TRACE - CSI Reilly Steel #5 (Forensic novel Police Procedural Series) by Casey Hill Page A

Reilly made herself a quick salad and sat down at her table to work. At times like this, it would be nice to have a cat or dog. Or something for a little companionship. Most of her colleagues were out having a post work drinks and she was at home, trying to concentrate on old case files and keep up to date with emails.
    The truth was, her mind kept wandering to the lunch she had with Chris. They had strayed into the territory of the personal today, and it had been strangely comforting. She knew, had known for a long time that Chris was someone she could really tell things to.
    That’s why she had to be extra vigilant around him. She’d learnt that lesson with Todd. She didn’t need anything complicating her work relationships. Especially not now, when they had made the biggest break-through of the case so far.
    What Gary had found today would help. They would be able to make stronger hypotheses about the killer, able to track his state of mind more easily. There might be yet more clues to be gleaned from the earlier crime scene. Rose Cooper. The two victims were very different. Jennifer was reasonably wealthy, having had a successful PR firm of her own making. She was sophisticated, savvy, independent. She knew what she wanted and had no problem taking it. This other girl, Rose, was much less sure of herself. She was a single mother, hailing from a working class family who lived outside of Dublin, in the Midlands somewhere. She had left school at sixteen become pregnant and then came to the city and began working as a waitress, trying to pick up acting gigs at the same time.
    Family and friends said that around the time before her death she had been feeling discouraged and was depressed. One of Rose’s close friends had said that she was not sexually confidant, but was quite shy with men and seemed to date only men who didn’t treat her well. Reilly saw the name Harry McMurty pop up a few times. An old colleague. She wondered if Kennedy had found anything out on his solo expedition to her workplace. He hadn’t said anything that afternoon, but then they were all excited about the new findings.
    She opened her laptop and clicked on the email from Gary and frowned. Darren Keating, Grace Gorman’s ex-boyfriend was in jail, in Mountjoy Prison.
    She would go over there after work on Friday if she could spare the time. The prison was only a stone’s throw across the city but she wasn’t exactly overjoyed at the thought of it. The guy sounded the very opposite of charming and she was sorry that Lucy’s sister had got mixed up with a kid who was clearly trouble. The question was, did he have anything to do with Grace’s disappearance?
    According to the case file, Keating had been interviewed a few times immediately afterwards, but had been less than helpful. He had tried to diminish the relationship, saying that it was just a casual thing, that he hadn’t really known Grace that well. But other friends indicated that they had been seen together all the time; that they were practically inseparable. Reilly always felt that there might be more to tease out there, but from what she could tell the new task force weren’t focusing on past acquaintances. Hell, she didn't think they were focusing on much at all and the new investigation was more about appearances than anything else. The lab had got practically nothing from the house and the other trinkets, so what had seemed like a breakthrough at the time had simply led to other frustrating dead ends.
    Lucy was another problem when it came to the re-examination of Grace’s case: she’d barely spoken to Reilly since they had gone out to her childhood home the other day and she had broken down.
    Reilly felt that she was actively avoiding her. She needed to talk to Lucy, to make her feel safe again. But she couldn’t help but feel that her reaction merely proved that she knew something, whether she was aware of it or not. She didn’t think that Lucy was lying, or hiding