‘Delusions?’ Mrs Kilpatrick offered.
‘I was going to say overreacting.’
‘No, he knows his job and he carries it out with the minimum of fuss.’
Kate thanked her as Linus reappeared holding a pair of the bolt cutters. As he approached them, Kate was sure she could smell the faint trace of whisky on his breath. He passed the cutters to Patel, who quickly snapped the lock.
‘I’d like the two of you to remain out here,’ Kate warned Linus and Mrs Kilpatrick, before opening the door and reaching for the light switch immediately to her left. Darkness remained. ‘The lights aren’t working?’
‘Oh, power’s been cut,’ Linus confirmed. ‘Building inspector wanted everything switching off ahead of the demolition. I can find you a torch if you’d like?’
Kate shook her head, flicking the torch from her phone back on and encouraging Patel to do the same. ‘Never mind. What can you tell me about the layout?’
Linus pointed ahead of them. ‘The main hall is through those doors there. Off to the left there are doors leading to storage rooms where we used to house the vaulting horses and such. Oh, and there is a room to the right where the old gymnasium equipment is now kept; exercise bikes and the like. The window we looked through is at the far side of the hall. I’ll see what I can do to get some power back in there for you.’
Closing the door behind them, Kate shone the beam around the inside of the entrance. Immediately to their right were two doors, leading to what would have been the boys and girls changing rooms and toilets. Bypassing those, they pulled open the door to the hall and were greeted by a stale smell of dried sweat and varnished wood.
‘The window is over there in the south-east corner,’ Patel offered, shining his light ahead of them, ‘which means the tarpaulin should be ahead of us here.’
Walking side-by-side, their torch beams slid over the soft wooden floor following the faded painted lines marking out various courts. Kate shuddered as a draught overhead ruffled through her hair.
‘This place gives me the creeps,’ Patel muttered.
Kate could understand; there was a deathly silence, and their phone lights were throwing strange shadows across the walls where the beams hit PE apparatus on the walls. It was hard not to think of their own kids in a place like this; wondering if they were safe, tucked up at home and waiting for them. They crept towards the tarpaulin, the air suddenly feeling much cooler around them.
‘Shall I do the honours?’ Patel offered, nudging the material with his foot.
‘Together,’ Kate proposed, bending and clutching the end of the material. It felt damp.
She waited for Patel to grip an edge, and then the two of them carefully raised it up and over the mound. Kate’s phone clattered to the floor as she saw the lifeless eyes staring back up at her.
3
Kate stumbled backwards, dropping to her knees, as she scrambled to retrieve her phone and its light.
‘A doll!’ Patel gasped. ‘It’s a doll, ma’am. Thank goodness.’
Her heart racing, Kate threw herself closer to the body, her torch in her hand. Lifeless painted eyes stared back at her, and as she took in the pink-coloured plastic skin, painted lips and fake, ratty hair around them she knew he was right.
‘It’s one of those resuscitation aids, isn’t it?’ Patel continued, raising his own torch so he could see Kate’s face. A small chuckle escaped. ‘That explains the outline, I suppose. Should I break it to the caretaker, or do you want to?’
For a moment, when the tarpaulin had first been pulled away, Kate had seen Daisy’s face staring up at her from the floor: the short brunette bob, the smattering of freckles on the bridge of her nose, the smooth and taut skin, it had all been there. Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment.
A flicker above their heads confirmed that Linus had managed to reconnect the power as the halogen strip lights buzzed into life, lighting up every inch of the old hall. With the gloomy shadows suddenly evaporated, their own sense of foreboding disappeared just as quickly. Off to their left two treadmills, a couple of exercise bikes and a rowing machine lay idly by, covered in layers of dust.
‘Seems like such a waste, doesn’t it?’ Patel offered, moving over to the equipment. ‘I mean, I know this stuff is pretty dated now, but I reckon I could still work up a sweat on it.’
