Class Murder Read online

  CLASS MURDER

  About The Author

  Critical Acclaim for Leigh Russell

  Acknowledgements

  Glossary of acronyms

  Preface

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  Killer Christmas

  Copyright

  CLASS MURDER

  With so many potential victims to choose from, there would be many deaths. He was spoiled for choice, really, but he was determined to take his time and select his targets carefully. Only by controlling his feelings could he maintain his success. He smiled to himself. If he was clever, he would never have to stop. And he was clever. He was very clever. Far too clever to be caught.

  Geraldine Steel is reunited with her former sergeant, Ian Peterson.

  When two people are murdered, their only connection lies buried in the past. As police search for the elusive killer, another body is discovered. Pursuing her first investigation in York, Geraldine Steel struggles to solve the baffling case. How can she expose the killer, and rescue her shattered reputation, when all the witnesses are being murdered?

  About The Author

  Leigh Russell is the author of the internationally bestselling Geraldine Steel series: Cut Short, Road Closed, Dead End, Death Bed, Stop Dead, Fatal Act, Killer Plan, Murder Ring and Deadly Alibi. Cold Sacrifice, the first in a spin off series featuring Ian Peterson, was followed by Race to Death and Blood Axe. Cut Short was shortlisted for a CWA Dagger Award, Stop Dead was a finalist for The People’s Book Prize, and her books are frequently #1 on Amazon Kindle and iTunes. She is published in the UK by No Exit Press, by HarperCollins in the USA, Bastei Lubbe in Germany and also in French, Italian and Turkish. Leigh studied at the University of Kent gaining a Master’s degree in English and American literature. For many years a secondary school English teacher, Leigh now writes full-time and teaches creative writing. She is married with two daughters and lives in north-west London.

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR MURDER RING

  ‘A great murder mystery in its own right and highly recommended’ – Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact

  ‘Smoothly professional fare from the always-consistent Russell’ – Crime Time

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR BLOOD AXE

  ‘A great story with some interesting and unexpected twists and turns. It ends with some scenes of high drama and a clever and surprising outcome’ – Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR KILLER PLAN

  ‘Her previous six novels featuring DI Geraldine Steel marked her out as a rare talent, and this seventh underlines it’ – Daily Mail

  ‘I will be looking out for more from this author’– Nudge

  ‘a fast-paced police procedural and a compelling read’– Mystery People

  ‘Fans of the series will enjoy reacquainting themselves with Leigh Russell’s work’– Crime Fiction Lover

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR RACE TO DEATH

  ‘Unmissable’ – Lee Child

  ‘Leigh Russell has become one of the most impressively dependable purveyors of the English police procedural’ – Marcel Berlins, The Times

  ‘As tense openings go, they don’t come much better than this’ – Bookbag

  ‘If you enjoy a well-written mystery with a well-constructed and thought-out plot line then this is the book for you… it is my BOOK OF THE MONTH’ – Crime Book Club

  ‘the story unfolds at a great pace and grips until the end’ – Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact

  ‘Leigh Russell weaves a fascinating tale that had me completely foxed. Whilst the mystery is tantalising the characters also fascinate, so clearly are they drawn’– Mystery People

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR COLD SACRIFICE

  ‘A complex mystery rich in characters, this new series promises some interesting times ahead for Ian Peterson’ – Promoting Crime Fiction

  ‘Russell’s story telling was strong enough to keep me enticed right to the very end’– Lloyd Paige

  ‘Ian Peterson as a character could potentially be just as good (if not better) than Geraldine Steel’ – Best Crime Books

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR FATAL ACT

  ‘a most intriguing and well executed mystery and… an engrossing read’– Shotsmag

  ‘the best yet from Leigh Russell – she keeps you guessing all the way through and leaves you wanting more’ – Crime Book Club

  ‘another fast-paced and complex mystery – a fabulous read’ – Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact

  ‘a truly great author… enough mystery and drama for the most ardent of mystery fans’ – Bookaholic

  ‘another corker of a book from Leigh Russell… Russell’s talent for writing top-quality crime fiction just keeps on growing…’ – Euro Crime

  ‘the plot is strong and the writing just flows with style and panache’ – Goodreads

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR STOP DEAD

  ‘Stop Dead is taut and compelling, stylishly written with a deeply human voice’ – Peter James

  ‘All the things a mystery should be, intriguing, enthralling, tense and utterly absorbing’ – Best Crime Books

  ‘A definite must read for crime thriller fans everywhere – 5 stars’ – Newbooks Magazine

  ‘For lovers of crime fiction this is a brilliant, not-to-be missed, novel’ – Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact

