by Helen Fields
‘I don’t care how you organise it, but get those witnesses hot drinks and make sure taxis are standing by to take them wherever they need to go.’
‘All of them, ma’am? Only there’s another bunch of them under the access to that hotel.’ The officer pointed to a bridge structure set into the buildings.
Ava sighed. Little chance of stopping so many people from giving the press all the gory details when so many witnesses were involved. ‘Yes, all of them,’ Ava said. ‘And ask the hotel to open its lobby so the witnesses can be spoken to inside rather than on the street. They’ll be cold from shock.’
Jonty Spurr was packing away his camera as she went to speak with him.
‘What happened?’ she asked.
‘The victim was in the road and got hit by the bus,’ Jonty said. ‘I’m afraid her body is in a dreadful mess. It’s a difficult scene to process.’
Another body dumped in the road. Ava sighed as she zipped up a protective suit. Perhaps if she’d listened to Natasha, gone looking for Kate earlier, she could have saved this life. Anything might have been possible. SugarPa might have given them the identity of the man Kate had met. They could have traced her mobile signal. How many hours of the search had she lost by following procedure rather than instinct? Now they had a body to document, rather than a young woman to return home safely to her parents.
‘All right. Let me see,’ she told Jonty, standing on a mat placed near the corpse so that her feet would not disturb other evidence left on the road.
He peeled back the body bag. The damage was overwhelming. Her face was unrecognisable, completely distorted by the impact. No part of her had been left unbloodied. Her limbs were a shattered mess. She looked, Ava thought, like a burst balloon. As a forensics officer moved away, unblocking the beams from a light, a small portion of her hair became visible, fluttering as the wind picked up. It was red, not as a result of the carnage, but from a dye. Almost purple, she noted, bending down.
‘This isn’t Kate,’ Ava murmured.
‘Kate who?’ Jonty asked.
‘I was expecting … Never mind. You said this girl had been hit by a bus. If this is a road traffic accident, why did you ask for me?’
‘Sorry, I assumed you’d been properly briefed. Let me show you what I found when I was doing a preliminary assessment of the body.’ Jonty knelt next to the girl and lifted her head gently to reveal the left side of her face. It was dented, and already blackening, but he pulled out a tiny, fierce torch and shone it on the area where her cheek had once been. ‘It’s hard to make out with the subsequent trauma from the vehicle impact, but you can see here.’ He pointed with the torch to the top of her now-flattened nose. ‘Follow the line right to her cheekbone, then down diagonally to her mouth and back across to the edge of her jaw.’
The Z became clear as Dr Spurr pointed out the cruelly deep laceration. ‘Has this just happened?’ she breathed.
‘The cuts are very fresh. I haven’t been able to piece together a timeline yet, as I’ve been concentrating on managing the area. The bus driver is giving a statement as we speak. He might be of more use to you.’
Ava straightened up, the world spinning as she got to her full height and made her way along the street towards the driver. Why had she been so sure it was Kate? She’d reassured Natasha that some perfectly plausible explanation for the girl’s absence would present itself, but deep down she’d been certain she’d missed something. Now another girl lay dead. The bodies would be starting to back up at the mortuary. None could be released until their case was closed.
‘Excuse me, I’m Detective Chief Inspector Turner with the Major Investigation Team. I appreciate you’re in the middle of explaining the events to this officer but I wonder if you could just run through it now for me.’ The bus driver was the man who had appeared agitated and distressed when Ava had arrived. He nodded his head, cleared his throat and wiped tears from his face.
‘The girl came out of nowhere,’ the driver said. ‘I was on my normal route, going slowly, as I’d just dropped another passenger off. Then this shape sort of whirled off the pavement, spinning, still upright. I knew she hadn’t seen me but she was already screaming anyway. I was braking by the time I hit her, but it wasn’t enough. I had maybe a second, perhaps two, to respond. She was right in my windscreen, full in my face. I don’t know how I’ll ever stop seeing it.’
