by Carla Kovach
‘Guv, a body has been discovered in the woods that run alongside the river, not too far from the Waterside Café where the truckers stop for food.’ DS Jacob Driscoll sounded perky, like he’d already had plenty of caffeine that morning.
‘Do we know anything?’ She wiped the thin film of perspiration from her forehead and noted the fact that today was set to be a hot one. Bodies and high temperatures were not the best mix. Her curtains blew a little in the warm morning breeze as she threw the sheet off her body and her cat, Ebony, darted from under it and hurried down the stairs.
‘All I know is what was reported in the emergency call. Sixteen-year-old girl and she has been named as Leah Fenmore. Her friend, Naomi Carpenter, called it in after finding her in the bushes. They were all camping out together last night. Having a party apparently.’
‘Damn. Have forensics been notified?’
She could hear Jacob clicking his mouse. ‘Yes, they are about to arrive and uniform are there cordoning off and taking statements.’
‘I’m on my way.’
After ending the call, she hurried out of bed, quick shower and brushing of her teeth, then she spotted DCI Chris Briggs at the bottom of the stairs sipping his coffee. Against her better judgement, he’d come over last night. What should have been a pleasurable evening had turned sour when he received that anonymous message on his phone. Someone knew about her past and they knew what she’d done and they were making sure that Briggs knew too. She’d left him asleep on the couch about two in the morning before creeping up to bed and having the most atrocious nightmares. Her skinny black cat, Ebony, began to wind its body around his legs, pining for food. He held up his phone. ‘I just got the call too. Murder by the Waterside Café.’
Gina wished that a girl’s murder was the main thing on her mind, but it wasn’t. Gina’s secrets were coming back to haunt her. Their mystery messenger knew things that could end her career and take away her freedom, and they were making sure that Gina and Briggs got the message. ‘What are we going to do about the message?’
He ran his fingers through his floppy uncombed hair, some still half stuck to his head from sleep. ‘I seriously don’t know. Just sit on it for now.’
‘Why are you protecting a murderer?’ Gina blinked as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. ‘How does this person know what I did and why are you helping me? You could just turn me in for what I’ve done. I wouldn’t even deny it and this whole mess that is my life would be over for you.’
‘You are not a murderer. Terry was no husband to you. He was an abuser who got what was coming to him.’ Briggs pulled her in and kissed her on the head, both of them knowing that they were slowly drowning in Gina’s murky past.
She took his coffee from the ledge and finished what was left. ‘I don’t think a jury would see it that way.’ She frowned and wiped her eyes.
He reached out and stroked her cheek. ‘This message could be nothing. It might not even be about you. We’re jumping to conclusions. I’ll head to the station straight after you and see you there in a bit. Got to work out how we tackle the press. I can guarantee that because a bunch of teenagers are involved, this poor girl’s murder will already be all over social media.’
‘I just love it when our job is made harder.’ Her phone beeped again and she froze.
‘It’s a message, isn’t it?’
Gina gulped down her panic, unsure of how she was going to get through the day. ‘It just says, murderer.’
‘Let me see.’ Briggs glanced over her shoulder.
‘I have to get to work.’ She left him standing in the hallway as she slammed the door and got into her car. A sick feeling began to whirl. She’d struggled to get hold of her daughter, Hannah, lately and their relationship had never been good. Gina pressed her number again, hoping just to hear a friendly voice, but her call was immediately cut off. All she’d needed was some reassurance that it couldn’t be anything to do with her daughter. There wasn’t a reason that could be the case but there was no one else that could delve into her home life. Then, her mind whirled as she began driving through the lanes. The press had tried to mess with her head before. Were they trying it on, hoping that she’d crack and tell her story? They knew of her past. Her drunken ex-husband, dead after a so-called fall down the stairs. She’d got the message loud and clear from whoever was sending them. How many other murderers was Briggs protecting? Involving him had been strategic.
