by Helen Phifer
Josh’s face drained of all colour, and Beth knew he was thinking, just like she was, that it couldn’t happen again so soon after they had caught a serial killer who had been terrorising Windermere.
Josh composed himself and shook the woman’s hand gently. ‘Please could you explain to me what you were telling Dr Adams?’
She nodded. ‘I looked for Chloe to come with me to do the identification, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. Which is strange because the pair of them are usually inseparable. Do you think it’s possible something’s happened to her as well?’
Josh stole a glance at Beth.
‘Where did you find Leah?’ the woman asked, obviously not willing to hear the reply.
‘She was discovered in the lake by the marina this morning, by a passenger on a boat who jumped in and pulled her out.’
‘Which boat?’
It was Sam who answered. ‘The Tequila Sunrise.’
Suzanne shook her head. ‘That boat. I warn the girls to keep away. It always ends in trouble whenever they go on there.’
Josh leant forward. ‘Why?’
‘It’s a party boat owned by some rich kid. Everyone knows it’s all sex, drugs, rock and roll and free-flowing alcohol. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for someone to fall off it to be honest.’
So many questions were running through Beth’s mind. Who owned the boat? Was it licensed? Had there been any other accidents on it? Before she could ask, Josh began to ask Suzanne exactly the same questions.
He turned to the officer. ‘Please can you tell Control we need a search team to the marina? I want the boat checked and the waters surrounding it. I also want two officers to go to the hotel and do their best to locate Chloe.’
The officer nodded at Josh and stepped outside. Beth felt the strings on the tight knot that had begun to form inside her stomach pull even harder. It couldn’t happen again, could it?
Eleven
Beth stood up. ‘Should we carry on with the identification while we’re waiting for news on Chloe?’
Suzanne’s eyes widened as she nodded, opened her mouth to speak and a small squeak came out. Beth felt bad for the woman; when she’d arrived at work this morning, identifying a dead body would not have been on her to-do list – it probably wasn’t even on her lifetime to-do list. Beth dealt with death on a daily basis and still found some cases upsetting. She had emotions just like everyone else, she’d just learnt to put them to one side while she worked. It was her job to figure out how and why the person who had once been full of life was now an empty shell lying in a mortuary refrigerator. It was a job she took very seriously; she was the voice for the victims who never got to tell their stories.
Beth left Suzanne standing next to Josh and Sam as she went into the viewing room to tell Abe they were ready. He had the body laid out on a steel gurney and covered with a white sheet so only her face showed.
‘Everything okay, Doc?’
‘I’ll tell you when we’re on our own.’
‘That good?’
She shook her head and went back into the small room, which was now unbearably stuffy with the number of people crammed into it. Abe pulled the cord that opened the curtains on a window between the rooms and stood to the side. A gasp escaped from Suzanne’s lips and she stepped closer to the glass, her nose almost pressed against it. She stared at the discoloured face of the girl, whose lips were tinged blue.
Josh broke the silence. ‘Can you confirm this is the body of Leah Burton?’
He looked at the woman, who couldn’t take her eyes away. ‘I think so.’
‘I’m afraid I need a yes or a no; if you’re not sure it can wait until her next of kin arrive.’
She tilted her head, stared a little longer then nodded. ‘Yes, sorry. I’ve never seen a dead person before. It’s her, it’s Leah.’
With that she let out a sob and sank down onto the sofa, burying her face in her hands. Sam sat down next to her.
‘I’m sorry, it’s not a nice thing to do. But we need to be one hundred per cent sure.’
She peered through her fingers. ‘Yes, it is her. I’m positive. She has a small tattoo on the back of her neck of a cross embedded in a rose; it’s pretty. She wore her hair in a topknot and you could just see it peeking out from under the collar of her uniform.’
With a nod at Abe to draw the curtains closed, Beth left the room to go and check the tattoo.