Kate joined him, spotting a punch bag and chain propped up against the wall. ‘I should ask the supe whether we have budget to buy it off them. I could just see this punch bag hanging in the incident room for us to work out our stresses.’ She paused as a realisation dawned. ‘Didn’t Linus say all the gym equipment was being held in one of the storage rooms?’
‘So?’
‘So, why is it out now?’
‘Maybe someone moved it ahead of the demolition,’ Patel offered, pointing at where some of the dust had been disturbed on the handles of one of the bikes.
Kate looked from the equipment back to the door to the storage room to their right. ‘Hmm… maybe.’ But then she spotted something else out of place and marched purposefully to the door without another word, using the light on her phone to brighten the red smear that had caught her attention. ‘Is this… blood?’ she called over her shoulder.
Patel jogged over to where she had crouched, studying the dried stain on the panel above the handle, careful not to touch it.
‘Maybe one of the builders cut himself?’ Patel offered, always hunting for the most logical of explanations.
‘Maybe,’ Kate agreed, standing and removing a sealed packet of white forensic gloves from her pocket, and snapping them on. ‘Stand back a sec, would you?’ she asked, as she carefully took hold of the handle, and slowly lowered it. She paused with the door halfway open.
‘Can you smell that?’
‘Sickly sweet?’ Patel suggested as he sniffed the air. ‘Strawberries?’
Kate pulled the door further, stepped through to the adjoining room and immediately wished she hadn’t. Her blood went cold as she took in the translucent plastic sheeting lining most of the floor of the former gymnasium, the reddy-brown smears that clung to it and sprayed up the walls, and the strawberry-scented air fresheners that hung all around her. Kate covered her mouth with her arm as she recognised the unmistakeable copper smell of blood beneath their fragrance. She swayed backwards as Patel stepped around her to see for himself. Opening his mouth to speak, he found nothing.
‘What the hell…’ was all Kate managed to say.
Kate had witnessed many a murder scene in her years as a detective, but only metres from where children had played outside just this afternoon, she knew something truly horrific had occurred.
‘Get Scientific Services here now,’ Kate commanded, not willing to take a step further, for fear of contaminating the scene.
Unable to answer, Patel left to make the call.
*
A large white tent now covered the entrance to the sports hall where those few allowed admittance to the scene could change into protective polythene suits. The scene-of-crime team from the Scientific Services Department had arrived twenty minutes ago and were analysing and documenting every inch of the gymnasium, after which they would pack up their findings for further forensic examination back at the lab.
Several portable floodlights had been erected outside the tent so nobody would stumble on the slippery tarmac where a fresh downpour was beginning to freeze underfoot.
‘They reckon it might snow,’ Patel commented, warming his hands on the mug of coffee Mrs Kilpatrick had made them when Kate had briefed her on why the sports hall was now out of bounds to all staff members and pupils.
A figure in white emerged from the tent and hurried over to them. ‘DI Matthews?’ the technician said, his eyes wired with worry. ‘I need you to follow me, please.’
Kate passed her mug to Patel and proceeded to the small tent, putting on the protective overalls and following the young technician back into the hall. He didn’t utter a word as he led her to
the familiar face of pathologist, Dr Ben Temple.
He immediately picked up on her surprised look. ‘I was at the SSD lab when the call went out,’ he explained, ‘and you’ll be glad I came. Follow me.’
Without another word, he stepped into the small gym, the plastic sheeting crackling as he trod on it, being careful not to disturb the other technicians who were crouched and huddled around the room. Kate stepped where he did, as camera flashes reflected off the blood-spattered walls.
‘We found it over there,’ he commented, pointing to where some of the plastic sheet was bunched in the far corner, behind the standard lamp. ‘It’s impossible to know whether it was left there deliberately or by accident,’ he continued solemnly, as he stopped where another technician was busy snapping images. Ben gently tapped the figure in white on the shoulder, and the technician stepped to one side, allowing Kate to see what it was.
‘Oh my God,’ Kate whispered under her breath.
The foot was lying on its side, the little toe closest to the floor, the yellowing sole staring back at them.
Kate choked back the urge to retch. ‘It’s so… small.’
