by K Pierce
Emily sighed, there was no way she was getting out of this one. ‘I had a date tonight.’
‘Had?’
‘Yes, had. She just cancelled.’ Emily couldn’t hide her disappointment. She’d felt a real spark between them earlier and had been looking forward to spending time with her. Especially if that time involved food. And nakedness.
‘I hope she had a bloody good reason. Like she’s died, for example.’
‘Close.’ Emily said. ‘There’s been a murder and she’s not sure when she’ll be around –’
Fiona’s eyes grew wide and she interrupted. ‘What? She’s on the run for murder? Where the hell did you meet her? Honestly, you can’t be left alone for five minutes!’
Emily raised an eyebrow. ‘Done?’ Fiona scowled but nodded. She’s a police officer, well a Detective actually, and there’s been a murder. She said it means she might not be around much and it’s not fair to me.’
Fiona sat chewing on her bottom lip, a sure sign that she was thinking. ‘Not a bad reason as reasons go. So where did you meet a policewoman? As far as I’m aware all you do is work and sleep.’
Emily’s attempt at indignation fell way short. Maybe that was all she did, but she was content and that’s what life was about, right? She shifted uncomfortably under Fiona’s unwavering gaze. Letting out a breath and bracing herself for the reaction that was bound to follow, she simply said, ‘Dating website.’
The silence stretched out between them.
‘Come again?’
‘I signed up to a dating site. Stop judging me, loads of people do it these days. If anything, I’m trendy.’ Emily babbled.
‘Wow.’ Fiona mulled it over. ‘You know those things are full of freaks and weirdos? And married folk. And weirdos. Did I say weirdos?’
Emily crossed her arms and frowned. ‘Are you saying I’m a weirdo?’
‘Without a doubt, sweetie. You are the oddest little bunny I know.’
‘Thanks. I love you too.’
‘You know I love you,’ Fiona continued, ‘I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Or dragged into some sort of strap-on worshipping cult that resides in the woods and lives off berries and leaves foraged by the Amazons in your tribe.’
‘Are you sure those drugs have worn off?’ Emily picked up her phone and fiddled with it. Fiona’s playful barbs stung a little more than they should have done. ‘This is exactly why I didn’t tell you.’
‘And if it had worked out with Detective Dreamboat, you’d have just told me you met in Tesco?’
‘Maybe. Maybe I’d have said she was the one that arrested me when I beat you for being mean to me.’ Emily said.
‘Dream on lovely, we both know I can take you, even with a gippy hand.’ Fiona pushed herself slowly out of the chair and padded over to the table in the corner of the room. When she returned, she was clutching her laptop in her good hand. Emily’s heart sank. ‘Right then, let’s log you in and have a gander.’
5.
The four of them sat around the table in the incident room. Crime scene photos and notes were spread out between them. The whiteboard held similar photos and the scant details of what they’d found at the slaughterhouse.
Nat huffed in frustration and shoved her chair backwards. She looked at her watch for the hundredth time. ‘Where the hell is he? We’re supposed to come straight back and get started but he can stroll in whenever he feels like it?’ They’d been waiting for more than two hours and DI Woods was still nowhere to be seen.
Ryan stood up and gathered the empty cups from the table. ‘Anybody for a refill?’
‘Let’s just get on,’ Barry said when Ryan returned, ‘We’ll fill him in when he shows up.’ He picked up a notepad and pen. ‘What do we know?’
Phil stood and moved over to the whiteboard. He used a marker to point at one of the photos. ‘Not much regarding the victim, at least not until after the autopsy, maybe in her late twenties and Janet reckons that the position of her clothing certainly suggests a sexual motive.’ He shifted the pen to another photo, pausing as Ryan passed out cups and took his seat. ‘Scene was remote, no witnesses or cameras as yet, so it looks like he had time to do what he needed to do without interruption.’
