by Malcolm Rose
‘Maybe this is the same map that Alyssa and Richard had. Anyway, come on,’ Lexi said. ‘We might have our crime scene – at last.’
Troy stepped forward and immediately froze.
A large snake reared up in front of him. It was amber with a brown zigzag along the length of its body. Behind its head was a dark V shape. It let out a loud and long hiss.
‘It’s okay,’ Lexi whispered. ‘It’s an adder. Poisonous but not very aggressive. Painful but not fatal. Not usually, anyway. And it only strikes when it’s disturbed or alarmed.’
Heart beating fast, Troy stared into the adder’s eyes. ‘And what is it right now?’
‘Good point. Disturbed and alarmed. Normally they run away, but this one hasn’t – so you’d better let it be the boss. Back off slowly. If you don’t threaten it, it’ll just slither into the undergrowth. Probably.’
Troy took a slow step backwards and the snake watched him intently.
‘For a snake that’s not aggressive,’ Troy said softly, ‘this one looks mean.’
‘You invaded its personal space. What do you expect?’
He backed away some more.
The adder relaxed, sank to the ground and disappeared into the vegetation.
Troy let out a sigh.
‘Let’s go this way,’ Lexi suggested. ‘Give it a wide berth.’
‘Okay.’
They made a detour around the snake’s territory, not knowing if they were about to invade the space of another. Perhaps one that was even more hostile.
‘That’s the problem with nature,’ Lexi said with a smile. ‘For every cuddly marmoset, there’s a poisonous snake.’
‘Given the choice, you’d prefer to be a snake handler than a monkey minder.’
‘That’s true,’ she said. ‘I like a challenge.’
They slashed at the scrubland in front of them loudly, hoping that the noise would scare away any more snakes.
They slogged northward for another forty minutes until they reached one of the freshwater brooks fed by a waterfall. They stopped and looked around.
‘You know, I think we’ve come too far,’ Troy said. He pointed upstream. ‘I reckon it’s up there somewhere. In amongst those trees.’
‘Let’s see.’ Checking their coordinates, Lexi nodded. ‘We must have walked past without even noticing it. But we’re not too far out. We’ve just got to go back upstream a bit.’
‘Exactly. It’ll be easier walking beside the water – or paddling through it.’ He nodded towards their boots. ‘Waterproof shoes.’
Lexi shrugged. ‘I’m an outer. I don’t mind. But it might be risky for you. Let’s keep to the rocks on one side or the other. But first …’ She got out her forensic kit and knelt down. ‘I want a sample of the water to test for mercury back at the lab. And DNA to find out what sort of bacteria it’s got.’ She peered at the apparently clean water in a vial and popped it into an evidence bag. She marked the bag with the exact coordinates of the sample and stored it in her rucksack. Then she stood up.
They set out for the clump of trees at the base of the cliff and – they hoped – the secret, wild-swimming pool.
After five minutes, Troy came to a halt. ‘Look.’
Lexi was already reaching for two more evidence bags and pulling on latex gloves. ‘I’ll collect them.’ She bent down to scoop out the two small fish floating in the stream.
‘From the air,’ Troy said, ‘they could look like pieces of white paper.’
‘Maybe you were right. The thing is, what killed them?’ She held them up by their tails and slid them into transparent bags. ‘I’ll find out. No problem.’ She glanced at Troy and said, ‘For now, though, it means you shouldn’t go in the water. In case it’s mercury.’
‘If it is, it can’t be Ethyl Products’ doing. This is a different river. It doesn’t go past the factory. It comes from the cliff, probably running through one of the caves.’
‘Yeah. Where someone might be scavenging gold by dissolving it in mercury.’
Lexi was about to move on when she hesitated.
‘What?’ Troy prompted.
‘A bit of fishing line and a hook. See?’ She bagged that as well.
‘Catching things here would be risky. Whoever it was didn’t see any sick fish or they wouldn’t have done it.’
‘Maybe they weren’t sick at the time, or at least weren’t showing symptoms.’
