Dr IanMarsh has been a university lecturer for many years and has taught,researched and written widely on crime and criminal justice. He isthe author of numerous academic books on crime and justice and thisis his second fictional book – following on fromMurderer: On YourMark, published by Austin Macauley inDecember 2015.
'Ian Marsh has used hisexperience to create a worthy academic crime novel, featuring anarrator who definitely doesn't put his students first. Murderer onYour Mark is a wicked poison pill of a debut.' Paul Johnston, CWADagger Winner
IanMarsh
Gemma MakesHer Mark
Copyright ©Ian Marsh (2017)
The right of IanMarsh to be identified as author of this work has been asserted byhim in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designsand Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any personwho commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publicationmay be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims fordamages.
A CIP cataloguerecord for this title is available from the BritishLibrary.
This is afictional story and therefore any resemblance to actual persons,living or dead, or particular institutions or actual events ispurely coincidental.
ISBN9781787105768 (Paperback)
ISBN9781787105775 (E-Book)
www.austinmacauley.com
FirstPublished (2017)
AustinMacauley Publishers™ Ltd.
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Acknowledgements
In trying to capturethe feel and detail of the period and places that this story is setin, I am indebted to many people who invariably have answered mycalls with such willingness and patience. I would like to thank, inparticular, Lena Simic and her Aunt, Branka Franicevic, for sharingwith me their knowledge of the people and history ofDubrovnik.
As ever, the team atAustin Macauley, and particularly Walter Stephenson and Vinh Tran,have helped enormously in turning my script into a finishedproduct.
Finally and mostimportantly, thanks to Gaynor for her continued support and flow ofideas.
Part One:Friday 24 July – SATURDAY 25 JULY 1981
Mark wasstarting to get a barbecue going in the back garden of the endterrace cottage he and Gemma had bought a few months previously.She’d be back from a court visit shortly – having tried, no doubt,to make the case for a probation order rather than a prisonsentence on behalf of one of her hapless regulars – and he’dpromised her they’d make the most of the still light, mid-Julysummer evenings. Having tried paper and twigs, he was already ontothe firelighters but with little luck so far. He pondered thatperhaps it represented something of an allegory for his recent life– it had been difficult to get things started since his release onparole the previous winter, after just over six years inprison.
They haddecided on Petworth as a suitable place to start their lifetogether, between Littlehampton, home to the probation office thatGemma was based at, and Farnham, where her mother rattled around inthe large mock Tudor house she’d been left with after Gemma’sfather died. Mark had used some of the money he had saved from thewreckage of his marriage to Fiona, and which he’d had no need orchance to use while in prison, for the deposit and Gemma hadarranged a small mortgage – £25,000 wasn’t a bad price and it was alovely area and a nice place to live. However in spite of that, andeven after just a few months, Mark couldn’t throw off a general andgrowing feeling of dissatisfaction, or maybe more accurately ofboredom, with his situation.
The markettown of Petworth itself was picture-postcard quaint: cobbledstreets around the centre, and home to a growing number of antiqueshops, reflecting its rapidly developing reputation as a centre forthe trade. The imposing Petworth House was the major – really, only– tourist attraction; it dominated the town but Mark knew little ofits history, apart from the fact that prior to being handed over tothe National Trust shortly after the Second World War it hadbelonged to various aristocratic families. He was more familiarwith the little stone cross in the local cemetery commemorating the32 boys and masters who’d been killed when Petworth Boys Schoolswas hit, supposedly mistakenly, by German bombs in 1942. Apparentlythe bombs had been aimed at Petworth House itself, which presumablyand according to local gossip was being used at the time formilitary purposes of some sort.
Thingshadn’t happened for Mark as he’d envisioned when he was countingtime and making plans at Ford Open Prison, just down the road fromLittlehampton. Completing his sentence there explained his contactwith the probation office in Littlehampton and with Gemma inparticular. He had tried his hand at this and that, but nothing hadtaken off. Most recently, and trying to benefit from the growingantique market, he had been buying and selling bits and pieces ofantique furniture. He’d immersed himself in recent copies of therenowned Miller’s Guides toAntiques and Collectables and idled awaya good few hours, merging into days, following up local ads andpottering around at auction viewings and sales. He fancied he hadbecome something of an amateur expert and had even managed to sella couple of nursing chairs and a Victorian rosewood wheel barometerat a recent furniture sale, but really that had only just coveredthe commission he ended up being charged. Nonetheless it had beenreasonably pleasant inveigling his way into the local antiquescene, and the chance of making a real find and potential profitadded some interest and even excitement to the whole endeavour. Atthe same time as dabbling in the trade he’d made a fewacquaintances at sales run by Weller’s, who had recently expandedfrom running just agricultural and livestock auctions.