Focus – she had to get her mind on the case. There was someone dangerous on the loose, capable of killing a teenager and she had to find them and quick. Whatever was happening in her personal life was going to have to wait.
Three
Leaving her jacket in the car, Gina stepped out onto the torn-up tarmac road at the far end of the Waterside Café’s car park, next to the three police cars, an ambulance and the forensics van. A red articulated lorry was the only other vehicle parked up. She undid the top button of her blouse and fanned her face with her hand. Not only was it hot, the occasional hot flush gave her trouble. Bloody menopause.
A man in an apron ran towards her. ‘Hey, wait.’
She checked her watch, not having time to stop and chat but it was possible that this man knew something so she did as he asked and waited.
‘Are you police?’ He wiped his hand on the tea towel that dangled from his pocket.
‘I’m Detective Inspector Harte. You are?’
‘John. Sorry, John Tallis. I own the café. What’s going on here, only I saw on Facebook that someone has been murdered?’
Briggs had been right about social media blowing up. ‘I can’t comment right now but do you know anything that might help?’ The smell of bacon oozed from his pores.
He shrugged. His peppered fair hair looked as though it was stuck to his forehead and he scratched his stubby nose. ‘I only know that there are always kids lurking around here. They come from the estates and party the night away. I sometimes open up to urine in the doorway if they venture out of the woods and I keep finding things like these gas canisters around. They’re a nuisance but they do give me a bit of business here and there.’
‘Business?’
‘They come in for chips and cans of pop, things like that. I open fairly late to capitalise on truckers passing through.’
Gina pulled out her notebook. ‘What time do you close?’
‘Ten every evening, even Sundays.’
‘Did you see anything last night?’
‘I heard music thumping. It sounded like it was coming from over there.’ He pointed into the woodland. ‘They were listening to some sort of modern stuff that I didn’t recognise, then I heard the odd shout or laugh. That was it. I don’t really take much notice as this happens all the time.’
‘Do you have CCTV out here?’
He shook his head. ‘Wish I did. I can’t afford such extravagances.’
‘Thank you, Mr Tallis. We’ll take a statement from you in a while—’
‘I have to give a statement?’
‘It’s routine.’
‘Of course.’ He linked his hands together and began fidgeting. ‘I guess I’ll wait until someone comes by. Is there anything I can do?’
He seemed eager to help in a strange way. Maybe too eager. Gina looked into his eyes for a moment longer than was comfortable, then he broke their eye contact by looking down. ‘Yes.’
‘Okay.’
She pulled her wallet from her pocket, removing a twenty-pound note. ‘Can you bring us a lot of coffee? Make it strong. If you just hand it all to the PC on a tray, whoever’s guarding the cordon, that would be great.’ She knew everyone would need a little bit of perking up. She could feel a tremor in her hands and wondered if caffeine was the best thing on a day like this. Handling a murder and those damn messages was a double burden she could do without. It was a Sunday morning and quite a few of the officers that had been called in would probably have been working last night. They would definitely appreciate coffee.
He
nudged her hand. ‘It’s on the house. I want to do my bit so I’m glad to help.’
‘Thank you. That’s very kind of you. I must get on.’ She took a couple of steps back, hoping that he’d turn to go but his gaze remained on her until she left his car park.
As she approached the PC at the edge of the woods, she smiled and filled in her details on the log sheet. She checked again and John Tallis was now jogging back to his café. A wash of unease came over her as she shoved the twenty pounds and her notebook back into her pocket before following the marked-out route. She gulped, knowing that at the end of the trail would be a body.
Four
‘Guv, over here,’ Jacob called her, and she caught sight of him waving his arms from behind the trees while jumping in his puffy forensics suit that hid his hair that always looked shiny and stuck to his head. It was still morning, but already the temperature was rising. PC Smith was placing cordon tape around one of the trees. She slipped through before he closed off her entrance to the crime scene.
‘Are all the other kids still close by?’ It would make her job easier if they were.