Hiking beside the stream was sometimes easy, sometimes an awkward scramble over rocks. Lexi took occasional samples of water and dead fish as they went. Soon, they found themselves under the shade of trees and within the sound of tumbling water. And Lexi had something new to hunt. A mushroom shaped like a wrinkled peach.
She found it after about five minutes. A large branch of an oak had snapped off a long time ago and was slowly rotting on the ground. The fungus was growing on two different parts of the wood. While Lexi took photographs and samples, Troy gazed over her shoulder and said, ‘That’s supposed to look like a crinkly peach? Weird.’
‘Yeah. Not very convincing. But nice in its own way.’
‘More like a pink sponge.’
‘I see what you mean. But more important, it’s here. Which means Miley Quist might have been here.’
Troy nodded.
‘It’s so distinctive to look at, I don’t really need its DNA – just a photo – but I’ve got some anyway.’
They made their way towards the sound of falling water.
The stream was running over a large rock, about five metres high. They stood at the bottom and looked up. Positioning himself so the water did not splash him, Troy said, ‘It’s a giant overflowing basin. I reckon it’s the wild-swimming pool up top.’
‘Let’s walk around it first. Find the easiest bit to climb.’
Within a few seconds, Troy came to a standstill and smiled. He wasn’t looking at the rock, though. He’d spotted something among the trees. ‘That’s interesting.’
Lexi followed his line of sight to a small heap of charred branches. Nodding, she said, ‘Someone’s been here.’
Troy glanced around. ‘The land’s flat and smooth. Nice spot for camping.’
‘And a fire’s good for cooking.’
‘It fits,’ Troy agreed. ‘Maybe Richard Featherstone and Alyssa Bending stayed here, fished and barbequed their catch. A poisonous picnic.’
‘If they had a swim as well, they could’ve been doubly poisoned. Eating dodgy fish and skin absorption.’
‘If they drank the water, maybe they copped it three times over.’
The detectives continued around the crag until Lexi stopped and jerked her thumb towards the rock face. ‘This’ll do. Look. It’s not so high and there’s a good few toeholds. Like a training wall. Are you up for it?’
‘If you are.’
‘As easy as walking up steps. Come on.’ Surveying the rock, she said, ‘I’ll go first. Watch where I put my hands and feet, and just do what I do.’
Agile and confident, Lexi began to scale the crag as if she had Velcro on her hands and feet.
Determined not to disappoint his partner, Troy pretended to be equally confident. He dragged himself up by his fingers while his toes scrabbled for purchase. His knees scraped against the unforgiving surface. He had the stomach-churning feeling that he was about to fall backwards and land in an embarrassing and untidy heap on the ground. But he tried not to show his unease.
From above, Lexi called, ‘Slow but sure’s okay.’
‘More slow than sure,’ Troy muttered as he went up another few centimetres. The weight of the rucksack on his back was slight but it still added to his sense of unbalance.
Already at the top, Lexi lay down and peered over the edge. ‘Left hand up a bit more and to the right. There’s a good grip.’
‘This is the only time I’ve wished I was a spider.’
‘Barbequed, you’d make a good meal.’
Feeling the strain in his shoulders and knees, Troy heaved himself higher
.
‘I’ll be able to give you a hand in a minute,’ Lexi said.
To hide his discomfort, he carried on talking between breaths. ‘I hope this is worth it. I hope there are some suspects up there for me to question.’
Lexi looked around. ‘No, but it’s a nice place for a refreshing dip.’
‘I’ve just had a thought,’ Troy said, climbing within range of Lexi’s dangling left arm.
‘Yeah?’
‘How are we going to get down?’
‘The same way – but it’s harder going down. Much, much harder.’
‘Oh good.’
With his partner’s hand gripping his right wrist firmly, Troy felt supported. He soon covered the final part and scrambled up onto the lip of the rock, joining Lexi.
There was an inviting pool of water, ideal for private swimming. Its surface wasn’t a perfect mirror, though. At one side, water cascaded down the cliff and sent small ripples across the secluded pond. At the other side, the overflow spilled out. The reflection of the sky and cliff-face quivered.
Wearing gloves, Lexi took a sample of the water. ‘I wish I could analyse all this stuff here and now, but I need a lab.’