Barry’s phone vibrated against the table. He glanced at it, frowning as he answered. ‘Hello?’ The other three watched quietly while he listened and nodded, even though the caller couldn’t see him. A brief goodbye later and he slipped it into his pocket. ‘I’m needed upstairs.’ He looked across the table at Ryan. ‘Can you go down to the autopsy with Nat? I’m sure they’ve started without us, but it can’t hurt to see what Janet’s got to say now she’s had a proper look.’
‘Sure.’
‘Phil, check to see what the lab got from the scene. First thing in the morning I want you to take some uniforms and start knocking on doors. Follow all the routes in and out of there, any farms or businesses, any trucks parked in laybys. We might get lucky.’ He looked at the clock on the wall. ‘We’ll all meet back here at 10am for an update. Try and get some sleep.’ Then he was gone.
‘What was that all about?’ Phil asked.
‘No idea.’ Nat frowned. ‘But Janet’ll have our arses if we don’t get a wriggle on.’
***
Fiona sat quietly staring at the screen in front of her. She hadn’t said anything since Emily had logged her into the website, and the occasional flick of her finger over the touch pad was the only indication that she hadn’t fallen asleep with her eyes open. ‘Christ on a bike.’ Emily jumped at the sudden outburst. ‘It’s no bloody wonder you get all the weirdos.’
‘I don’t get all the weirdos.’
‘Em, there’s a girl here who, and I quote, “likes your head so much I’d love to keep it in a glass box.”’ she looked pointedly at Emily.
‘Well, yeah, that conversation didn’t really get going.’
‘You do surprise me. Is decapitation not high on your list of ideal first dates?’ Fiona went back to the screen. ‘And where in God’s name did you get this picture from?’
‘My cousin’s wedding. I love that picture.’
‘Everyone loved that picture, back in 2006 when it was taken. You’re not nineteen anymore and it really doesn’t do you justice now. You don’t even have that much frizz these days’
Emily gave her a look. ‘That wasn’t frizz. That was the tousled beach look. They got married in Blackpool.’
Fiona cleared her throat in a poor attempt at stifling a laugh. Emily knew that this had been a mistake. Fiona was her best friend and she didn’t like keeping secrets, but at the same time Fiona’s scrutiny was stomping all over her self-esteem.
‘You’ve been on here for weeks and have the grand total of five interested parties. Out of those there are only two that don’t have some kind of obvious issue, or the need for a nice buckled jacket and a room with padded walls.’ Emily couldn’t hide her forlorn look. It wasn’t her fault that she was so bad at this. She’d never really had Fiona’s confidence with women. In her 29 years on the planet she’d had a total of three relationships and two one-night stands. Fiona caught the look on her face. ‘I tell you what. You go and put the kettle on and I’ll do a little…tweaking.’ She smiled sweetly and held out her mug. With a sigh Emily headed for the kitchen.
6.
It was still pitch black when Nat pulled her Mini into the station car park the following morning. There were only a few cars dotted around that early, but she still parked as far away from the entrance as possible and walked the rest of the way. It was a habit she’d developed at a young age and one that she’d never shaken; always stay at the back and always know where the exits were. She strode across the tarmac and pushed through the front door, nodding briefly at the young constable behind the counter who buzzed her in. Taking the stairs two at a time she made a beeline for the coffee machine before heading to the incident room.
Barry stood looking out of the window. His broad shoulders were slumped, and she could see t
he tension in them. In all the time that they’d worked together she’d only seen him this anxious once before; when Jenny had told him about the twins that they were expecting. Back then he’d been afraid that he wouldn’t be a good enough father, wouldn’t be strong enough to look after his family and do his job properly. That tension had dissipated the moment he’d held the two little pink bundles and looked at his beautiful wife. If anything, they’d given him more strength and he’d been a better man ever since.
Nat saw the empty cup dangling from his fingers and the jacket slung over the back of his chair. ‘You’re in early, did you wet the bed this morning?’ She asked.
He didn’t move. ‘Woods had a heart attack.’
She heard the words, but they didn’t register. ‘What?’