‘Yes, PC Kapoor is with them now and some of the parents have turned up too. O’Connor has just arrived and he’s headed over there to speak to everyone.’ She peered over and could just about make out DC Harry O’Connor’s shiny bald head and PC Jhanvi Kapoor’s uniform. Despite her injuries from the last case, she was recovering well and had even begun to study for her sergeant’s exam. PC Kapoor waved and hurried over. Jacob stepped aside and began checking out the area.
‘Hi, guv. We’re just speaking with all the kids now. You okay? It’s a hot one.’
Regardless of the circumstances, Jhanvi Kapoor looked as perky as ever. It never ceased to amaze Gina how such a small woman with a loud Brummie accent could be so tough. The last case they worked on could break anyone but the PC had taken a week off at most after leaving hospital and vowed to come back stronger, putting in straight away to study to be a sergeant. ‘It’ll be great to have you on the team again on this one, and PC Smith too. Only the best!’ And Gina meant it. PCs Smith and Kapoor had helped them with many murders and were always a welcome and useful part of the team.
‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world, guv. As long as I don’t get kidnapped by any killers this time, we’ll be okay.’
Again, Gina wondered if Kapoor was so perky inside. She worried that the trauma would come back to haunt her or maybe it would eat away at her, manifest itself as post-traumatic stress disorder but she’d been released from her counselling sessions. ‘I know that this is the first big case since what happened.’
Kapoor looked at her with large chocolate eyes, smiling, which emphasised her youthful dimples. ‘Guv, I really am okay. I’ll always have a few scars on my body, but up here,’ she pointed to her head, ‘I’m tip-top.’
‘Well, you know if you ever need to talk, my door is always open, day or night.’
‘I know and thanks, guv. If I need it, I’ll be the first to barge through and ask for help. Promise.’
Gina knew that was the time to shut up. She’d tried to look after Kapoor a little since but now she needed setting free from being asked if she was okay all the time.
‘Right, I best get back to it.’ Kapoor hurried back to the camp area.
‘Great. Let’s head further in.’ Gina smiled at Jacob and pulled a bobble from her pocket and tied her own wild hair up before it dampened with the heat.
‘I don’t know how she keeps it together.’ Jacob frowned.
‘Me neither. I’m in total admiration of her.’ Gina grabbed a forensics suit and pulled it on over her black trousers and cream shirt. Then came the shoe covers, followed by the stifling gloves and mask. Already she felt sluggish and the day had barely begun. ‘Is Bernard on duty?’ Bernard Small was the crime scene manager and she’d worked most of her big cases with him in charge of forensics.
‘Yes, he’s already there, assessing the scene. The CSIs have put down the stepping plates as you’ve noticed. They’re videoing and photographing at the moment.’
Gina led the way down a dried mud slope and along a trampled out path with thick bushes and tree stumps on either side. This is where the stepping plates began. They both clip-clopped, trying not to slip on their boot covers.
Beyond the lined path, she could see that there were little clearings where the big trees splayed out above. Perfect pockets for camping and partying teenagers. The telltale signs were everywhere. Bags of rubbish, empty alcohol bottles. She spotted a used condom ahead, then another. What should be a beautiful nature spot to be enjoyed by walkers and families really was the pits.
The sound of the camera clicking and the CSIs stepping back and forth over the plates alerted Gina to where they were. Bernard Small’s tall wiry frame emerged from behind a shrub as he stood up straight, blocking the sun from her eyes.
‘Ahh, Bernard. I would say nice to see you but given the circumstances.’
He nodded. ‘I know. We always meet up over a murder. Come through.’ He parted the branches for her and Jacob, and they followed him to the evidence boxes, where samples were laid out and tagged. ‘We’re still documenting all we can but you might be able to see from here. It’s probably going to be a while before you can go through as the body is in an awkward position. We don’t want to lose any trace evidence, however minute, so as always, we’re being careful and methodical. However, we have managed to pull the foliage back to take photos and examine what we have so far.’