To their left was one of the numerous caves in the scarred cliff. A little water dribbled out of it too. With care, they could get to it.
Noticing that Troy was eyeing the cave, Lexi said, ‘I’ve got a torch. Fancy exploring?’
‘Now we’re here, we might as well take a look.’
Lexi bagged the water sample and, at the same time, extracted a powerful, handheld torch from her backpack. They had to walk very close to the edge of the rock to access the cave. It was a narrow passage between the vertical drop on one side and the pool on the other.
When they reached the mouth of the cave, Lexi turned on the torch.
Troy paused. He would not be able to go in without trampling through running water. ‘Time to get my kit on, I think.’ Quickly, he slipped into the protective overalls from his rucksack. Then, together, they entered the cave, soon leaving the reassuring sunlight. The sound of running and dripping water echoed all around. Centimetres above their heads, the roof seemed to press down on them.
‘Spooky,’ Troy whispered. Uncannily, the word rebounded off the walls and came back to him.
‘Exciting,’ Lexi replied.
The light beam picked out seeping water, slime and glistening rock formations. To someone like Keaton Hathaway, the place would have been a wonderland.
As they walked forward, Lexi fanned the spotlight from side to side.
‘What’s that smell?’ said Troy, crinkling his nose.
‘Bats, I think,’ Lexi answered. ‘You’re getting a whiff of their toileting arrangements – which are short on etiquette and hygiene.’
‘It’s north of disgusting.’
‘Yeah. But, to be fair, if they were awake, they’d probably think we were revolting as well.’
She came to an abrupt halt as the torch illuminated something unnatural.
It was a small collection of tools. Immediately, Lexi went over to the spot and peered at it without touching anything. A pickaxe, two sieves, a drill, three hammers, two cold chisels, several buckets, various containers, a couple of spades and two grimy hard-hats. At the bottom of two of the buckets, something metallic gleamed like silver – or mercury.
Lexi took several photographs of the hoard and each time a blinding flash illuminated the cave for a split-second.
‘I want all this stuff in the lab,’ she said. ‘Especially the hard-hats. But …’ She looked at the bulk of the mining equipment against the size of her backpack. ‘No chance. I’ll need a return visit.’
‘I don’t think anyone climbed up here with this lot on their backs,’ Troy said.
‘It’s not impossible,’ Lexi replied, ‘but I take your point.’
Troy couldn’t see very far into the dark cavern, but he said, ‘Maybe there’s another way out – and in.’
‘Huh. This isn’t Shepford central zone, you know.’ She flashed the torch beam down the cave to the point where it veered upwards and to the right. ‘No obvious doors.’
Troy smiled. ‘You never know. Maybe there’s a lift around the corner.’
Lexi laughed. ‘All right. Let’s go and see.’
The cave was about three paces wide and, as they wandered down its length, it seemed to get narrower. Maybe it was an optical illusion. Maybe claustrophobia was making them feel hemmed in.
Troy shuddered with the cold, the dark and the damp. ‘I’m glad I don’t work down a mine,’ he said. ‘It’s …’
‘Unsettling?’
He shrugged. ‘Weird. Natural, but it feels unnatural to be here. Like we’re invading someone else’s world. Maybe it belongs to bats, not people.’
‘Talking of bats …’ Lexi said.
‘What?’
‘The smell’s not so yucky.’
Troy nodded.
The air was fresher and their voices did not echo so much.
They carried on, aware of a slight draught and a faint, eerie glow ahead. Around the next curve, the torchlight caught a dangling rope coming from a shaft above their heads.
‘Hey presto,’ Lexi said. ‘Not a lift, but nearly.’
Troy groaned. ‘We don’t have to climb all the way up a rope, do we? The rock’s a Sunday stroll in comparison.’
Squinting at the sunlight a long way above them, Lexi replied, ‘No, I don’t think so. There’s something up there. A big basket maybe.’ She pulled on the rope and the object at the top of the shaft began to descend. ‘Ah. Our lift’s on its way. In fact, you carry on pulling and I’ll go back for those tools. At least some of them.’
