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“No, he’s not. I suppose it’s partially my fault—I told him we were on the brink of cracking the case. I promise I’ll think before I put my mouth into gear next time. Anyway, let’s start afresh on Monday. Have a good weekend, folks. Oh, and if you happen to go out and frequent any pubs in the area, keep a vigilant eye open for the suspect we have a dubious sketch of, if you will?”

“I’ll make some copies if you like, boss,” Joanna volunteered.

“Thanks. I’m going to shoot off now. I have to pick up my poorly pup on the way home. Have a good one, peeps.”

Sally arrived at the vet’s moments before evening surgery began as the vet had instructed. A nurse led Dex into the consulting room. His tail wagged vigorously when he saw Sally; she knelt on the floor and gently cuddled her pal. “All better are you, sweetie?”

“Hardly,” the vet said. “But he’s getting there. He was very lucky the rib didn’t puncture his lung. If that had happened, I doubt he would have pulled through. Gentle exercise only over the next few weeks and certainly no running after a ball. Here’s some painkillers and the instructions for their use. Any problems, don’t hesitate to contact me, day or night. Keep him under surveillance at all times, if you will.”

“I’ll do that over the weekend then pass the baton across to my parents while I’m at work. Thank you so much for saving him, Doc. I’d be lost without his cheeky face around the place.”

“He’s certainly a character. Not many dogs would have withstood the suffering he’s put up with these last couple of days. That’s for sure. Need a hand getting him into the car?”

“We’ll be fine.” Sally stood and shook Dr. Munroe’s hand. “Sincerely, I thank you for caring for him.”

“It’s my job. Take care now. Can you bring him back in about ten days for a check-up?”

“I will. Thanks.”

Gingerly, Dex walked beside her, not pulling on the leash as he usually did. Once they reached the car, she held open the back door. Dex placed his front paws in the footwell, and she hoisted his rear end into the car. Dex travelled in the footwell behind her seat during the short trip home. Her parents were at the gate to meet them. Gathered around the car they exchanged kisses under the watchful eye of the vile neighbours across the road.

“I don’t think we’ll be getting any more crap from them in the near future. Let’s get the boy in and settled.” She opened the back door, and Dex surprised her by jumping out of the car before she had the chance to grab him. “Dex, calm down, boy. Are you all right?” She crouched and kissed his head. The dog whimpered and licked her face.

Before she closed the high side gate, Sally glared at the wife of the man who’d been taken into custody, and pointed a warning finger in her direction. The woman scowled and stormed into her house.

The rest of the weekend consisted of caring for her dog and generally relaxing with her parents, while keeping a vigilant eye on the neighbours from hell. She spent the odd hour or two on obligatory work-related notes. She even contacted Jack over the weekend with a few suspicions she had, much to Donna’s disgust. She’d reminded herself on more than one occasion that they had a deadline to meet. She had a feeling she would be ticking more people off over the coming days in order to get the case wrapped up by the weekend.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Monday morning arrived, along with a renewed determination rushing through her veins. Sally kissed her parents farewell and told them not to expect her home until late that evening.

Jack parked his car next to hers as she was getting out of her vehicle in the station’s car park. “Good weekend?” he called out.

“Relaxing. Think I missed my vocation. I should have considered a nursing job instead.”

Jack smiled. “How is Dex?”

“He’ll be fine. He’s eager to burn off some energy. That’s the difficult part, restricting him. How was your weekend?”

“Surprisingly good, in spite of Donna having a hissy fit every time you called.”

She winced.

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, at least the anger cloud that has been hovering over the house appears to have moved on. Teresa brought her boyfriend round, and we had a grown-up discussion about what they intend doing when the child is born.”

“Which is?” Sally asked as they reached the main entrance and walked into the reception area of the huge round building.

He cringed and closed one eye. “Well, we’ve said that we’re willing to let Tim move in with us, if that’s what they both want. For the child’s sake, of course.”

“Crikey! Never in a million years did I think I’d ever hear you say those words. Are you and Donna sure about that?”

“Everyone seems to be okay with the arrangements now. Whether we’ll all be happy when the child arrives is anyone’s guess.”

They reached the incident room, bought a coffee from the machine, and went through to Sally’s office.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Jack asked, taking a sip from his paper cup.

“Well, first I want you to check if any incidents have been reported overnight, the type we’d be interested in linking the case to, I mean. Then I need to again recap things as a team. We’ve got five days to complete this case. Any outstanding information we’re waiting for needs to be chased hard this morning. Got that?”

“Yep, I hear you.” He emptied his cup and left the room.

Jack reappeared in Sally’s doorway a few moments later, panting like an excited puppy. Sally recognised his expression and pulled on her jacket in readiness. “Hit me with it. Another murder?”

“Another victim, yes.”

“Where?”

“She’s in the hospital. She survived the attack, boss.”

“Jesus, really? How bad is she?”

Jack inclined his head and wrinkled his nose. “She’s in a coma. There’s every chance that she won’t make it.”

“We must think positive. There’s every chance she might. Let’s get over to the hospital and see for ourselves. You can fill me in on what happened on the way.”

They rushed through the building and jumped into Sally’s car. Sally put her foot down. “So?”

“Apparently, the girl was found in an alley. Looks like he tried to strangle her but failed.”

“Maybe she played dead just to let him think he’d succeeded.” Sally knew that’s how she would play things if she were a victim.

“Or, perhaps he was disturbed during the attack.”

“I don’t suppose there were any witnesses?” Sally asked.

“No. But an old codger who lives in the alley was the one who called it in.”

“So there was a witness?”

Jack shook his head. “The old man said he’d left the alley for an hour or so to source some food. When he returned at the other end of the alley, he heard a noise. He called out and rounded the corner, only to hear footsteps of the attacker running away.”

“So, he didn’t actually see the assailant?” Sally asked.

“Nope. Do you think we’ll ever get to arrest this guy?”

“For a start, Jack, we haven’t got any evidence linking this to the other crimes. Not unless he got around to… well, raping the girl. Do we know if that happened?”

“No. To be honest, I forgot to ask. Maybe I just assumed that this attack could be linked to the previous ones.”

“That’s fine. We’ll soon find out. Let’s hope we discover extra DNA on the girl, in the form of hairs et cetera.”

“Well, if we are talking about the same guy, he’s been super-efficient at disguising that up until now. I suppose if he was disturbed in the act, there’s every chance he might have slipped up.”

“Exactly, if we’re dealing with the same guy. I’m inclined to think we are just because of what day the attack took place. We have to keep our fingers crossed that the girl pulls through. This could be the break we need.”