His body was shaking as he spoke. Ava took him by the arm and led him to the edge of the pavement to sit down.
‘This man needs to see the paramedics now,’ she told the officer who’d been taking his statement. ‘There are other witnesses you can talk to. Notify the bus company to come and remove the vehicle, although it’ll need to be kept untouched and available for forensic evaluation.’ She leaned down to the bus driver. ‘We’re going to get you some help. The officer will call any family member or friend who you might like to be with you.’
A commotion taking place at the front door of a hotel a few buildings down distracted her. The officer she’d tasked with finding a warm place for the witnesses stood, hands on hips, while a woman ranted at him.
‘What’s the problem?’ Ava called as she walked towards them.
‘The problem is that this is a four-star establishment. It’s guests only at this time of night. With the best will in the world, the people you’re asking to bring in are hardly the sort of people we’d welcome as clients and they …’ The woman lowered her voice by several degrees. ‘Frankly, they smell, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have infestations.’
‘I’m curious about your understanding of the phrase “With the best will in the world”,’ Ava said. ‘It strikes me that there’s very little goodwill here. These people’ – Ava motioned towards the group who were huddled a few metres away – ‘have just witnessed a very traumatic event. A young woman is dead. I need somewhere warm and safe to ensure that I can establish the facts quickly and easily. We’re not asking for catering and no one will make any noise that might disturb your guests.’
‘The last time I checked, the police didn’t have the right to simply barge into private premises and demand the free use of space. Perhaps I should notify the media of your supercilious attitude,’ she said.
‘Feel free to do that,’ Ava said. ‘But Edinburgh is a city built on a tradition of kindness and dignity. You might find you don’t come out of this portrayed as the victim.’
The hotel night manager fumed quietly, looking around to see who, if anyone, was witnessing the debate.
‘I’ll need you out of here an hour from now,’ she hissed at Ava. ‘And you need to limit yourselves to the front chairs. No wandering around and absolutely no one is to go near the lifts.’
‘Thank you,’ Ava said. ‘That’s extremely generous of you. We’ll make sure your hotel is left untainted.’
Ava waved the group into the warm foyer, where they took chairs gratefully. The hotel manager produced three jugs of water with paper cups. No doubt, Ava thought, she would feel more comfortable throwing them away once they’d been used, rather than washing real crockery for her guests to touch later. The homeless really were despised. Perhaps not always openly, but the sense that they carried diseases, were unclean and unsafe, had pervaded every level of society. They were the nation’s underclass. No wonder they made such easy targets. It wasn’t simply that the homeless went unseen. It was that no one actually wanted to see them.
She sat down next to a man who was sipping water and staring around at the large modern art sculptures in the lobby as if his world had turned upside down.
‘Can you tell me what happened?’ she asked.
‘Didnae see a thing,’ he muttered.
‘It was dark and it must have happened very quickly,’ Ava said. ‘Do you know the woman who died?’
He stared at his shoes. Ava waited. Her years on the beat had taught her nothing if not to be patient.
‘Mellie,’ he said eventually.
‘Mellie. Is that
short for Melanie?’ she asked.
‘Don’t know,’ he said. ‘What’s it matter?’
‘We’d like to be able to find her family,’ Ava said softly. ‘Was Mellie attacked?’
‘Ask the others. One of ’em was wi’ her,’ he said.
‘Thank you. Do you have anywhere safe to sleep tonight?’ Ava asked.
‘Do I look like a fuckin’ landowner?’ he asked, sharpening up and meeting her eyes for the first time.
‘I’ll arrange a place at a hostel if you want it. You shouldn’t sleep on the street tonight,’ Ava said.
She moved to another woman, who was busy reorganising various articles between different bags. Ava introduced herself and waited until she had the woman’s attention.
‘Do you know Mellie’s last name?’ Ava asked.
‘Dunno. She wasn’t around much. I think she’s got a bloke somewhere,’ the woman said.
‘So she’s not homeless?’ Ava asked.
