A Darker Place

by Rachel Amphlett

  She raised her hand to shield her eyes as Patrick, one of the CSIs, leaned in and raised his camera, the flash illuminating the interior while he worked his way around the vehicle.

  ‘All right,’ she said, moving to one side so that Barnes could peer in, ‘what are your first impressions?’

  Lucas tossed the last of his instruments into a canvas bag at his feet and straightened. ‘There are no signs of any wounds or trauma other than the obvious signs of frostbite to his fingers and nose. There’s no blood in his hair, but I can’t rule out a head wound until we get him back to the morgue and I can take a closer look. Same as the rest of his body, really. We can’t risk moving him just yet while he’s still so frozen.’

  Barnes gave the dead man a final glance before turning his back to the car. ‘How did he get into this state?’

  Lucas held up a gloved hand. ‘That’s all you’re getting from me until I carry out the post mortem, detective. I’m not going to hazard a guess – there are too many considerations. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to organise getting him out of here.’

  Kay followed him outside and squinted in the bright sunshine. ‘Unusual for you to hang around to do that, Lucas. Isn’t that what Simon’s here for?’

  ‘This one’s going to be a bit tricky.’

  ‘Oh?’

  The pathologist grimaced. ‘Put it this way, Hunter. I don’t want anything important to fall off if we can help it.’

  Chapter Three

  Kay placed her discarded protective suit, gloves and booties into a biohazard bin outside the tent and took a moment to assess the cars arranged across the forecourt.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the rear of the vehicle where the victim was found, the back bumper showing through a gap in the tent as Patrick stood outside talking to Harriet, thumbing through images on the back of his camera.

  The four-door car was older than the others on display – scruffier, worn.

  And a different colour.

  All the other cars were varying shades of white, grey or silver.

  The burgundy paintwork looked out of place alongside a gleaming white four-by-four only a couple of years old, and as she craned her neck across the roof of the nearest two-door hatchback she wondered why the car salesman – O’Connor – had purchased it or taken it as a part-exchange.

  ‘We got Emma’s car from here,’ said Barnes as he joined her. ‘Couple of years ago after she passed her test.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘In the nick of time by the look of it. The prices have gone up a lot since we were here. There’s no way I’d spend this much on a first car.’

  ‘Perhaps O’Connor is aiming for a different clientele to make more money?’

  ‘Maybe. Shall we ask him?’

  ‘Come on, then.’

  Kay followed him into the sales office and, as her eyes adjusted to the subdued lighting, she spotted a familiar lanky figure with spiky hair sitting at a desk in the middle of the room opposite a thick-set man in his early sixties.

  Gavin Piper was a capable detective constable whom she had grown to rely on more over the past year as personnel within her team had changed, and a surge of pride enveloped her as she listened to him guide Mike O’Connor through his preliminary questions.

  She held up a hand to Barnes and paused beside a floor-to-ceiling display of brochures for insurance, car detailing and servicing companies local to the area, taking a moment to have a look around the small office.

  A lemon scent hung in the air and, as her gaze moved across the room, she saw a vacuum cleaner abandoned beside a second desk off to the right. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint but, overall, the business seemed to be well looked after.

  The man sitting opposite Gavin twitched as the phone rang, his eyes moving to the flashing lights displayed across the top of a black plastic unit beside his elbow before he pressed a button and it fell silent.

  The lights kept flashing.

  O’Connor raised his gaze as she and Barnes approached and Gavin turned at the sound of her footsteps.

  ‘Morning, Gavin.’

  ‘Guv.’

  The detective constable rose from his seat, notebook in hand.

  He gestured to the older man sitting behind the desk who wore a pale grey suit that matched his pallor. ‘This is Mike O’Connor who owns the place. Laura’s chatting with Kevin Short, the teenager who found the body. They’re in the kitchen, out the back.’

  ‘How’s he holding up?’

