He had been taking in the front page of the Scarbeck Reporter and it did not make for good reading.Linking the discovery of Susan Edwards on Scarbeck Point and the disappearance of Victoria Reid from Fenton Road filling station, Carol Russell, a woman with a renowned antipathy for the police, had written both accounts and neither was inconvenienced by the truth. In fact, they were so riddled with opinion that any reader could be forgiven for thinking that they were leaders rather than reports. Tucked away in his office, one eye on the clock, Shannon felt there were times when he wished he was someone like Croft, a university teacher and writer; someone who did not have to read adverse criticism. In the case of a police superintendent, there was no option and Shannon had to force himself to read through the article, including those passages where he came in for personal criticism.When Thurrock knocked and entered, Shannon was as pleased to turn away from the newspaper as he was irritated by the prospect of digesting forensic reports.
