by Joy Ellis
As the salty sea breeze caressed their faces, they touched glasses and drank.
‘Why here, sir?’ asked Rosie. ‘I like fresh air and all that, but this usually happens in the CID room.’
‘Because in a few months’ time this area will be gone. This part of Roman Marsh is to become a marina. The old sanatorium site is to be razed to the ground, and Hobs End Marsh will be flooded to give waterway access to the new moorings and boatyard.’
‘Best thing ever!’ Gary exclaimed. ‘This marsh has been a place of fear and death for far too long. My sister would have been thrilled.’
Suddenly Marie’s eyes narrowed. ‘Then someone has made a killing, so to speak, selling off all that land. Can I guess who it is?’
‘You won’t need a second guess. Benedict Broome is a very wealthy man.’
‘Jammy git,’ muttered Max. ‘Still, you have to hand it to anyone who can come through something like that more or less unscathed.’
Unscathed? Jackman looked across the marsh and followed the flight path of some pink-footed geese. He remembered Philip Groves saying, “We are all damaged. We all have secrets, each one of us.”
As they walked in comfortable silence back to the sea-bank, Jackman wondered about the “capable” Benedict Broome.
Philip had been their physician and their healer, but Benedict had been the one they turned to for answers. Benedict sorted the problems. Benedict found ways to provide for them, protect them, and bring them back to the fold.
So Benedict was the fixer. Which left only one mystery unsolved, as far as Jackman could make out. The murder of Charlotte and Simeon Mulberry. Had Benedict fixed that too?
Jackman breathed in the salty, ozone-laden air and shook his head. Maybe it was finally time to close the book, and let sleeping dogs lie.
THE END
OTHER BOOKS BY JOY ELLIS
THE BEST-SELLING NIKKI GALENA SERIES
Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS
Book 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
Book 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS
Book 4: KILLER ON THE FENS
Book 5: STALKER ON THE FENS
Book 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS
JACKMAN & EVANS
Book 1: THE MURDERER’S SON
Book 2: THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS
The DI Nikki Galena books
CRIME ON THE FENS
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CRIME-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01H98SG5G/
https://www.amazon.com/CRIME-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01H98SG5G/
A NEW CRIME THRILLER WITH A COMPELLING DETECTIVE WHO WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO AVENGE HER DAUGHTER
DI Nikki Galena Book 2
SHADOW OVER THE FENS
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SHADOW-gripping-crime-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01HHA49SY/
https://www.amazon.com/SHADOW-gripping-crime-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01HHA49SY/
TWO BRUTAL KILLERS ARE LOOSE ON THE FENS BUT WHO CAN DI NIKKI GALENA TRUST?
Detective Nikki Galena’s friend and neighbour meets a tragic end but there’s more to his death than meets the eye . . .
And someone terrible from DS Joseph Easter’s past is back . . .
NIKKI GALENA BOOK 3
HUNTED ON THE FENS
A vicious criminal is targeting DI Nikki Galena and her team. One by one he will hunt them down and destroy their lives, unless she can stop him first
https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUNTED-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01IYIDWCM/
https://www.amazon.com/HUNTED-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01IYIDWCM/
JACKMAN & EVANS BOOK 1
THE MURDERER’S SON
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDERERS-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01LWY0PUJ/
https://www.amazon.com/MURDERERS-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01LWY0PUJ/
"What if your mother was a serial killer?"
A BLOODY KILLER SEEMS TO HAVE RETURNED TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE FENS
A gripping standalone crime thriller by the best-selling author of the Nikki Galena series.
Twenty years ago: a farmer and his wife are cut to pieces by a ruthless serial killer.
Now: a woman is viciously stabbed to death in the upmarket kitchen of her beautiful house on the edge of the marshes.
Then a man called Daniel Kinder walks into Saltern police station and confesses to the murder.
Glossary of English Slang for US readers
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital
AFO: Authorised Firearms Officer
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Boggart: an evil spirit
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: do a bunk means escape
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Falklands War:
war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy, and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth/ can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Hoover: vacuum cleaner
I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
Jane Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous
JCB: a mechanical excavator
Jerry-built: badly made
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.