  Gavin sighed. ‘I don’t think he’ll be going to college this week, guv. I might see how Patrick’s getting on out there if you’d like to speak to Mr O’Connor.’

  ‘Thanks, Gavin.’

  Kay introduced herself and Barnes. ‘Mr O’Connor, the car the victim’s body was found in – is it one of yours?’

  ‘God, no. Too old for a start.’ Despite the circumstances, the salesman’s chest expanded as he straightened in his seat and cleared his throat. ‘I only deal in quality used vehicles here.’

  ‘In that case, how do you explain why you didn’t notice it when you arrived this morning?’ Kay glanced out through the open doors. ‘It does rather stand out compared with the other cars you have out there.’

  O’Connor ran a hand over his head, worry lines creasing his brow. ‘I had a lot on my mind, detective, it’s as simple as that. Besides, the entrance to the forecourt is on the opposite side to where that car’s been parked and I live in Wateringbury so I come in from the opposite direction, too. I didn’t see it in my haste to park around the back of the building and get into the office this morning.’

  ‘How is business?’ said Barnes.

  ‘What do you mean?’ O’Connor’s gaze shifted from Kay to Barnes, then back. ‘It’s fine. Fine.’

  ‘It’s just that you mentioned you had a lot on your mind at the moment,’ said Barnes, his voice level.

  O’Connor slumped in his chair, and held up his hands. ‘The ex-wife’s trying to get more money out of me, that’s all. Reckons she didn’t get a fair share of the profits when I bought her out last year.’

  ‘She owns the business too?’ said Kay.

  ‘No – owned. Partners, or we were.’ O’Connor snorted. ‘I told my accountant it was a mistake to make her a shareholder when I bought the place.’

  ‘When Kevin told you about the dead man he found, did you have a look?’

  ‘I didn’t believe him at first,’ he said, a shaking hand picking up a pad of sticky notes that he thumbed through while he spoke. ‘I was arguing with the wife at the time. Ex-wife. Kevin bowled in here as white as a sheet. I got as far as the four-by-four and could see the bloke on the back seat. That was enough for me. I called your lot straight away.’

  Kay nodded to Barnes and waited while the detective sergeant pulled his mobile from his pocket.

  ‘We’re going to need you to take a look at this photo,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, it’s not pleasant but I’d like you to tell me whether you recognise him.’

  She watched as O’Connor dropped the notepad, his eyes widening.

  ‘But…’

  ‘Please, Mr O’Connor. It’s important to our investigation.’

  ‘Oh… okay.’ His eyes filled with horror as Barnes turned the screen to face him. ‘No – no, I don’t know him.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Kay turned at the sound of a door opening to see DC Laura Hanway leading a teenager into the sales office, then rose from her seat. ‘Mr O’Connor, thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch. In the meantime, you can speak with DC Piper at any point during the course of this morning but I would ask that you remain here in the sales office rather than out on the forecourt.’

  ‘I understand.’ O’Connor jerked his chin towards the open doors. ‘Any idea how long they’ll be out there?’

  ‘As long as it takes, Mr O’Connor.’

  Chapter Four

  Laura Hanway introduced Kay and Barnes to Kevin Short, then placed her hand on the teenager’s arm and led
him over to the second desk.

  ‘I’ll get you a glass of water while you speak to Detective Inspector Hunter,’ she said. ‘Won’t be long.’

  She shot Kay a small smile as she disappeared back out through the inner door, and Kay realised that her latest protégée was learning fast under the tutelage of the more experienced team members.

  Her decision to interview a key witness alone, while her colleague spoke with the kid’s boss so that they could move through the initial stages of the investigation in a timely manner, demonstrated a new confidence that radiated from their latest recruit.

  The care and attention she’d shown towards the young witness was reassuring, too.

  ‘Kevin, we’d just like to go over a few things if that’s all right?’ Kay began.

  The teenager might be as tall as her but the fluff on his chin bore the signs of someone desperately trying to leave his childhood years behind while his wide eyes retained a boyish innocence.

