Silent Graves

by Sally Rigby

  ‘What sort of farming do you do?’

  ‘Mainly arable, although we do have some cows and we also have a free-range egg production outlet, which my wife runs. It doesn’t bring in a huge amount of money, and she mainly sells to small independent outlets.’

  ‘Don’t you mind having all these new houses being so close to you?’ she asked.

  ‘Once the development is finished, we will be planting trees and hedges to separate it from the rest of the farm. We won’t be able to see them from our windows and they won’t be able to see us. Why?’

  ‘I’m just trying to get a picture of the development, as it will help with our enquiry.’

  ‘Could you go into more detail about you needing money? Are you in debt?’ Brian asked.

  Whitney narrowed her eyes, tossing a glare in his direction, then realised he didn’t know the golden rule: she did the talking in interviews. She’d forgotten to mention it to him as she was so used to being with Matt and he knew how she operated. He’ll know for next time.

  ‘You misunderstood. We weren’t heading for bankruptcy, but the money from the development is going to be a useful backstop,’ Mr Gibson said.

  She’d love to be in the position of having a backstop, but that wasn’t going to happen on a DCI’s salary, especially with her outgoings.

  ‘How are you funding the development before you sell the houses, if money is tight?’ Brian continued.

  She acknowledged that was an excellent question and one she hadn’t thought to ask.

  ‘We’ve already sold sixty-five per cent of the properties off the plan. It was part of the bank’s requirements before they would grant us a mortgage. Also, we have a commitment from the local housing association for their statutory percentage. I’m not sure why our financial arrangements are relevant,’ Gibson said, frowning.

  ‘That’s for us to decide,’ Brian said.

  ‘Let’s move on,’ Whitney interrupted. She wasn’t going to have him upsetting the farmer, they required his cooperation. ‘You obviously know the area where the remains were discovered. Can you tell me exactly what happened?’

  ‘Yes. Wayne, the digger driver, had uprooted the hedges and cleared them away. He then began reshaping the soil and came across the bones. He stopped digging and ran over to the house to fetch me to take a look at what he’d dug up. After taking a look, and seeing the skull, I immediately phoned the police.’

  ‘Do you have any idea who the bodies might be?’

  ‘None whatsoever.’

  ‘Do you remember anyone going missing in the past?’

  He was silent for a few seconds and slowly shook his head. ‘No. Sorry.’

  ‘The actual place they were found … what was there before the land was cleared for development?’ she asked.

  ‘The development goes across several fields and the bodies were found close to where there was a dividing line of hedges.’

  ‘Do you have a plan of the previous layout we can take away with us so we can identify exactly where the bodies were found and what the land looked like at the time they were buried?’

  ‘Yes. I have one in my office, I’ll get it for you.’

  He left the room, and Brian turned to her, his eyes narrow. ‘Why did you interrupt me when I was asking Gibson about his financials?’

  ‘I omitted to mention my rule to you, I ask the questions and you listen. I expect you to observe their reactions and let me know what you’ve noticed. I’m not saying I don’t want you to ask questions at all, but I take the lead. I also felt you were pushing Mr Gibson unnecessarily.’

  ‘Why do you have this rule?’

  ‘Because that’s how I’ve always worked.’ There was no need to justify herself to him. He should do as she asked.

  ‘What if you don’t ask a question I think is relevant?’ he pushed.

  ‘We—’

  ‘Here you are,’ Gibson said as he walked back into the kitchen. He laid the plan on the table. ‘This shows the whole farm and I’ve highlighted the area comprising the development. As you can see, there was a row of hedges going from one side of the field to the other, and several clumps of trees.’ He pointed with his finger to the line on the map.

  ‘It appears the bodies were buried under the hedges.’ That made more sense.

  ‘That’s entirely possible,’ he said.

  ‘What’s that line mean?’ she asked pointing to an area running to the left of the hedges.

  ‘That’s a public right of way. When drawing up the plans for the houses it had to be considered.’