Leaving Troy in the circle of daylight, Lexi dashed back to the mining equipment. She made two trips, holding as much as she could, before Troy lowered the basket to the floor of the cave. It had a crude door and space for two people. A little spare room was enough for Lexi’s evidence of illegal mining.
‘I think we stand in the basket and haul ourselves up on this other rope,’ said Troy.
‘Looks like it,’ Lexi replied. ‘There must be a pulley at the top. Hope you’re feeling strong.’
Actually, they heaved on the rope together and the basket rose slowly and unsteadily, lurching drunkenly towards the sunshine.
Between deep breaths, Lexi said, ‘You know what I think?’
‘No.’
‘Not perceptive enough, then.’
‘What?’ Troy asked.
‘If this thing hadn’t been used for years, it wouldn’t be this smooth.’
The sunlight was getting brighter, burning their eyes.
‘This is smooth?’ Troy said with a smile.
‘Just think what it’d be like if it hadn’t moved in sixty years or more.’
‘That figures.’
The basket clunked against the winch and came to a sudden halt, before it emerged from the pothole. In front of them, though, were a few rough steps cut into the rock, leading up to the grassy top of the cliff. They pulled back the door of the cage, mounted the steps and found themselves on Loose End Edge.
To the north, they could see the sea. To the south were the Ethyl Products buildings. A few paces away from the vertical entrance to the mine, they could hardly see it. The winch barely showed above ground level.
Both of them pulled on latex gloves. Then Lexi went back down to the basket and handed the mining gear, one piece at a time, up to Troy. He laid them on the grass. Lexi had already placed the two helmets in evidence bags in case any strands of hair fell out. She did not want to lose vital evidence. She called to him, ‘That’s the lot. Whoever’s been using this pulley might’ve abandoned it after the deaths, but we’ll see.’ She held up a tiny spy camera and fixed it to the top of the shaft. Then she joined Troy on the exposed cliff.
A few metres away from the hole, there was a rough track. It went along Loose End Edge and back towards Ethyl Products. Further along, there appeared t
o be a long gentle slope downwards, but it wasn’t suitable for a car. Lexi studied the surface of the ground. ‘No tyre impressions. Probably no one’s driven here for a while and the weather’s got rid of any evidence.’ She called Tight End Crime Central and requested an off-road vehicle to collect the buckets, hard-hats and the rest of her precious hoard.
Troy removed his protective clothing and packed it away.
Arms aching and hair buffeted by the wind, they both sat down on the grass and waited.
SCENE 26
Tuesday 13th May, Afternoon
Crime Central’s computer did not recognize the track as a road, so an automatic vehicle could not be programmed to pick up the two detectives from Loose End Edge. Instead, a driver from Tight End picked them up in a manual four-by-four. Troy smiled to himself as they bumped along the track.
‘What are you grinning about?’ Lexi asked him.
‘You. You’ll be north of happy now.’ He nodded towards the rear of the jeep where the mining tools were stowed. ‘You’ll be able to fill a spreadsheet five times over with all that.’
‘Yeah. Lots of lovely data. Is the shiny stuff at the bottom of the buckets a residue of mercury? DNA in the hard-hats. Skin or hair? When and where were they bought – and who bought them? Are there any fingerprints or were they only handled by outers? And that’s just the start.’
‘Busy day ahead.’
‘And night,’ Lexi added.
‘You’ll be a mine of information.’
Lexi groaned. ‘I’ll have some of the answers by morning. Not all.’
Troy shook his head. He felt guilty for attempting a joke one day after his father’s funeral.
‘Two people over to the right,’ the driver announced. ‘Do you want to stop?’
‘Yes,’ both of the detectives said at the same time.
Lexi was out of the door even before the four-by-four had fully stopped. As usual, her ability to sprint gave her the lead. With a major’s superior stamina and strength, Troy would catch up only when she began to tire.
Lexi shouted, ‘Stop! Detectives!’
Ahead, two girls took no notice and kept running along the edge.
Troy guessed that they were majors because Lexi was closing fast. He stumbled slightly over a rock but stayed on his feet, following his partner.