  An innocence that had received a rude awakening only hours before.

  He shrugged one shoulder, then seemed to remember who he was speaking to and stood a little taller, gesturing to two upholstered chairs in front of the desk.

  ‘Would you like to take a seat?’

  ‘We’re fine, thanks. How old are you, Kevin?’

  ‘Seventeen.’

  ‘Been working here long?’

  ‘Since October last year.’ He sighed, ran a hand through thick brown hair that flopped in his eyes, then leaned against the desk, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge. ‘I wanted to get settled in college first, get used to the routine there and then find something so I could earn some money on the days I didn’t have classes.’

  ‘What are you studying?’ said Barnes, looking up from his notebook.

  ‘I’m doing an electrical apprenticeship.’

  ‘You didn’t fancy working for a local electrician, then?’

  Another shrug. ‘I thought I’d keep my options open.’

  Kay noticed the slight quirk that appeared at the side of Kevin’s mouth, and lowered her voice. ‘Do you get on all right with Mike?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, nodding enthusiastically. ‘He’s a good boss. I don’t just wash cars, you know. He has me doing all the paperwork for the new vehicles, and I’m better on the computer than he is so I put through most of the sales he makes, too.’

  ‘What about the business here? Everything all right?’ said Barnes.

  ‘As long as I get paid, I don’t really take any notice, to be honest. Especially if he’s talking to the ex-wife.’

  ‘Oh? Problems there, are there?’

  Kevin dropped his chin. ‘I can’t help overhearing stuff, that’s all. I think she’s trying to buy him out or something. I don’t really know.’

  ‘Noticed anything untoward lately? Anyone hanging around who shouldn’t be?’ Barnes asked.

  Kevin shook his head. ‘No, and that’s what I said to Laura too.’

  He blushed.

  Kay smiled at the use of her DC’s first name. Evidently her flame-haired colleague had made an impression. ‘What about the dead man? Do you recognise him?’

  The teenager shuddered. ‘Never seen him before in my life. Do you know what happened to him? I mean, how the hell did he end up like that, and here?’

  ‘It’s too early to comment at the moment,’ said Kay. ‘Do you have someone at home you can talk to about this, or a teacher perhaps?’

  ‘My dad’s a firefighter. I get on really well with him, and he’s seen some gruesome stuff in his time so I won’t shock him.’ He stood, his voice stronger. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.’

  ‘All right,’ said Kay, handing him her business card. ‘This is my number, so if you think of anything you might’ve overlooked chatting to us – or Laura – then give me a call. Doesn’t matter what time, either. I’ll always answer.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  She turned to follow Barnes, but then paused. ‘What about CCTV out there? Do you have that?’

  Kevin blushed. ‘It broke last week and Mike asked me to get the company in to fix it but I forgot. It was on my list of things to do today before I headed over to college.’

  Kay bit back the sigh of frustration that threatened to escape her lips, and forced a smile instead. ‘Not to worry. Thanks.’

  When she stepped outside she spotted Harriet and Patrick beside the farthest cordon, their heads bowed in conversation, takeout coffee cups clasped in their hands.

  They had removed their masks and gloves, and pulled back their hoods revealing hair slicked with sweat from working in the confined space of the tent.

  ‘How’s it going in there?’ said Barnes.

  ‘Warm,’ Patrick replied.

  ‘Which means we should be able to remove our victim from the car within the hour,’ Harriet added, then wrinkled her nose. ‘Just as soon as we can get him unstuck from the upholstery without causing more damage.’

  ‘Anything from your initial inspection of the car?’ said Kay.

  Patrick moved closer so she could see the display on the back of the digital SLR camera he held, and flicked through the images. ‘Kevin mentioned a scuff mark on the near side back door, and there’s damage to the paintwork and trim on that side, too. I’ve extended our search out to the pavement, and it looks as if whoever was driving it clipped a sign next to the kerb that separates the pavement from the forecourt over there.’