  Damn. That was a nuisance as it meant any number of people could have access to the burial site.

  ‘Thank you for your help. We’ll need to talk to you again, once we’ve been to see the pathologist and have more information about the bodies.’

  ‘Do you have any idea when I can start the digging again?’

  How many times did he have to ask? Did he think she was going to change her mind because he’d given her some help?

  ‘We’ll be in touch as soon as you can resume. I’m sorry, that’s all I can say at the moment.’

  They left the house and headed back towards Brian’s car.

  ‘Back to the station now, guv? I could do with cleaning my shoes and trousers.’

  ‘Not yet. First, we’re going to visit the morgue. We need their input before we can take this further.’

  Chapter 4

  ‘Are we seeing anyone in particular?’ Brian asked as they were driving to the hospital.

  ‘I called ahead and have arranged for us to see Claire.’

  ‘Claire?’

  ‘Dr Dexter. She’s one of our pathologists. She’s the best in the county, probably the country judging by the number of job offers and media interview requests she gets.’

  ‘Ahead of those used by the Met?’ He turned to her, his eyebrow arched.

  ‘Yes, even ahead of them.’

  Would Claire subject him to some of her special treatment? It was always fun to watch. It was a rite of passage for everyone who worked closely with the pathologist. She smiled to herself at the thought of their meeting.

  After parking, they walked in through the double doors of the morgue and she wrinkled her nose as the smell hit her.

  ‘I’m assuming you’ve been to the morgue plenty of times before,’ she said to Brian.

  ‘Not that many,’ he admitted.

  ‘Does that mean you haven’t seen many dead bodies?’

  ‘I’ve seen my fair share at dump sites, but visiting the morgue was usually left to my gaffers.’

  ‘We work closely with Dr Dexter, so I imagine you’ll be seeing her often.’

  They walked into the lab and turned right into the office area. Claire was standing beside a man in a white coat, engrossed in conversation.

  ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ Whitney said.

  ‘You’re early,’ Claire said in her usual officious manner.

  ‘Only ten minutes. We can leave, get a coffee and come back when you’re ready,’ Whitney said, not at all upset at the thought of a caffeine fix.

  ‘No need. This is Dr Leon de Villiers, he’s the forensic anthropologist who’s assisting in the analysis of the remains. I asked him to be here once I knew you were coming.’

  ‘DCI Whitney Walker,’ she said, holding out her hand to shake his. ‘And this is my new sergeant, DS Chapman,’ she said, turning back to Claire and gesturing to Brian.

  ‘What happened to Matt?’ Claire asked.

  ‘He’s moved to a smaller force so he could spend more time with his baby.’

  Claire stared at Brian. ‘I have rules.’

  ‘You too?’ Brian said, tossing a glance at Whitney.

  She resisted the urge to rub her hands together in glee, as that would be way too childish. But this was definitely going to be fun.

  ‘Yes. When you’re in my lab, you do exactly as you’re told.’

  ‘Got it,’ he said.

  She turned to Whitney. ‘We’ll t
ell you what we have so far. Follow us.’

  Whitney walked behind Claire and Dr de Villiers, laughing to herself at the pathologist’s glittery pink tights and red ankle boots. Beneath her white coat, she glimpsed a few inches of a green and white checked skirt.

  On two of the stainless-steel tables in the centre of the lab were the remains laid out as they would be in a body. The bones had been cleaned and there was no mud on them. Whitney had never worked with just bones before, it didn’t feel like a normal post-mortem.

  ‘These are the reconstructed skeletons of the two bodies found at the farm,’ Leon said.

  ‘Can you tell what caused their deaths?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Wait until we invite questions,’ Claire snapped.

  Brian glanced at Whitney and she looked away, pretending she hadn’t heard. How she managed not to laugh out loud was anyone’s guess.

