up, you can put him at the top of the list of suspects.’ Godley shrugged. ‘Until then, he’s in the clear.’
    Derwent frowned, thinking. He opened his mouth but whatever he was going to say was destined to remain unsaid, because out in the hall Glen Hanshaw was throwing an epic tantrum.
    ‘Some bastard’s blocked me in. Would the person driving the blue Honda please move their fucking car? I’m warning you, you’ve got five seconds before I ram it out of my way.’
    ‘Whoops.’ The expression on Derwent’s face could only have been described as naughty.
    Godley raised his eyebrows. ‘Was that you?’
    ‘There was nowhere else.’ He sauntered towards the door, pulling his keys out of his pocket. ‘Better face the music, I suppose. How long have I got left?’
    ‘You’re into extra time. I’d hurry if I were you. Glen knows a hundred ways to kill a man without leaving a mark.’
    ‘Do I look worried?’ Derwent let the door swing closed behind him, but not before I heard him say in an ultra-innocent voice, ‘Sorry, is there some sort of problem?’
    ‘I’ve never heard Glen sound like that before.’ Godley sounded amused.
    ‘I’ve never even heard him swear.’
    ‘Josh does have a talent for bringing out the profane in people.’
    ‘That’s an understatement.’
    Godley looked at me quickly. ‘You don’t mind him, do you?’
    ‘I’m used to him. I sort of don’t want to be there when he meets Philip Kennford, though. I don’t think he’s going to be terribly sympathetic.’
    ‘That’s why I keep him around. I’m hoping he can shake Kennford into telling me the truth. I have a feeling I’m being spun a line and I can’t think why.’ Godley shook his head. ‘Something about this just doesn’t seem right to me.’
    I looked past him at the teenage girl’s body stiffening into its awkward pose. I didn’t say it, but it seemed to me patently obvious that there was nothing right about that at all.

Chapter Two
     
    ‘I’D HAVE THOUGHT you’d be too busy to stay.’ Derwent was standing with his hands in his pockets, a scowl on his face.
     
    ‘I have time.’ Godley checked his watch. ‘Well, enough to speak to Kennford and his daughter.’
    ‘I can handle it.’ The scowl had deepened, if anything. ‘It’s not like you to want the limelight, boss.’
    I winced in spite of myself. The media presence had trebled, if not quadrupled, since we’d been in the house. I had heard them shouting questions at everyone who came and went. I had been unwise enough to return to the car for my notebook. It was now bathed in bright light from the cameras, and my trip had provided at least thirty seconds of footage for the rolling news programmes to use over and over again, for the sake of having something to illustrate the human interest story of the night. It was summer. Nothing much was happening in the rest of the world. A forensic officer arriving after us had told me the Kennford murders were the lead on every bulletin, even though they couldn’t know what had happened inside the house. Not when we weren’t clear on it ourselves.
    ‘Come off it. Attention from the media is certainly not why I’m still here. I’ll be leaving as soon as I can.’ He checked his watch again. ‘It’s my name on the policy log, Josh. I need to see what direction this investigation is taking before I leave you to it. And besides, I know Kennford.’
    ‘Not well.’
    ‘To say hello to.’ Godley sighed. ‘If it was me, I’d want the SIO to take enough of an interest to meet the survivors. It’s the least I can do.’
    Godley was the senior investigating officer, the man at the top, and he took his role seriously – as Derwent knew very well –