  Barnes cupped his hand around the display to shield it from the sun’s glare, then frowned. ‘Do you mean that whoever dumped the car was in a hurry and didn’t use the entrance – they drove straight over the pavement and kerb to park?’

  ‘That’s what I’m thinking,’ said Patrick. ‘Once the body’s been removed I’ll take a closer look at the front of the car – we’ll need to roll it back from the wall so I can get underneath to see what damage might be there.’

  Kay turned her attention to the people milling about outside the tent, then exhaled. ‘So our victim was killed, kept somewhere cold for enough time to freeze his body, and then dumped here. Why?’

  She moved away from Patrick as a shout carried over from the tent to where they stood.

  ‘That’s us,’ said Harriet. ‘Time to get back to it.’

  The CSI lead handed her empty coffee cup to a passing colleague with a nod of thanks, then pulled up her hood.

  ‘Good luck,’ said Barnes. ‘I think we’re all going to need it on this one.’

  Chapter Five

  Kay walked through the incident room door and into a cacophony of phones ringing, voices calling across the space to each other, and a flurry of administrative staff bickering over the printers and photocopiers that lined the far wall.

  A quick scan of her emails provided no new information about the dead man found in the car and she turned her attention to the blinking voicemail light on her phone, working through the messages that ranged from requests for management reports and personnel changes to demands from local journalists for information about the gruesome find.

  She cursed under her breath as her pen ran out of ink, then leaned over and snatched a biro from the pot on Barnes’s desk opposite hers. She wrote out the reporters’ phone numbers and a reminder to herself to speak to Detective Chief Inspector Devon Sharp about organising a media conference sooner rather than later.

  Before the rumours started.

  The aroma of burning coffee beans and someone’s egg sandwich wafted in the air as she made her way across to the whiteboard where Gavin Piper was making preliminary notes with a heavy black pen.

  He took a step back to peer at his work when she joined him, his jaw clenched.

  ‘We haven’t got much to go on, guv,’ he said under his breath.

  ‘There’s always something. We just have to start digging. Round up everyone and we’ll have an update.’

  Kay added her own notes to the whiteboard based on her conversations with Mike O’Connor and Kevin Short, while the sound of chairs
scraping across the thin carpet tiles and the banter between her colleagues drew to a few silent murmurs, then turned to face them.

  PC Debbie West hurried over from the tiny kitchenette at the edge of the incident room and handed her a mug of coffee before taking a seat beside Laura Hanway.

  ‘Thanks, Debs. Good morning, everyone. For those of you who may be new to the team, I’ll be Senior Investigating Officer on this one and DS Ian Barnes is my deputy.’ She aimed a smile at the four administrative staff seconded from headquarters at the last minute who hovered at the fringes of the group. ‘We’re a friendly bunch, so if you can’t find something don’t hesitate to ask – unless you want something from the stationery cupboard, in which case Debbie’s your contact point because she guards the stuff like it’s the Federal Reserve gold at Fort Knox.’

  A ripple of laughter passed through the group, and Kay saw the newcomers relax a little.

  ‘Right, down to business – we have the frozen body of an unknown man in his late thirties to early forties on the back seat of a nine-year-old vehicle dumped on the forecourt of a used car sales garage. Neither the owner – Mike O’Connor – or his part-time assistant Kevin Short recognise the victim, or his vehicle. We believe the car was driven over the pavement and kerb onto the forecourt sometime between O’Connor closing for business at six o’clock last night and eight o’clock this morning when Kevin turned up for work. The body is still frozen, so it may be that the timeframe is after midnight rather than before – but don’t assume anything until we’ve got evidence to support that. O’Connor states he didn’t spot the vehicle when he arrived at seven-thirty because he entered the forecourt through the main entrance on the opposite side and said his mind was otherwise occupied.’

  Kay paused to take a sip of coffee while her colleagues caught up with their note-taking. ‘Has anyone had a chance to run the photos of our victim through our missing persons database?’