Ben nodded. ‘Based on the heel-to-ball length, the narrow instep and the medial and lateral malleoli heights, I’d say we’re looking at a female foot.’
Kate was filled with dread. ‘And can you estimate the likely age of the victim?’
‘Conservatively, based on the size and shape of the foot, I’d say a young adult, certainly below the age of twenty.’
Kate didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but a severed foot belonging to a female under the age of twenty found in the school that missing girl Daisy attended was hard to ignore.
‘I’ll need to take it back to the lab to examine it further,’ Ben continued, ‘but I saw some blistering on the ball of the foot, which could indicate the victim was regularly on their feet. We’ll get a DNA profile created as a priority and let you know the results as soon as we have them.’
Kate glanced around the rest of the room. ‘Have you found any… anything else?’
‘Looking at the tearing of the flesh above the ankle, I would estimate some kind of electrical circular saw was used to make the cut. It would also explain some of the haphazard spray on the walls. No sign of the tool, though.’
‘Electrical?’ Kate questioned. ‘The place has been without power for several weeks according to the caretaker. How recently do you think the foot was removed?’
‘We’re talking a couple of days at most, not weeks,’ Ben said gravely. ‘They could have used a battery-powered saw, I suppose.’
‘Do you think you’d be able to find a match?’ Kate asked hopefully. ‘Might help us narrow down a suspect pool.’
‘I’ll do what I can,’ he promised, silently mouthing, ‘are you okay?’
Kate took a deep breath and nodded reassuringly.
Ben continued to study her face, his eyes telling her he was there when she needed him. She gently touched his arm. ‘I’ll leave you to it. I need to speak to the head teacher and caretaker again. Call me the moment you have news?’
4
Kate couldn’t wait to escape the hall, peeling her overalls off in the tent and dumping them in the disposal sack, before heading back out to Patel. She was pleased to see that DCs Laura Trotter, Olly Quinlan and Vicky Rogers had arrived. Beyond them, additional portable lights had been erected by the camera crew trying to capture the unfolding scene, while a reporter shouted questions in their direction.
Kate faced her team and cleared her throat. ‘Right, ladies and gents, I need your undivided attention and I need it now. I know the temperature is dropping by the second, but we’ve got work to do. Quinlan, I want you to get those reporters pushed back and as far from the school as possible. I don’t care if you have to close off the entire road, but I don’t want details of this making the ten o’clock news. Once that’s done, I want you to check the local area for properties with security cameras. It is important for us to establish any unusual activity over the past week or so. High fences separate the car park from the rest of the school grounds and, short of scaling the fence, the only other ways into the grounds are via the school building, or through the students’ gated entrance further down the road. The school doesn’t have cameras in the actual grounds but there are cameras at the teacher and student entrances, so that’s probably the best place to start. I’ll speak to the head teacher to get hold of that, and I want those recordings viewed as a priority.’
Quinlan nodded, jogging over to where the reporters were starting to assemble.
Kate glanced at her watch. ‘It’s late, but we need to get house-to-house enquiries on the neighbouring residential streets started as soon as we can. Patel, I want you to coordinate that. Reach out to Inspector Bentley and ask him to spare as many uniform units as he can. For tonight, you should only approach properties where there is still sign of activity; lights on or noise from within. Everywhere else can be approached first thing. As it’s Saturday tomorrow, we might get lucky and make contact with all residents before the end of the weekend. We’re looking for any unusual goings-on in and around the school premises. We’re looking for unfamiliar vehicles in the vicinity and anyone seen lurking around the perimeter, that kind of thing.’
‘What should I do, ma’am?’ Laura asked, stepping forward.
‘I want you with me when I speak with Mrs Kilpatrick and the caretaker again. Something about all this feels wrong. We know the school would have been closed up when Daisy was last seen, so if – and it’s only an if right now – but if she is the victim, how the hell did she get into that sports hall, and who on earth managed to get into the grounds and kill her?’