‘Nah, comes out when he kicks her out. Gets a fix. Goes home when she runs out of money or it gets too cold. Are we going to get fed here?’
‘Not here, but I’ll sort something out,’ Ava said. ‘Did you see what happened?’
‘What’s the point? It’s happened to two others before her and the police have done nothing.’
‘Are you talking about the other attacks?’ Ava asked. ‘Did you see who hurt her?’
‘I’m saying nothing. She got hit by a bus, in case you couldn’t tell. I’m not going to court for no one. If there’s no hot food here, I’m leaving.’ She picked up a multitude of carrier bags and bundled her way through the door.
‘Wait,’ Ava said. ‘I’m arranging for all of you to get a place in a hostel tonight. Fully paid for, and I’ll make sure you all get a hot meal, too. Give me five minutes to arrange it and I’ll have an officer escort you all safely there.’
Back inside, Ava called the other uniformed officers over. ‘Any joy getting them to talk?’
‘No, ma’am,’ a sergeant answered. ‘Can’t say I blame them. The only time they have any contact with us is when they’re being moved on. There’s not much trust there, to be honest.’
‘Right. There’s an officer undercover in the homeless community at the moment. His name’s Detective Sergeant Pax Graham. Have the incident room contact him – he’s got a mobile with him. I want rooms booked for all these people at a shelter straight away. Just ensure that DS Graham is in that same shelter before we get there. Hold everyone here until then. Get some takeaway food for them if there’s going to be a delay. Say we’ll pay for two nights at the shelter, whatever you have to do. I need Graham to get whatever information he can out of them about what they saw tonight. If they think he’s on their side, they might just open up to him.’
The officers got organising as Ava located Dr Spurr again.
‘The deceased is known as Mellie, no surname as yet. The bus driver said she spun into the road. He reckons she was still on her feet when his bus hit her. Does that correspond with the injuries you’ve seen?’ she asked.
‘It does. There’s been a massive trauma event which has left direct impact wounds from her head to her feet. She’d have been facing the bus when it hit her. The bus then skidded slightly to the left and her body was thrown off to the right. We’re lucky she didn’t go under the bus, or the damage to her body might have been so bad that it could have proved impossible to isolate the injuries to her face.’
‘How soon will you be able to tell me if she’d taken any drugs?’
‘Forty-eight hours to be definite, and that’s rushing the tox screen through. Did the witnesses not help you with that?’ Jonty asked.
‘I don’t think they’re feeling inclined to discuss drug use or anything else with the police,’ Ava said. ‘Did Mellie have any identifying documents on her? A wallet or mobile?’
‘There was some cash in her jeans pocket and a door key in her jacket. No mobile, but there was a photo in the rear pocket of her jeans of a young woman holding a baby.’
‘Could I see it please?’ Ava asked. Jonty called over an officer who produced the photo for them.
‘Could the deceased be the woman in this photo?’ Ava asked.
‘Entirely possible. Her hair’s the same colour. To be honest with you, I’m struggling to establish a good estimate of her age at the moment. If you can’t ID her, it might be that I can only give you an age from her bones and teeth after a full post-mortem.’
‘There’s a number on the door behind them,’ Ava said, squinting. ‘26a. Must be a flat.’
‘You’re not going to find her from that,’ Jonty said.
‘Maybe not, but there’s an electricity pylon almost in the back garden. That should reduce the search. I’ll get a team on it straight away. One of the witnesses thinks the woman was in a relationship. The least we can do is notify her family.’
‘Ma’am,’ a uniformed officer interrupted. ‘The food and the hostel. I’m not sure how we pay for that.’
‘Here,’ Ava said, getting out her wallet and handing over a credit card. ‘Use this.’
‘Unless Police Scotland has changed its way of operating beyond recognition, I’d say that was your personal credit card,’ Jonty said as the officer walked away. ‘I’m not sure you’re going to be able to reclaim that on expenses.’