  ‘Both skeletons are complete, and I’ve established they are female. If you look at the skull, you can see that the frontal bone is rounded.’ He pointed to the skull of one of them. ‘A male frontal bone is less rounded and slopes backwards at a gentler angle. The pelvic bones are another indicator if skulls are too damaged, which these aren’t.’

  Whitney peered at the body and nodded. ‘What about their ages?’

  ‘There are several methods of determining the age a person was at the time of their death. Our two bodies were teenagers, and I’d put them at around sixteen years old from measuring the length of the long bones in the leg. Teeth are another, more reliable, measure of estimating the age of a body, providing the person was under twenty-one. I checked the teeth on these two and it confirmed my original conclusion that both were sixteen.’

  ‘How do you age skeletons on older bodies?’ Whitney asked, her curiosity piqued.

  ‘We can look at the fourth rib.’ He pointed to the rib in question on the body they were looking at. ‘Over time, the cartilage between the end of the rib and the sternum turns to bone.’ She moved in closer to see better.

  ‘How long ago did these girls die?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘We took soil samples from around the bodies and there were several wool fibres found that most likely came from the clothes they were wearing. We’re awaiting confirmation, but I’d place their deaths between the late 1970s and early 1980s.’

  ‘Am I allowed to ask how they were killed yet?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Stop jumping the gun and making unsubstantiated claims,’ Claire snapped. ‘We don’t as yet have confirmation that they were murdered. Cause of death could have been natural. They might have been walkers who got lost and curled up in freezing weather and weren’t found.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Brian muttered.

  ‘Leon, what can you tell us?’ Whitney asked, keeping her voice neutral.

  ‘What we have here are two healthy, teenage girls with no signs of disease, or illness, and no obvious cause of death. Also, there’s nothing significant to identify them and although dental records could be used, without a name, and nothing of note on their teeth to ask dentists to look for in their records, we have a needle in a haystack situation. There are no broken bones that could be chased in hospital records. In summary, there’s nothing obvious to identify them. We’ve sent bone fragments for testing and DNA extraction, but with bones this old, it could take a while to get a result. And if it turns out that their DNA isn’t in the database then it will be up to you to identify them,’ Leon said.

  ‘If they’d been poisoned, would that show?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘Although we can identify certain diseases by deposits left in bones, unfortunately we can’t tell if they’d been drugged or poisoned, unless there is any hair left on the body. Certain poisons leave markers in hair follicles, however, there are none on these ladies.’

  ‘Thank you, we now have more to work on.’ Whitney turned to Brian. ‘I’ll meet you in the car, I’d like a quick word with Dr Dexter.’

  ‘About what?’ Brian said, his eyes flashing.

  ‘Nothing to do with the case. It’s personal.’

  ‘Okay,’ he muttered, heading away from them.

  ‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Leon said, walking back to the office and leaving the two of them alone.

  ‘What is it?’ Claire asked. ‘I don’t mix work and pleasure, you know that.’

  ‘I wanted to know how married life was treating you.’ Claire had married in secret a few months ago, and Whitney knew very little of her husband apart from that they’d met online. Not from a dating agency, as she’d first assumed when Claire told her. It turned out they were both on a committee arranging a research conference.

  ‘It’s fine, thank you.’

  ‘Is that it? Just fine?’

  She was beginning to regret the question, then again, she’d always been fairly similar to George in the playing her cards close to her chest stakes.

  ‘It’s very good, thank you.’

  ‘What about Ralph and work?’

  Claire’s new husband was also a pathologist. He lived in Yorkshire and Whitney had been worried Claire would move up there, but she hadn’t.

  ‘He’s been offered a position in Birmingham and he starts next week.’

  ‘Thank goodness. Does that mean you’re definitely going to stay here with us?’ She smiled broadly.

  ‘For now, yes. I have to get on, three bodies are due this morning. Goodbye.’

  Whitney grinned, and she left the lab and headed down the corridor. As she passed the coffee machine, she stopped, gazing longingly. Should she get one? No. Brian was already agitated at being sent out. She wouldn’t keep him waiting any longer.