*
Kate could hear Mrs Kilpatrick talking on the other side of the half-closed door as she approached with DC Trotter. Knocking gently, Kate pushed the door open to find her with her head buried in her hands and a phone pressed to her ear.
‘I’ve got to go, darling,’ Mrs Kilpatrick said. ‘The police are here now. Yes, I’ll keep you posted when I’ll be home. Yes, I love you too.’ She returned the phone to its cradle. ‘My husband,’ she added when she saw Kate looking at the phone. ‘Oh, I hope that’s all right? I just told him there’d been an incident and I wouldn’t be home until later. That is okay, isn’t it?’
Kate lowered herself into the same threadbare chair she’d been in earlier. ‘Of course, it’s important to act as normally as possible.’
‘I didn’t tell him what had happened, just that it was something I needed to see through tonight.’
Kate appreciated the woman’s discretion. Keeping a lid on matters was now a priority, and the last thing she needed was to be fending off calls from the press. Ultimately, rumours would escape in time, but the team didn’t need the distraction.
‘When my DS and I arrived earlier today, we were required to sign a visitors’ book. I’d like to be able to take that with me tonight so we can make copies of the names of those who have visited the school in the last week. Is that okay?’
Mrs Kilpatrick was gazing into the distance. ‘Sure.’
‘And your security camera feeds. I presume you record those somewhere too? We need copies of all footage from the last week.’
‘Sure.’
‘Mrs Kilpatrick?’ Kate asked, forcing eye contact. ‘I appreciate what we’ve discovered this evening must be a tremendous shock. Would you like me to call anyone to be with you? Your husband, perhaps?’
Tears were pooling in Mrs Kilpatrick’s eyes. ‘No, I’ll be fine, thank you. My husband… he-he-he’s at home with our children.’
‘Is there anyone else who can come and sit with you? A friend, perhaps?’
‘No, no, I’ll be okay. Do you know yet…?’ But her words trailed off as her face contorted into a sob.
‘I can’t go into too much detail with you,’ Kate said, leaning forward. ‘All I can say is we have reason to believe that someone may have been killed in the gymnasium, and my
team of specialists will need to spend the next few hours processing the scene to try and identify exactly what happened and to whom.’ Kate paused, passing over the box of tissues from the corner of the desk.
Mrs Kilpatrick pulled one out and wiped the corners of her eyes. ‘I’m sorry… I’m not used to this kind of thing.’
‘I understand,’ Kate said, offering a supportive smile. ‘I’ve been in the force for nearly fifteen years and you never get used to it. I do need to ask you a few questions, but I appreciate this isn’t an easy time for you.’
She blew her nose. ‘No, I’m okay now, please ask your questions.’
Kate nodded at Laura. ‘This is DC Laura Trotter, who is one of the best on my team. She’s going to jot some notes of my questions and your answers. Okay?’
Mrs Kilpatrick nodded.
‘Okay, well, first things first: have you seen anything strange in the last week, or anyone acting suspiciously that you can recall?’
‘No, not that I can remember.’
‘Nobody at the school that you didn’t expect, or someone hanging about outside the gates or the fence?’
Mrs Kilpatrick shook her head. ‘No.’
‘And none of your faculty members have mentioned seeing anything unusual, maybe strange noises, or strangers hanging around?’
‘No, but I don’t get as much one-on-one time with the staff as I’d like. I can ask, if that would help?’
‘That’s okay,’ Kate offered, ‘but if you have a list of your staff members and their contact details you could provide me, I’ll have my team reach out to them over the weekend and check.’ She paused to allow Laura to catch up. ‘Are there regular visitors to the premises who aren’t faculty members?’
Mrs Kilpatrick thought for a moment. ‘Of course, there’s Mr Watkins who tends the grounds, looks after the gardens; that sort of thing. Then there’s the postman, but it’s not always the same person. There’s a third-party contractor who delivers food daily for the school dinners. And we have two cleaning ladies who are here between four and six each night.’
‘And presumably each of these visitors would be required to sign the visitors’ book?’
Cold Heart: Absolutely gripping serial-killer fiction Page 2