Lorry: a truck
Lovely jubbly: said when someone is pleased
Luftwaffe: German air force
M&S: Marks and Spencer, a food and clothes shop
Mispers: missing persons
Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie
MOD: ministry of defence
Mobile phone: cell phone
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
MRSA: A strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Myra Hindley: famous British serial killer
Naff: lame, not good
Naff all: none
National Service: compulsory UK military service, ended in 60s
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
Old bag: old woman (insulting)
Old Bill: police
OTT: over the top
Owt: anything
PACE: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
Pan as in flushed down: flushed down the toilet
Pants: noun: underwear adjective: bad/rubbish/terrible
Para: paratrooper
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
Pear-shaped: go wrong
Petrol: gasoline
Pictures: movie
Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence
Pillock: fool
Pips: police insignia indicating rank
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Pissing down: raining
Playing field: sports field
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Post: mail
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
PNC: Police National Computer
PSNI: police service of Northern Ireland
Prat: silly idiot
Premier League: top English soccer division
Public Analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes
RAF: Royal Air Force
Rag: newspaper
Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
Randy: horny
Recce: reconnaissance
Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter
Resus: resuscitation room
Right state: messy
Ring: telephone (verb)
Roadworks: repairs done to roads
Rozzers: police
RSPB: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
RTC: road traffic collision
RV: rendezvous point
Royal Engineers: British army corps dealing with military engineering etc.
Rugger: rugby (posh American football)
Sarge: sergeant
SCO19: Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command
Scrote: low life
Section: to have someone committed to a mental hospital under UK mental health laws
Semi: Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only
Shedload: a large amount
Shop: store
Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way
Sickie: day off work pretending to be ill
Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years.
SIO: senior investigating officer
Skip: a large open container used for building waste
Slapper: slag
Smackhead: heroin addict
Snout: police informer
SOCO: scene-of-crime officer
Sod: an annoying person
Sort: to do or make
Solicitor: lawyer
Sparky: electrician
Spook: spy
Spuds: potatoes
Squaddie: a soldier of low rank
Stunner: beautiful woman
Super: superintendent (police rank)
Surveyor: someone who examines land and buildings professionally
Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart
Tabloid: newspaper
Tea: Dinner (Northern English)
Tea towel: drying cloth
Till: cash register
Tip: a mess
Tipsy: a bit drunk
Top himself: commit suicide
Torch: flashlight
Tutor: university teacher
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
Upmarket: affluent or fancy
Wacky baccy: cannabis
WAG: abbreviation for wife and girlfriend, especially of a well-known sportsman.
Wally: silly person
War Cry: Salvation Army magazine
Wash: the washing machine
Water board: company supplying water to an area
Web-foot: Native of Lincolnshire Fens
White van man: typical working-class man who drives a small truck
WI: Women’s Institute, organisation of women in UK for social/cultural activity
Widow’s weeds: black clothes worn by a widow in mourning
Wilco: will comply i.e. yes
Wreckers: someone who tried to bring about shipwrecks to plunder the wreckage (historical)
Wrinklies: old people
Yellowbelly: native of Lincolnshire
Yob: a rude or aggressive youth or person
Character List
D I Rowan Jackman
Jackman is a gentleman; tall, slim, erudite, and has come into the police force with a degree from Cambridge University. His one passion, other than his work, is horses. He is a fair boss and has a knack for pinpointing the strengths within his team and therefore bringing out the best in them.
DS Marie Evans
Marie is something of an Amazon; she is 46 years old, tall with long chestnut hair and she always reminds Jackman of a Pre-Raphaelite in racing leathers, becaus
e she is a very adept motorcyclist. She is widowed; her husband was killed racing a vintage bike. Marie works on gut instinct. She is well liked and well respected by her team who give her the nickname of Super Mario. Although from very different backgrounds, she and Jackman gel perfectly.
DC Max Cohen
Max is a young cockney detective. He is not averse to voicing his opinions and has an ongoing feud with his younger partner, Charlie. However, his overconfident approach to life comes from being the youngest of a large East London family and having to find ways to hold his own. And whereas he can have a go at Charlie, heaven help anyone else who tried it. Max is fiercely loyal to the team and would be a good man to have beside you in a tight corner.
DC Charlie Button
Charlie is a scruffy boyish-looking man. He is the youngest member of the team but he is willing and eager to learn. He is good-natured and copes well with having the mickey taken out of him. Charlie’s has occasional flashes of brilliance, seeing something so obvious that everyone else has overlooked.
PC Gary Pritchard
Head hunted by Jackman from a neighbouring division. He is a local man, with a wealth of knowledge about the fenlands. Gary is a bachelor who lived with his sister in a small marsh village. When his sister died he was glad to have a change of scenery and happily joined Saltern-le-Fen. He is a gentle and friendly man who would go out on a limb for his colleagues.
DC Rosie McElderry
Rosie has worked in CID for several years but has recently joined DI Jackman’s team. She has long blonde hair, green eyes, is 24 years old, but looks like a teenage school prefect, an appearance that although deceiving, is very useful when doing undercover work. She has a very good memory and is happy to tackle anything, no matter how dangerous.
Superintendent Ruth Crooke
Ruth is a tough, rather unnerving woman. She has a hard, controlling exterior, an acerbic tongue and rarely smiles. She is, however, very good at her job and puts her officers' safety and well-being above everything. Despite her manner, she has a soft spot for DI Jackman, and is the only person that he tolerates calling him Rowan.