Author(s): Terry L Probert

Crime Fiction

Voss takes in every detail as he picks through the crime scene, but this isn't just any crime scene, he knows the victims. The killers have taken their time. Queen's Counsel Luke Peters is covered in hundreds of small incisions. Voss moves behind the second victim and studies her position. There has to be a reason why whoever did this, made Estelle witness her husband's torture.

The small tattoo on her right shoulder rushes back a memory and he wants to smile. Estelle had insisted he pay for it during the first week of their honeymoon. He pictured her smiling and twisting almost dancing. Looking back over her shoulder and trying to catch the reflection of it in a shop window. His name and hers joined by a heart. It was the happiest he'd seen her and Estelle had never removed it, a fact that must have galled the high-flying defence lawyer. Voss steps away and allows his smile to show.

A few months earlier, Estelle changed her will and unknown to everyone, named Voss as beneficiary. It's a complication that sees him as a possible suspect and he is removed from the case. Without a team to help clear his name, Voss cons Eddie, a down and out tech guru, to help.

However, Eddie's passion for technology is distracting and Voss wishes he hadn't let himself get sucked into this whirlpool of technical sludge. Eddie develops a phone app, creating a virtual time machine that can backtrack a suspect's movements. Voss unsure of his team's progress, agrees to a hit and run hack of the police data base.

Voss insists Eddie the vagrant cleans up and moves inside. They might share an Odd Couple dynamic, but it's their competitive spirit that drives the investigation forward.

Voss's judgment is clouded by refusing to see anyone other than Luke Peters being the reason behind the continuing murder count. Peters was never seen as someone dripping with morals and Voss believes that whatever got them killed, is solely down to him. When another murder victim has links to Estelle, her mother Donna, makes Voss see past the romantic image he has of her. Donna, a forensic accountant insists joining him to piece the case together.

The Peters' company, Estelle International appears to be built on the fashion industry. However, Voss and his companions are finding that the business reaches deeper. Supplying modelling talent to everything from high fashion, to the porn industry and even prostitution is a driver behind Estelle Peters' wealth. However, her it's her skills as a procurer, that have made her influential across all political and business spectrums. No longer the wide-eyed girl Voss married all those years ago. Estelle Peters had become a woman of power and influence.

Convinced that someone above Superintendent Una Knight is causing undue interference in the Peters' case. And unable to do anything about it, Voss calls on a mob boss for information. He learns that no hit has been ordered for the killings. and a little more than he wanted to. Eddie is not who he said he is.

Bullets found in two high class escorts have come from the weapon Voss turned in when suspended, however investigating officers have vision of the Assistant Commissioner pilfering the pistol.

Arresting an Assistant Commissioner is a big news event, and the police media department decide to demonstrate their organisation is proactive in their quest toward equal opportunity. They insist Detective Sergeant, Lucy Nguyen make the arrest, and the press have been invited to offer live broadcast.

Before the case concludes, Canberra has eleven people murdered by two separate killers and a cold case unearthed.