  ‘Geraldine Steel sticks out as a believable copper and Stop Dead flows easily’ – Electric Lullaby

  ‘A well-written, a well-researched, and a well-constructed whodunnit. Highly recommended’ – Mystery People

  ‘a whodunnit of the highest order. The tightly written plot kept me guessing
all the way’ – Crimesquad

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR DEATH BED

  ‘Earlier books have marked her out as one of the most able practitioners in the current field’ – Barry Forshaw, Crime Time

  ‘Death Bed is a marvellous entry in this highly acclaimed series’ – Promoting Crime Fiction

  ‘An innovative and refreshing take on the psychological thriller’ – Books Plus Food

  ‘Russell’s strength as a writer is her ability to portray believable characters’ – Crimesquad

  ‘A well-written, well-plotted crime novel with fantastic pace and lots of intrigue’ – Bookersatz

  ‘Truly a great crime thriller’ – Nayu’s Reading Corner

  ‘Death Bed is her most exciting and well-written to date. And, as the others are superb, that is really saying something! 5*’ – Euro Crime

  ‘The story itself was as usual a good one, and the descriptive gruesomeness of some scenes was brilliant’ – Best Crime Books

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR DEAD END

  ‘All the ingredients combine to make a tense, clever police whodunnit’ – Marcel Berlins, The Times

  ‘A brilliant talent in the thriller field’ – Jeffery Deaver

  ‘I could not put this book down’ – Newbooks Magazine

  ‘An encounter that will take readers into the darkest recesses of the human psyche’ – Crime Time

  ‘Well written and chock full of surprises, this hard-hitting, edge-of the seat instalment is yet another treat… Geraldine Steel looks set to become a household name. Highly recommended’ – Euro Crime

  ‘Good, old-fashioned, heart-hammering police thriller… a no-frills delivery of pure excitement’ – SAGA Magazine

  ‘The critical acclaim heaped on Russell thus far in her literary career is well deserved’ – Bookgeeks

  ‘a macabre read, full of enthralling characters and gruesome details which kept me glued from first page to last’ – Crimesquad

  ‘Dead End was selected as a Best Fiction Book of 2012’ – Miami Examiner

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR ROAD CLOSED

  ‘A well-written, soundly plotted, psychologically acute story’ – Marcel Berlins, The Times

  ‘New star of crime fiction, Leigh Russell’s chilling psychological thriller is terrific and terrifying!’ – Clem Chambers

  ‘Well written and absorbing right from the get-go… with an exhilarating climax that you don’t see coming’– Euro Crime

  ‘Leigh Russell does a good job of keeping her readers guessing. She also uses a deft hand developing her characters, especially the low-lifes… a good read’ – San Francisco Book Review

  ‘perfect character building… cleverly written… can’t wait for the next one’ – Best Books to Read

  ‘Road Closed is a gripping, fast-paced read, pulling you in from the very first tense page and keeping you captivated right to the end with its refreshingly compelling and original narrative’ – New York Journal of Books

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR CUT SHORT

  ‘Cut Short is a stylish, top-of-the-line crime tale, a seamless blending of psychological sophistication and gritty police procedure. And you’re just plain going to love DI Geraldine Steel’ – Jeffery Deaver

  ‘Russell paints a careful and intriguing portrait of a small British community while developing a compassionate and complex heroine who’s sure to win fans’ – Publishers Weekly

  ‘an excellent debut’ – Crime Time

  ‘It’s an easy read with the strength of the story at its core… If you want to be swept along with the story above all else, Cut Short is certainly a novel for you’ – Crimeficreader

  ‘Simply awesome! This debut novel by Leigh Russell will take your breath away’ – Euro Crime

  ‘an excellent book… Truly a great start for new mystery author Leigh Russell’ – New York Journal of Books

  Cut Short is a book I had to read in one sitting… excellent new series’ – Murder by Type

  ‘a sure-fire hit – a taut, slick, easy-to-read thriller’ – Watford Observer

  ‘a fine police procedural, with a convincing if disconcerting feel of contemporary Britain’ – The Compulsive Reader

  ‘Cut Short featured in one of Euro Crime’s reviewers’ Top Reads for 2009’– Euro Crime

  ‘Cut Short is not a comfortable read, but it is a compelling and important one. Highly recommended’ – Mystery Women

  ‘gritty and totally addictive debut novel’ – New York Journal of Books

  To Michael, Joanna, Phillipa, Phil, Rian and Kezia

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank Dr Leonard Russell for his expert medical advice, and all my contacts in the Metropolitan Police for their invaluable assistance.