Standing on tiptoes and peering over a clump of leaves, Gina spotted the team at work. She tried to ignore her stomach clenching because of the vomit next to the body. Jacob held his hand up and waved at CSI Jennifer and she smiled back. They’d been in a relationship for ages and they always did this little wave and smile when they met on the job. Gina peered down and could see the girl’s legs but that was all. Most of her body was still in the bushes. ‘Can you fill me in on what you’ve seen?’
‘Yes. Teenage girl between fourteen and eighteen,’ Bernard replied.
From what the girl’s friend had said when calling in, this matched so far. Naomi Carpenter had identified the girl as Leah Fenmore – aged sixteen. A slight knot formed in Gina’s throat, having a daughter made looking at this young girl tough. She couldn’t imagine how the parents were going to take the news. If it were Hannah dead in the bushes, Gina would feel as though her world had collapsed.
‘She’s approximately five feet three inches tall, of slight build. Shoulder-length brown hair and a lip piercing, but I guess you want me to get to the nitty-gritty.’
Jacob scrawled a few notes with his gloved hands.
‘Yes, please.’
‘The cause of death looks to be strangulation as there are what look to be fingermarks around her neck.’ Bernard nodded to a CSI who responded by pulling the branches back. ‘See the bruising that is starting to come up?’
Gina nodded. ‘Just about.’
‘The eyes are protruding and you can see that the blood vessels have burst. Time of death – between one and two in the morning. Determined by the temperature and stage of rigor mortis.’
‘Any sign of sexual assault?’
Bernard took a step back and transferred his weight from one foot to the other. ‘I can’t be sure just yet but there is a bite mark on the top of her right breast. It hasn’t pierced the skin deeply, but there’s a red scratch and a little bruising. We will know more when we get her out of here and examine the body thoroughly.’
The thought of someone biting that girl’s skin hard enough to leave bruising made Gina shudder. Her dead ex, Terry, used to bite her sometimes when they had sex and the more she’d tell him it would hurt, the more pain he would inflict. She shook those thoughts out of her head. Maybe their victim had been assaulted or maybe those marks were made in the heat of passion. She didn’t have those answers yet and jumping to conclusions based on her own grim experiences wasn’t going to help the situation.
&
nbsp; ‘Oh, you can just about see the edge of her denim shorts. They’re undone at the button, as is the zip.’
Gina looked away from the body. ‘Any semen present?’
‘Not that we’ve been able to tell, but, as I said, we’ll know more when we examine the cadaver further.’
The cadaver was a young, healthy, breathing, living girl only a few hours ago. A shiver ran through Gina’s body. ‘Any further signs of a struggle?’
‘So far, we haven’t spotted any more bruising or defence wounds at all.’
This was telling Gina that the girl didn’t fight. Was she frozen with fear or did something start out as consensual then turn out badly? Or maybe she was drugged. ‘Can you arrange for toxicology to test for anything that might have incapacitated her? Rohypnol, anything that can make a person drowsy or disorientated. I guess they were all drinking too.’
‘You know that the tox report won’t come back for ages?’ Bernard reached into his beard covering and scratched his chin.
‘Yes, always a shame but we will eventually need to know if there was something else at play. If she didn’t make any effort whatsoever to fight back while she was being strangled to death, there has to be a reason and I want this case to be watertight. Cross everything and dot everything.’ She paused. ‘The moment you know more, please let me know.’
Jacob stepped onto another plate and continued to make a few notes as they spoke, wiping his brow every now and again.
Bernard nodded. ‘I will do.’ He glanced over at the others and smiled. ‘You can take a closer look now if you like. Just make sure you stay on the plates. I don’t think you’ll see as much as you hope to. She’s been dragged out of the bushes slightly. The girl who found her pulled her by her feet, thinking she was asleep.’
Bernard was right. All Jacob and Gina could properly see was the girl’s legs and a glimpse of her lolling tongue. To get a better look would mean pulling back the branches. She spotted what looked like a bit of dried blood. ‘What’s this on the thorny branch?’