  When she reached his car, he was leaning against it tapping his foot on the ground.

  ‘What are you doing out here in the cold?’ she asked.

  ‘Waiting for you.’

  ‘You could have done that inside the car, instead of out here freezing your whatsits off.’

  He shifted from one foot to the other. Was he building up to speak his mind? She suspected so.

  ‘Look, I might be talking out of line, but I don’t appreciate the way Dr Dexter spoke to me, nor the way you let her get away with it,’ he blurted out.

  She’d known he would have something to say about Claire but hadn’t reckoned on getting the blame for allowing it to happen. She supposed he was right, but it wasn’t like he was the only one to get the Claire treatment.

  ‘It’s not a question of letting her get away with it. It’s Claire being Claire. She’s the same with everyone, whether you’re the chief constable, or—’

  ‘A lowly sergeant,’ he interrupted. ‘But just so as you know, I don’t intend to stay one for long. I’m on the way up.’

  Whitney stifled a grin. She was beginning to get the measure of her new sergeant. ‘What you’ve got to understand is we’ve worked with Claire for many years and we know her little idiosyncrasies. She enjoys intimidating people. Don’t let it get to you. We’re lucky to have her and she’s a huge help in the solving of our cases.’

  ‘So you said,’ Brian muttered. ‘No pathologist I’ve come across in the past has acted like her.’

  ‘And I dare say they weren’t as good as Claire either. So just cut her some slack and forget about it,’ Whitney said.

  ‘Okay, but for the record, I’m not happy about it.’

  ‘Duly noted.’

  ‘One more thing,’ he said.

  ‘What now?’ She gave an exasperated sigh.

  ‘What’s with the clothes?’

  Whitney laughed. That question she’d allow. ‘Something else you’ll get used to with Claire. She wears the most outlandish outfits and I seriously have no idea where she gets them from. But it’s all part of her charm. Now, if you’ve finished, let’s get back to the station as we need to track down the identities of the dead girls.’

  Chapter 5

  Whitney pushed open the door and headed to where her old whiteboard stood. She leant against the empty desk in front of it and called the team
to attention. ‘We’ve just come back from visiting the crime scene. It’s an expanse of open fields, but the farmer did give me a plan showing what it was like before the digging started.’ She stuck the plan to the board. ‘This is where the bodies were found.’ She pointed to the spot on the map.

  ‘Guv,’ Brian interrupted. ‘You don’t need to do that. I can scan the plan into the system, and we can put it up electronically for everyone to see.’

  ‘No need. Once I’ve finished talking, you can scan it in if you wish.’ She knew she had to learn to use the new electronic whiteboard, but at the moment she wanted to talk about the case without having to go through all the hassle of uploading the map. ‘Anyway, the bodies were buried close to where originally there was a line of hedges, and next to a public right of way. That means any number of people would be able to access the farm and identify somewhere to bury the victims. We have been to see the pathologist, and—’

  ‘Dr Dexter?’ Frank interrupted.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Has she changed her name since she got married?’

  ‘Not that I know of. Why?’ She failed to see why it was relevant, but no doubt Frank would have a reason.

  ‘I just wondered. What did you think of her, Sarge?’ he asked Brian.

  That was it. He wanted to know what had happened at the morgue. Frank was so transparent.

  ‘I’m sure I’ll get used to her,’ he replied, casting a sideways glance at Whitney.

  ‘Frank, end the discussion on Dr Dexter and focus. According to the forensic anthropologist, Dr Leon de Villiers, who is working with Claire on the case, the bones belong to two sixteen-year-old girls.’

  Silence hung over them. It always did when crimes against children were discovered.

  ‘Crap,’ Doug said, echoing everyone’s thoughts.

  ‘There were no visible signs of how they died, which he believes was around 1980. We’re waiting to find out if there are any DNA matches in the database. Doug and Meena, you were looking at double missing persons cases, did you find anything?’