Minutes later, she came back and showed Suzanne a photograph of the tattoo on her phone. Suzanne’s uncontrollable sobs at the sight of the small cross inside the petals of a rose was all the confirmation she needed.
There was a knock and the door opened and the accompanying officer walked in. ‘Sarge, we’ve found Chloe, safe and well. Apparently, she arrived at the hotel an hour ago a little bit worse for wear.’
Beth exhaled the breath she didn’t even realise she’d been holding, thankful that this girl who had left her country to see what life in the UK was like was safe and well. Bad enough that Leah hadn’t found the happy ending she’d come in search of; for the two of them to have died in vain would have been unthinkable.
‘Thank God; does she know about Leah?’ Suzanne stared at the officer.
‘I don’t think so. I get the impression they’re waiting for official confirmation from you. I think you may be the one to have to break the news.’
Suzanne shook her head. ‘Could this day get any worse?’ she asked out loud.
Josh shook his head too. ‘We need to speak to Chloe and get an account of exactly what happened last night on the boat. Why don’t we meet you at the hotel in an hour and then we can break the news to her together?’
‘Really, would you do that?’
‘Yes, I think it would be better. You can be there to support her and pick up the pieces when we leave.’
Beth thought the woman looked a lot paler now than when she’d arrived. ‘Are you okay to drive back to Bowness? Would you rather someone came to collect you?’
She laughed. ‘You must be joking, there’s never enough staff on a good day. Now we’re down two already because I doubt Chloe is in a fit state to work her shift. I can’t spare anyone else, it will be mayhem.’
She looked around the room. ‘Sorry, that sounds heartless. I’ll be fine, it’s just a bit of a shock.’ She stood up, grabbed her handbag off the compact coffee table and walked out.
Beth let out a sigh. ‘At least we have our ID.’
She felt Josh’s eyes lingering on her and turned to look at him. ‘Can I have a word with you, Josh?’ She walked out of the room into the corridor, and he followed close behind, shutting the door so it was just the two of them.
‘He’s dead.’
‘I know, I tried to ring and tell you. Are you okay?’
Beth hesitated . Was she okay? She should be bloody ecstatic, but she just felt totally shell-shocked. Unable to answer him, she shrugged and before she knew it, he’d pulled her into his arms and was holding her close. Shocked at his public display of affection, despite the fact it was only the two of them in the corridor, she squeezed him back as hard as she could then stepped away. His lips brushed the side of her face, kissing the scar she hid behind her hair, and her fingers reached up to touch the spot.
‘I am now, thank you for asking. I guess I’m a little surprised and relieved at the same time.’ The double doors leading to the corridor were rammed open by a porter pushing a trolley full of brown paper envelopes and they stepped apart from each other.
‘Are you staying for the post-mortem?’
‘Do you think I should? I wanted to come and check you were okay.’
‘I don’t think you need to. It all looks straightforward. If I find anything you need to know about, I’ll call.’
‘Thank you. You’re sure you’re okay?’
Beth laughed. ‘With you and Abe fussing over me like mother hens I’m pretty sure I am. But I like it, and I’m very glad that you are.’
Josh smiled at her
then opened the door. ‘Come on, Samantha, we’d better get a move on and get to the hotel.’
‘We don’t need to stay for the examination?’
‘Doctor Adams doesn’t think so.’
Sam, who had been chatting to the officer, smiled and pressed her palms together in a silent prayer then followed Josh. She turned and waved at Beth, who was disappearing into the mortuary.
Beth lifted her hand and waved back. It was time to get dressed into her blue scrubs, clip the sides of her chin-length hair back under her cap, snap on a pair of nitrile gloves, and cover herself with a plastic apron to catch any spills.
Twelve
Sam looked across at Josh. ‘I suppose that trip down here was worth the drive then? I almost had a heart attack when she said Leah’s friend was missing as well.’
He didn’t want to tell her the reason he’d really driven her down to Barrow was to check on Beth. He had a sneaking suspicion that she already knew about the pair of them, but was being discreet until he decided to talk about it.
