If She Doesn't Scare You

Prologue- 1948- The Police

"Anything new?"

The Detective glanced up from the photos and then looked back down again. He noticed their DCI standing just a little way over from them and so resumed what he hoped looked like a deep thought process in this case. He had been staring at the pictures from the crime scene for at least 15 minutes now, hoping they would elicit something he just wasn't seeing. It was the position of Annie Grey's body that was bothering him the most. Why was she slumped over the animal enclosure like that? Was she trying to protect them somehow? He resisted the urge to smile- as if he didn't know.

5 days ago the South End London branch of police had received a phone call from a hysterical woman in 2, Acre's Road. She said she had walked into the pet store only to find an elderly woman slumped over a large, open-topped box where the puppies were usually kept. Police were still trying to calm her down a full 10 minutes after they arrived. Constable Adams had expressed his opinion very openly. Millard had had a hard time trying to keep his composure. Adams had said that women at crime scenes rarely left them without fainting or having some kind of fit. In his opinion, they should be escorted away from them as quickly as possible. This woman was particularly bad. Her red hair band had fallen halfway down her face she was in such a state. If she was acting- she was certainly 1st- class. Mrs Grey hadn't been dead long but already when the police arrived, there was a large pool of blood covering more than half the floor. It wasn't a large pet shop but the scene made it look even smaller. It was bizarre to say the least. Not only had 66 year-old Mrs Grey been stabbed several times, all the puppies from the enclosure were missing too. Not only that, but several of the rabbit hutches were open and one of the fish tanks had been smashed, leaving glass shards and dead fish all over the floor. The missing animals were presumed to have escaped. Both their doors and the front of the pet shop was open, so it was likely Mrs Grey had been attempting to feed them before she was attacked. It didn't explain the fish tank though, and it was even harder to figure out why there had been no witnesses. Okay maybe a pet shop on a Tuesday at 11am wasn't the busiest place- but just how good was this killer?

"Millard?" Their DCI was still hovering, time for some improvisation.

"Sorry Constable, no. Nothing new."

He'd forgotten he was there he was so absorbed. He absolutely hated having no leads so far into a case. It was almost a week and still nothing. Their first and only lead was the husband who swore blind he had nothing to do with it and produced what he called "a cast-iron alibi". When he had been interviewed last week, he told the Sergeant he had been at work at the time; alone in his office. They'd asked if anyone could account for his actions and at that he'd hung his head and said no. Hardly cast-iron if you asked him. Even though he'd had the decency to look ashamed at his excuse, Millard still didn't like the man. Too sure of himself. He knew men who acted like that, sometimes they couldn't be trusted. They had held him for as long as possible, convinced he had something to do with it. Maybe he'd wanted his wife's inheritance money? Not that she'd earnt much as a pet shop assistant, but after 24 hours in custody they were forced to release him. Not enough evidence. Millard could've easily come up with more leads himself, but as he'd been reminded before- that wasn't his role. Shows what they knew.

"Drat. We really need something to spark soon Detective. Can't just let a murderer walk scot free you know." He sighed and rubbed a hand through his dark hair. Detective Millard didn't say anything for a minute. But he was the commanding officer here, he had to say something- at the very least just to look good to the rest of the office. Eve at this point in time he wanted to slap Constable Adams for being so bloody obstinate and acting as if he was above all women, criminals and the law.

"Maybe we should call the husband back in."