Barry turned. He’d shaved, and his shirt was ironed and buttoned all the way up to the top. A midnight blue tie was tucked neatly under his collar. ‘Woods had a heart attack.’ He repeated.
‘And you dressed up for the occasion.’
‘He was driving when he had it, on his way here to meet with us last night. The car veered into the oncoming lane, was clipped by a van and flipped. Crushed right leg, broken arm, wrist and collar bone. Head trauma.’
‘Jesus Christ.’
‘He’s in intensive care. That’s why I was called upstairs yesterday. The Powers that Be want me to take over as SIO until they find a permanent replacement.’
Woods got on her nerves, always had, but she’d never wish this on him. ‘Is he gonna make it?’
‘Forty percent chance. He was in surgery for most of the night. I was here by four and got the update that he made it through. Now it’s a waiting game. Did you hear what I said?’
‘Yeah, forty- ‘
‘The other bit, Natalie.’ He only called her that when he needed her to be serious.
Nat put her cup down on the table and slid her coat off, tossing it onto the seat in front of her. She leaned against the back of the chair and looked at him. ‘You’re in charge. I heard.’ He looked back at her and she thought she saw a hint of fear. ‘Are you ok with that?’ She asked softly.
‘I don’t really have a choice.’ He blinked and let out a nervous laugh. ‘Jenny thinks it’s great.’ He gestured to the whiteboard. ‘But there’s nothing like throwing a bloke in at the deep end.’
‘We’re behind you, as always. Full support. You’ll smash it. It’s just like being a dad.’ She grinned. ‘Think of it as practice for the teenage years.’
The door behind them burst open and Phil stumbled through it with Ryan practically in his pocket. ‘Someone’s eager to start work this morning.’ Nat said.
Phil ignored her. ‘Did you hear?’
‘About Woods?’ Nat said. ‘Yeah, the new SIO told me.’
‘Already? Shit, who is it? Please tell me it’s not some wanker with a massive stick up his arse or a chip on his shoulder?’ Phil shrugged out of his coat, tossed his phone onto the table and carried on with his tirade. ‘I bet he’s a proper muppet, wanting to throw his weight around and lord it over us on some kind of power trip.’
Nat glanced sideways at Barry. He gave her a slight headshake.
‘Honestly, Woods is bad enough, but we’ll never solve this case if we get lumbered with some other vain prick who’s more interested in kissing arse and press conferences than actual police work.’
‘You done?’ Nat asked. Phil gave her his middle finger. ‘Good. Because you’re about to meet the vain, power hungry prick who’s in charge.’ She turned to Barry. ‘Welcome to the family, Boss.’
Thirty seconds and a comical double take later and Phil was tripping over his tongue trying to erase the past few minutes. Barry let him stew a little longer than he needed to, but Nat couldn’t blame him. Sometimes Phil was a dick.
‘Right then. Now that that’s out of the way,’ Barry said, ‘maybe we should get on with the case? I do have a career ladder to climb after all.’ He shot a look at Phil who instantly turned red. ‘What did we find out from the autopsy?’
Nat gave Ryan a nod. ‘Our victim is somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-five years old, white, blonde, around five three and one hundred and ten pounds soaking wet.’
‘She’s small. That explains him overpowering her.’ Barry said. ‘What else?’
‘No birthmarks or distinguishing features. Cause of death is blunt force trauma, and a lot of it. Doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get a facial reconstruction with the amount of damage. She was also raped, and Janet seems to think that by the looks of it she was raped before and after death. No fluids, so it’s safe to assume he used a condom. She’s been dead around two weeks.’
‘The sick bastard.’ Phil muttered.
‘That’s putting it politely.’ Nat said.
Ryan added his notes to the board and Barry shifted his attention to Phil. ‘How about you? Any joy with the canvas?’
‘No cameras for miles and no witnesses as yet. There’s a few farms around there, but by my estimation they’re all too far away for anyone to have seen or heard anything useful. I spoke to the people in the two houses closest to the scene last night but no joy. Uniforms are up there this morning doing the rest. I spoke with forensics who said that with it being such an old, well-used and open space that there was a lot of trace. It’s going to take a while to get through it all and rule out what’s not useful.’