‘I don’t intend to try,’ Ava said. ‘Days like these, it feels as if nothing we do will ever be enough to protect the vulnerable.’
‘You’re only one woman, Ava,’ Jonty said. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself.’
‘Hard on myself? People are being butchered in the streets. The homeless population is scared. They feel as if we’re doing nothing for them and I don’t blame them. Where’s the public outcry? Where’s the press interest? At what point did we decide that some lives mattered more than others? I just don’t know where it stops, Jonty. When all the homeless people in the city have been branded? Or is it all the drug users? What about the alcoholics? Because that would take a while.’
‘You’re doing all you can,’ Jonty told her gently.
‘I’ve been doing nothing at all,’ she said, ‘but I’m going to. This stops tonight.’
Ava stripped off her white suit, dropping it into a bin as she walked away. Hard on herself? She didn’t think so. There were victims waiting for justice, and if they had a voice, she was pretty certain they would tell her she wasn’t doing nearly enough to keep the innocent safe.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ava’s office armchair seemed to be getting more use than her bed. She awoke there at 7 a.m., her neck sore from sleeping at an angle, her feet cold and numb. Her clothes felt sticky where she had sweated against the leather of the chair for the four hours she’d spent there. It was no good. She would have to go home, shower and change into fresh clothes. If she was fast, she could be back for 8 a.m. in time to prepare for a squad briefing at 9 a.m.
For once the weekday traffic did not hinder her, even through the rabbit runs amongst the city’s old buildings and down the one-way streets. Ava rarely failed to appreciate Edinburgh’s architectural beauty, but today she had eyes only for her watch. Throwing on jeans and a white shirt, she raced back towards the station. When her mobile rang, she let it go to voicemail. Five more minutes and she’d be parking. It rang again as soon as she pulled the car to a halt.
‘Natasha,’ she said, glancing at caller ID. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Kate’s still not answering my calls,’ her friend replied. ‘I know what you’re going to say. It’s not quite 9 a.m. and if she’d gone away to stay with a friend for a couple of days, she might not get back until later …’
‘Okay,’ Ava said, trying to squash the resurrection of the dread she’d felt the previous night while winging her way towards the George Street crime scene. ‘Does Kate have lectures today?’
‘No, it’s her library day. I made some enquiries yesterday in her halls and with her faculty, and they gave me a couple of names of f
riends. No one’s heard from her.’
‘You still shouldn’t start panicking. Have you been to Kate’s room this morning and knocked for her?’ Ava asked.
‘Do you think I’d be phoning you this frantically if I hadn’t even bothered doing that?’ Natasha responded. ‘I’m sorry, Ava. I don’t mean to take it out on you. It’s just that these girls can be subjected to serious violence, not to mention rape. I know we established that she’d been meeting a client, but the fact that she hasn’t been seen since then doesn’t feel right to me at all.’
Ava walked up the stairs to her office, motioning for Tripp and Salter, who were huddling in the kitchenette, to join her. ‘All right. It’s been long enough now, but we have to follow procedure. Technically this is a simple missing person enquiry at the moment, so I’ll have to keep my involvement brief. There was another incident in the city last night and I need to focus on that. We’ll check her room again, and if there’s no sign that she’s been back, I’ll get a uniformed squad to take over. How does that sound?’
‘That sounds great. And really, I’m sorry. I know how busy you are right now. See you there.’
‘What’s happening, ma’am?’ Tripp asked.
‘A student has stopped turning up for lectures and isn’t answering her phone. Whilst normally I’d say that was standard student behaviour, this girl went on what you could loosely call a date through a sugar daddy website.’
‘Prostitution,’ Salter said.
‘Exactly, only Kate Bailey hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Tripp, my notes to brief the squad are on my laptop on my desk, in a folder with today’s date on it. Salter, you come with me. If anyone wants us, we’ll be back in the station in one hour. Ask Lively to take the lead organising a meeting with our undercover officer on the Spice woundings. It’ll have to be at the safe house later this morning.’