Mersey Murder Mysteries Collection - Books 4-6

Excerpt from Mersey Murder Mysteries Collection - Books 4-6

Liverpool, August 2005

The squad room of Merseyside Police Force's Specialist Murder Investigation Team was unusually quiet for once. The team of detectives led by Detective Inspector Andy Ross had enjoyed a successful year so far. Their latest case, the so-called 'Frozen Lamb Murders' had recently been solved and the killer, Byron Cummings was now behind bars, awaiting trial. His use of joints of frozen lamb as his weapon of choice in dispatching his victims had been ingeniously simple and at first, the police had found it impossible to identify exactly what the murder weapon had been in the cases of four almost identical, apparently motiveless murders. Who would have suspected the mild-mannered family man of being guilty of such heinous crimes? Using frozen leg of lamb joints, Cummings had bludgeoned his victims to death, cleverly disposing of the murder weapons each time by simply defrosting and cooking them in the oven, then serving them up as a tasty meal to his wife and two children.

Ross and his team had finally latched on to the killer by establishing a link between him and the four victims, all of whom had been customers at the barber shop Cummings owned in Speke. Precisely why he'd selected them was still a grey area, but it was thought they were all vegetarians who had somehow managed to offend their barber while sitting in his chair. That would be one for the psychiatrists to argue about, but for Andy Ross, it was another case closed.

The aftermath of the case involving multiple murders and kidnapping that revolved around the cargo liner Alexandra Rose had left its marks on Ross's team. Although Detective Constable Derek McLennan had recovered from his gunshot wounds and returned to work, D.C. Keith Burton hadn't been so lucky. His shoulder muscles had been badly damaged by the bullets that had ripped into him aboard the ship, and he was still undergoing a protracted period of physiotherapy. Whether he would eventually be declared fit enough to return to work was a matter for the doctors, though Ross wasn't too hopeful.

On a positive note, Acting Detective Constable Gary, (Ginger) Devenish who had originally been seconded to the team from the Liverpool Port Police, had been confirmed as a full-time member, much to his and Ross's delight. His position as a full D.C. was now pending and he would soon be able to drop the 'Acting' from his rank.

“When are we going to get a new case?” asked Detective Constable Sam Gable, as she and the others gathered in the squad room on a sultry August morning.

“Good question, Sam,” D.C. Lenny (Tony) Curtis replied. Nobody ever referred to Curtis by his given name any more. He would be forever Tony, a result of his remarkable likeness to the old movie idol of the same name.

“Yeah, I hate bloody office work,” D.C. Nick Dodds joined in.

“We should perhaps be careful what we are wishing for,” said Sofie Meyer. The German detective sergeant, on loan from the police force in Hamburg for two years had assimilated well into Ross's team and now felt perfectly at home with her new, British colleagues.

As the conversation began, so it was brought to an abrupt end by the entrance of Detective Inspector Andy Ross, closely followed by Detective Sergeant Clarissa (Izzie) Drake, his trusted right hand and long-time crime busting partner.

“Morning all, “Ross began. “Did I hear some mumblings of discontent in the ranks as we walked into the room?”

The smile on his face gave away the levity of his comment.

“We were wondering when we might be gainfully employed in our primary role again, Boss,” Curtis responded.

“Funny you should say that, Tony. As it happens, D.C.I. Agostini just handed us a nice juicy new case. Anyone know where D.S. Ferris is?”

“I'm here, sir,” Paul Ferris replied, as he and D.C. Devenish entered the squad room, loaded down with files that they proceeded to deposit on Ferris's desk. “Still bringing the system up to date, adding some of these older files to the computer records.”

“Ah yes, good man, Paul. Now, all we need is Derek and we can get on with this briefing.”

D.C. Derek McLennan, who'd now been with Ross's team for five years, had grown in that time, from a young, naïve newcomer to a seasoned trusted part of the team, and only recently had been honoured with a Chief Constable's Commendation for his bravery in attempting to foil a jewellery store robbery during his off-duty hours. A bullet wound to the chest had landed him in hospital where he met and fell in love with his fiancée, Debbie Tate, who'd been one of the team of dedicated nurses who had helped him in his recovery and wedding plans were already underway.

“He was here a few minutes ago sir,” Sam Gable commented, “I never saw him leave.”

The door to Ross's office at the far side of the room opened, and the man in question appeared with a smile on his face.

“I was under the impression that was my office, Derek,” Ross said, wondering why McLennan would have been in his office first thing in the morning. McLennan held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“Ah, you've got me, sir. I confess. I was trying to steal your supply of paperclips…no, really, I've left something on your desk. It's a surprise, so I hope you'll forgive me creeping around, all furtive, like.”

“I'm intrigued,” Ross replied. “I'll check out your surprise shortly. For now, I have some news for you all. It's time we got back to doing some work folks. Pull up a chair and listen.”

The team members all complied, each taking a seat and waiting expectantly for Ross to begin. As he prepared to outline the latest case the squad room door opened to admit Kat Bellamy, the team's civilian administration assistant.

“Come in and sit down, Kat,” Ross urged her and waited a few seconds as Kat, looking flustered, sat at her desk and nodded to him that she was ready to take notes of what he had to say.

“Okay people,” Ross began. “The boss seemingly got a call from D.C.I. Mountfield in C.I.D. Three weeks ago, the body of a young woman was found not far from the old ruined lighthouse at Hale.”

As he spoke, Izzie Drake moved behind him and began attaching a series of photographs to the whiteboard on the wall.

“I'll let D.S. Drake tell you the basics. Please, Izzie, tell 'em.”

“Right, everyone. This is Cathy Billings, aged twenty,” she indicated the photo of a pretty blonde with long, wavy hair, positioned at the top left of the whiteboard. “Cathy left her job as a barmaid at The Travellers Rest in Hale at closing time and was never seen alive again. Her body, as the boss said, was found not far from the old closed down lighthouse the next morning. She'd been beaten and raped. The local lads handed the case to C.I.D. who weren't getting far, when, last week, there was a second murder, an almost identical crime scene to the first, the body being found on the beach, close to the car park, again, near the lighthouse.”