Barry rubbed a hand across his face. ‘OK, so not much to go on.’
‘What about the clothing the victim was wearing?’ Nat said.
‘What about it?’
‘What if we put what she was wearing out to the public, see if anyone recognizes it?’ Nat started to shuffle through the photos on the desk. ‘Do we have the pictures yet?’
Ryan turned from the board. ‘Janet said she’d email them over to you.’ He checked his watch. ‘Should be in your inbox by now.’
The main office was starting to fill up after the shift change. Nat nodded a few greetings and pulled out the chair at her desk. She waited for her emails to load and noticed an open message in the toolbar on the bottom of her screen. So much had happened since she’d last checked her mail that she couldn’t remember what she’d been looking at. She clicked the tab. The crime scene photo that she’d been studying the previous morning filled the screen with trees and rocks and the body of a woman. Staring at the woman Nat let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. She hit print.
The three men looked up as Nat shoved through the door waving the pictures in her hand. ‘There’s more than one.’
They all looked stumped. ‘More than one what?’ Phil asked.
‘Victim. There’s more than one victim.’ She tossed the printouts onto the table and looked at Barry. ‘You remember that case that Cumbria sent down?’ He nodded. ‘Unidentifiable female victim, remote location, severe blunt force trauma to the head and face…’ she trailed off as comprehension dawned.
‘Shit.’
7.
The desk phone chirped insistently. It was the internal tone. Emily looked at it and then up at the door to Fiona’s office. Why she felt the need to call her instead of just getting up and opening the door was beyond her. Why she’d even come into work today, after yesterday’s adventures with scissors and painkillers, was also a mystery. The phone continued to ring.
‘Hello?’
‘What did I tell you?’ Fiona’s enthusiasm was evident. ‘A little tweak here and a few creative phrases there and your inbox is practically overflowing.’
Emily looked at her computer screen. One unread email, for penis enlargement of all things, sat in her inbox. ‘What are you going on about?’
Fiona sighed down the phone. ‘The website. IHeartGrrls or whatever the buggering hell it’s called. You’re overflowing with offers.’
Emily’s stomach knotted. ‘Erm…and how would you know this?’
‘Oh, I changed your log in details so that I could keep an eye on it. Honestly, you’re-’
‘Calm down, it’s not like I’m not going to tell you what I changed it to. And you’re welcome, by the way.’
Emily’s eyebrows shot up. ‘For what?’ Fiona swung the monitor around so that Emily could see it. A long list of names, photos and messages filled the screen.
‘Personally, I’d go for the redhead, the doctor and the one with the allotment. She obviously knows how to use her hands and she’s funny. Always go with funny.’ Fiona winked. She pushed her chair back and stood, towering over Emily in her heels. ‘I’m going to nip out and grab us some lunch. Feel free to peruse.’ She gestured smugly towards the seat she’d just vacated, grabbed her bag and left.
Emily heard the front door slam and slid into Fiona’s soft white leather chair. Humiliation and irritation burned through her at Fiona’s intrusion. I can find my own damn girlfriend! She scanned the photographs and immediately ruled a couple of them out. She wasn’t shallow or superficial, but she hated posers, and what the hell was with the pouty duck face? Did girls not just smile anymore? She clicked onto the profile of the doctor that Fiona had mentioned. Reading down the page she scrunched up her nose. The woman was a high achiever; that much was evident. She was also extremely attractive, but the more Emily read the more she realised that the woman didn’t seem to have much in the way of a sense of humour. Emily closed the profile and clicked on the next message. 9 out of 10 people surveyed recommend that you message me back ASAP it read. She looked at the picture that accompanied it. A huge mass of red curls framed a smile that reached all the way up to a pair of bright green eyes. This woman was stunning. Reading through her profile Emily noticed that they had a few things in common and shared the same kind of sarcastic humour.