‘I know, all I could think was: not again. At least we have more information than we started with. I had no idea about The Tequila Sunrise being a party boat, did you?’
She shook her head. ‘Not really my thing if I’m honest. I know it’s popular with the teenagers. I’ve heard my daughter mention it, but hadn’t really paid a lot of attention.’
‘Me neither; when I turned eighteen it was a night at the pub with my mates. I once ended up so drunk the lads had to carry me and my bag of chips home. They opened the front door and threw me in then left me semi-comatose at the bottom of the stairs. My dad found me and dragged me upstairs to bed. I consumed enough alcohol that night to put me off drinking for the next couple of years. There were no fancy party boats back then; a working men’s club was as good as it got.’
She began to laugh. ‘When I was a lad…’ she mimicked.
Josh laughed with her. ‘Cheeky, I’m not that old.’
‘I never said you were.’
‘Still, I’d like to have a look around it, and we need to speak to the owner. If he’s supplied Leah with so much alcohol that she died, then things could take a different turn. We also need to speak to the other people present last night. I’ll task that out when we get back.
They drove most of the way back in silence. Sam was furiously angry-texting on her phone, so he guessed the argument she’d been having earlier was still in full flow. He wanted to ask if everything was okay, but didn’t want her to think he was being nosy. Eventually, she threw her phone in her bag and sighed. Josh took it as a signal to speak.
‘Everything okay?’
‘Kids, they’re a nuisance. You do right not having any, Josh.’
He smiled. ‘That bad?’
‘Only twenty-three out of twenty-four hours. Grace wants to go to a party on Saturday night.’
‘That’s not too bad, is it?’
He had no idea how to handle teenagers, so didn’t want to jump in and upset her.
‘It wasn’t bad at all until she told me it was on a private charter boat called The Tequila Sunrise, and I’ve just put two and two together.’
‘Shit.’
‘My thoughts exactly. I can’t tell her why I don’t want her to go either, although she’ll read it on the Internet no doubt.’
‘Yes, but in all fairness at this moment in time all we have is a woman who appears to have drowned through no fault but her own.’
‘Yes, Josh. If my daughter gets drunk – which she will because she sinks shots of vodka like there’s no tomorrow – she could fall in and drown as well.’
‘I suppose you have to look at the chances of it happening again. I mean this is the first time we’ve had an incident related to that particular boat or party boats in general. People do drown in the lake, a lot. It’s a huge expanse of water. I think she’ll probably be okay.’
‘Great, I’ll send her to live with you then.’
Josh knew it was time to shut up. He was out of his depth. He would get Sykes to do some digging and see if there was any intelligence about the boat and its owner before he tracked him down. He still couldn’t see that this was anyone’s fault. How one stupid, reckless moment could result in death or serious injury never failed to amaze him.
His phone began to vibrate in his pocket and he passed it to Sam. She looked down at the display.
‘Jodie. Should I answer it?’
‘No, I’ll ring her back later. Whatever she wants can’t be that important.’
He hadn’t spoken to her much since the day he’d left. He’d been home once to get the stuff he’d forgotten to pack when he’d left in a hurry. He owed her nothing. She wasn’t his priority any more. He didn’t even feel angry about their marriage break-up. It had been a blessing in disguise.
Thirteen
Beth walked into the mortuary feeling the cold in every part of her being. Abe looked over at her.
‘Hope you’re not coming down with something,’ he said as she rubbed her hands and arms to warm them up.
She shook her head. ‘No, I’m good. Or at least I think I am. It just feels even colder in here today than usual. Are we ready?’
‘Yep, it’s you, me and a cadaver makes three.’
Beth laughed. ‘Have you considered taking up poetry in your spare time? With words like that it’s bound to be a huge hit.’
‘Never thought about it. Pretty sure it would though. Who’s to say that poems from the mortuary wouldn’t make a great book? Pretty lame though, Doc, if all it consisted of was one-liners of that nature.’
