Page 2 of 36 Hours

Assemble your team, including one high-ranking police officer.

Post updates on the progress of the game every 6 hours on theDudley Starwebsite naming the Jester.

Updates to begin at noon. Failure will have consequences.

The game will end at 7p.m. Monday.

Make no mistake. Play the game or people will die.

The Jester

Even knowing it was a printout, Kim turned it over and checked the other side.

‘You woke me up at this time on a Sunday morning for a crackpot email?’ she asked, pushing the paper back towards Frost and turning to the kettle.

‘It came in at 4a.m.,’ Frost offered.

‘Even I don’t need to tell you how sad it is that you’re checking your emails that early on a Sunday morning, and all that tells me is that the person yanking your chain has insomnia.’

She shrugged. ‘Hardly the point. What are we going to do about it?’

‘Well, I’m planning on throwing you out and going back to bed, but…’

‘You don’t think we need to do something?’

‘Frost, I’m pretty sure you’ve had dodgy emails before. Probably even death threats, which I can understand – some of them may even have come from me – so why are you taking this one seriously?’

Frost pushed the paper back towards her. ‘There’s no sensationalism. It’s precise, it’s to the point. It doesn’t ramble. It’s well written, it’s grammatically correct and it’s very clear that people will get hurt.’

‘You’re taking it seriously cos the sender knows how to use spellcheck?’ Kim asked, picking the page back up.

She read the message again and could kind of see Frost’s point, but she remained unconvinced. It was an email to a reporter.

‘It’s a hoax. A prank,’ she said with a little less conviction than she would have liked.

‘You might be right, Stone,’ Frost replied. ‘But what if you’re not?’

Kim considered the implications for a good ten seconds.

And then she reached for her phone.

TWO

‘How can I possibly resist you?’ Jenny asked as he headed back towards the bed.

‘Beats me,’ Bryant said, jumping in on his own side.

He’d considered using the bathroom visit as a prompt to get out of bed and make an early start on the overwintering jobs Jenny wanted done in the garden.

After a soggy September, the first week of October had been dry, bright and positively balmy with highs of twenty degrees. The temperature was now dropping drastically at both ends of the day, prompting Jenny’s instructions for the last mow, pruning back and covering the outside furniture.

But it was Sunday. A lazy, peaceful, chilled start to the day was just what he needed. The feel of the bed still warm from his own body had proven too tempting to resist. And he welcomed any excuse to put off the jobs he didn’t want to do.

‘Come here and let me put my cold feet on you,’ he said, moving towards his wife.

Jenny moved her legs out of reach and chuckled. ‘Much as that idea appeals to me, do you not want to check your phone first?’

‘For what?’ he asked, frowning.

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