  Producing a book is a team effort. I am fortunate to have the guidance of a brilliant editor, Keshini Naidoo. I am very grateful to Ion Mills, Claire Watts, Claire Quinlivan and all the team at No Exit Press, who transform my words into books. There are too many of them to mention by name, but I am grateful for their support which has been invaluable.

  My final thanks go to Michael, who is always with me.

  Glossary of acronyms

  DCI–Detective Chief Inspector (senior officer on case)

  DI–Detective Inspector

  DS–Detective Sergeant

  SOCO–Scene of the Crime Officer (collects forensic evidence at scene)

  PM–Post mortem or Autopsy (examination of dead body to establish cause of death)

  CCTV–Closed Circuit Television (security cameras)

  VIIDO–Visual Images, Identification and Detections Office

  Preface

  He never forgot the first time the cat brought a bird into the house. A small brown creature, its wings were still flapping although its eyes were glazed above a beak that hung open. Warning him not to go anywhere near the dying bird, his mother chased the cat outside. He must have been about six or seven, young enough to obey his mother’s command without question. Returning to the kitchen, she explained that the cat had intended to bring her a present.

  ‘We feed Billy,’ she went on, ‘but it’s still a generous gesture. He could have kept the bird for himself. That’s his way of showing us he loves us. Cats aren’t like people.’

  Her last comment had puzzled him. Of course he knew that cats weren’t like people. They had four legs, for a start, and they couldn’t talk. Another time, the cat brought in a dead mouse. His mother scooped it up in a wad of newspaper, leaving a streak of blood on the lino. After cleaning the floor and washing her hands, she turned to him with a sour expression on her face.

  ‘Don’t be upset with Billy,’ she said. ‘He was bringing us a present.’

  Far from upset, he had been intrigued and vaguely excited at the enormity of what Billy had done.

  It was a hot summer, with blazing days that seemed to stretch out endlessly, a childhood summer where he fell asleep before the sun set, and woke to see it rising in the sky. Crouching in dry grass behind the garden shed, he spent weeks devising a box with a lid that snapped shut as soon as a frail stick holding it open was dislodged. Discovering that his homemade contraption had succeeded was one of the highlights of his early childhood. His breath caught in his throat when he first saw the box was shut. Concealed beneath a hedge behind the garden shed, he was pretty sure no one else would have stumbled on it. Only a small animal could have set off the mechanism that snapped the box shut.

  His hands trembled with excitement as he picked it up. There was no sound from inside the box, no frantic scuttling of tiny feet, no outraged squawking from a trapped creature. Dreading that he would open it only to find it empty, he lifted the lid a fraction and peered inside. There was no movement in the box. He slid the lid across another fraction and cried out at the sight of a tiny beady black eye glaring up at
him.

  Slamming the lid shut, he collapsed on the ground, laughing hysterically. It was a while before he calmed down enough to consider his next move. He wanted to be brave and kill the mouse with his bare hands, but he was afraid of being bitten. Apart from the pain, mice carried all sorts of disgusting diseases. Sitting on the ground behind the shed, feeling the dry grass prickly against his bare legs, he weighed up his various options.

  In the end he chose to kill it with a stick, pressing down against the creature’s head until something cracked with a minute jolt rather than a sound. Spellbound, he watched a thin trickle of blood seep into the untreated wood. He couldn’t explain what was happening, but he understood that something significant was taking place through a process he himself had initiated with his own hands inside a box he had made.

  His mother’s reaction when he handed her a dead mouse had been his first letdown in a life filled with disappointment.

  ‘It’s a present for you,’ he told her proudly. ‘I killed it myself.’

  Her scream seemed to pierce his head. He was so shocked he dropped the mouse, which landed on the floor with a faint thud. Such a small sound for a dead body. His father came running into the kitchen. When his mother had recovered sufficiently to recount what had happened, his father scrubbed his hands before taking him into the living room and sitting him down.

  ‘Where did you find the mouse?’ he asked, his grey eyes sharp with concern.

  ‘I trapped it,’ he muttered, already less confident about boasting of his exploit.

  ‘You mean you found it?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Tell me exactly what happened.’

  Pride in his accomplishment overcame his reticence as he recounted how he had set a trap in the garden and, after many attempts, had finally succeeded in catching a mouse.

  ‘And the animal was dead when you found it?’

  Something in his father’s manner warned him to be cautious. ‘Sort of,’ he hedged.

  ‘So you finished it off to put it out of its misery?’

  He nodded. It was a weird way of describing his experience but even at such a young age he could sense it might be best to conceal his feelings. Later that day he heard his father explaining to his mother that he had wanted to end the creature’s suffering.