He’d already wheeled the body from the viewing room and had it on the stainless steel dissection table ready to begin. The Roberts digital radio, a gift from Josh a couple of years ago, was turned on and playing Smooth FM. Not loud enough to be disrespectful to the person whose body was about to be cut open, but enough to break the silence and cover the loud humming from the fridges. Occasionally she’d let Abe choose the station, but she had to have a clear head to deal with the loud thumping and heavy bass of the drum and bass he favoured. Today her head wasn’t as clear as she liked; the early morning call out made it a little fuzzier than she preferred. It wouldn’t stop her from doing her job, though; she would be as meticulous as always.
Walking across the room, she watched as Abe unzipped the black body bag then unwrapped the evidence sheet wrapped around Leah’s naked body. Beth didn’t even flinch at the smell that filled the air around her as she joined him and checked the tags, one on Leah’s right hand, the other on the left big toe. Pausing for a moment, she silently made her introduction: Leah, my name is Doctor Adams and I’m sorry that you’re here, but it’s my job to find out what happened to you. I hope you can forgive me. Both tags read ‘Leah Burton’, her date of birth, the police log number, the place of death, sex, height and weight.
Taking the digital camera from Abe, she began to document the body before she began her internal examination. Abe wheeled over the portable X-ray machine and took images of the body in situ. Then they removed the sodden sheet and bag, checked them for evidence and put them to one side.
Beth talked into a Dictaphone as she worked. ‘The body is that of a well-developed and nourished Caucasian female who appears to be the stated age of eighteen years old. Weight fifty-six kilograms.’ She waited while Abe took the height, tilting her head to read the numbers on the tape. ‘Measuring one hundred and seventy-seven centimetres in length. The body shows moderate, generalised rigor. The hair is blonde in colour and shoulder length.’ Reaching out a gloved finger, she lifted the eyelids. ‘Eyes are blue; there are no petechiae in the conjunctivae or sclera. The nostrils and mouth show a white froth consistent with drowning, and the ears are not remarkable. The neck, chest and abdomen show no abnormality and no surgical scars. On the right side of the shoulder and upper arm there are a number of superficial abrasions. Measuring approximately one to two centimetres in diameter. A slight superficial bruise is also noted in the
same area measuring three centimetres in diameter.’
A rubber block was placed under the girl’s diaphragm and Beth pressed one hand down on the abdomen, watching as a trickle of water was released from Leah’s mouth. All signs were consistent with drowning, and the abrasions and bruise a result of the body being brought into contact with the side of the boat she was found floating next to. Examining the scalp and hair, she noted that there was an area of slight redness where a small patch of hair was missing. This too matched what the witness had told them; her hair had been caught in the boat’s anchor chain and the poor sod had had to rip it out to get her away from there and out of the water. Beth shuddered. She knew first-hand just how awful it would have been to have choked down mouthfuls of the icy, foul-tasting liquid until she could no longer breathe.
‘Doc?’
She looked up at Abe. His eyebrow arched: his way of asking if everything was okay. She nodded. Reaching out for the large syringe he was holding towards her, she took it from him, sinking the fine needle into the corner of Leah’s right eye to withdraw the vitreous humour. She repeated the process again with the girl’s left eye. The samples of the clear gel would be tested for the potassium levels in the body, which could help to narrow down Leah’s time of death. Beth moved around to where the victim’s small white hands lay. Picking them up, she closely examined first one then the other. There were no signs of defence wounds on them, no cuts, broken nails. Leaning closer, she noticed the tiniest fragment of something underneath the nail of the little finger on her right hand. She removed it with a pair of tweezers, placed it gently on a slide and carried it over to one of the microscopes to take a look. She instantly recognised the multiple layers which formed a flake of paint. Leah must have caught her hand against the side of the boat as she went into the water. She needed to ask Josh what colour the boats were in the area surrounding where she was found in the marina.
