Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
Ben nodded at Declan who appeared through the underbrush out of nowhere and lifted a hand in greeting. ‘This is like a scene from I’m a Celeb.’
‘Wouldn’t know, I don’t watch it.’
‘Well, neither do I but Theo does. I can’t stand the stuff they have to do, makes me cringe just thinking about it.’
‘Thanks for coming out so soon, Declan, I appreciate it.’
‘You know me, you call and I come running, although technically we were supposed to be doing Lauren’s PM right about now and not processing another crime scene.
I can’t help myself, I just wish you’d call for something nice now and again.
I was just saying to Morgan, I feel as if I haven’t seen you both for ages. ’
Wendy was fiddling with the lens on her camera, and she looked up at them. ‘You two are like an old married couple.’
Ben’s cheeks flared red, but Declan shrugged. ‘He wishes, although I think he’s allergic to the word married.’
Ben arched an eyebrow at him. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You took Morgan to New York and didn’t give her a nice shiny ring to show off to everyone when you came home, shame on you, Matthews.’
Ben’s mouth dropped open, and he snapped it shut again. ‘What?’
‘I’ve done enough that you can take a look, Declan.’
He whispered, ‘Saved by Wendy, me and my big mouth.’ He winked at her, and she rolled her eyes at him.
He walked to where she was holding open one side of the tent flap and whistled, ‘Oh, dear Lord, what’s the victim’s name?’
‘Lynsey,’ both Ben and Wendy said in unison.
Declan was staring inside of the tent at what was left of Lynsey’s face. It had been partially eaten away by the insects that had found themselves a feast inside of the humid tent. There was no mistaking the knife sticking out of her chest.
He crouched down. ‘Lynsey, I’m Declan. We’re going to be taking very good care of you now that we’ve found you. I am so sorry to meet you this way and that it’s taken so long to find you, but you’re safe now.’
Ben blinked rapidly to clear the tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. Declan’s gentle manner with all his patients got him every time.
‘She’s been here some time.’
‘Yes, her last post on social media was around eight weeks ago.’
‘What about Lydia, did Lynsey know her sister was murdered?’
‘Yes, she did according to Lancs police who gave her the death message. From what we know, the three sisters were estranged from each other. Though, as far as I can gather it didn’t stop Lynsey from coming here to do her vlog.
She couldn’t have felt threatened or worried because if she had, surely, she wouldn’t have come somewhere so remote, alone. ’
‘Was Lynsey reported missing by anyone?’
‘Unfortunately not, from what I can gather. She and Lauren weren’t on speaking terms.’
‘So sad, it’s tragic, isn’t it? An entire family wiped out by some sick—’ Declan stopped talking and began to open his case.
Ben knew the procedure as well as he did; in fact he could probably have done it without Declan’s help.
Instead, he watched in silence as Declan busied himself taking samples and securely bagging Lynsey’s hands to make sure no trace evidence was lost when they moved her body.
When he eventually stood up his knees cracked, and he let out a small groan.
‘I can honestly say I will never, ever consider going camping for the rest of my life after seeing these horrific murders.’
‘No, me either. There is no appeal to it whatsoever after working these cases, although to be fair there wasn’t much appeal to begin with. I’m too old to be sleeping on a hard floor in a draughty tent.’
Wendy shook her head. ‘Where’s your sense of adventure?’
‘Would you go camping after working these crime scenes, Wendy?’
Declan was being serious, and the corners of Ben’s mouth turned up a little.
She nodded. ‘I think so, but not on my own like they did. I’m not that brave to solo camp, but I’d stay on a busy campsite if it was warm enough.’
‘You would? But Lydia Williams was on a campsite and was still murdered,’ Ben said.
‘It was hardly busy though; there was only her and another couple.’
Fin Palmer’s smug face filled Ben’s mind.
He disliked the guy with a passion for what he’d done to Morgan.
Yet, he’d tried to help her so he had to cut him a little slack, but if he’d thrown her to the wolves again Ben wouldn’t be standing here now.
He would have been suspended for ripping Fin Palmer’s smug head off his shoulders.
It seemed everyone had expected him to propose to Morgan in New York, and he hadn’t, and it crushed him to think that maybe Morgan had been hoping for that too and he’d let her down.
He was too embarrassed to tell them he had been scared she’d say no because he didn’t know what he’d do if she turned him down.
What they didn’t know was that he would marry her tomorrow if she asked him.
He wasn’t scared of being married. He was terrified of chasing Morgan away and forcing her to commit to their relationship when she might not want to.
Maybe it was time to have that conversation with Morgan.
It was between the pair of them regardless of what anyone else thought.
He’d rather propose to her in front of The Witch House in Salem anyway, as she was completely obsessed with it and had pictures of it as her phone and laptop screensavers.
He couldn’t wait to see her standing outside of it in all of her Goth heaven.
She was going to be so happy to finally get to see the places she talked about all the time, and at least he was helping her make those dreams a reality.
‘Earth to Ben.’ Declan’s voice broke the trance he was in.
‘What?’
‘Just checking you’re still with us, mate, you kind of drifted off there for a moment.’
Ben shrugged. ‘Thinking.’
‘Dangerous thing that, if you do too much. You can move the body when you’re ready, I’ve taken what samples I can.’
Ben looked at him. ‘Same killer, same knife, same MO?’
‘Ah, you know I can’t say that on a professional level without conducting the post-mortem first, but on a personal level, from my observations between the pair of us, almost certainly the same, but don’t quote me on that.
That knife looks of a very similar size to the one used on Lydia, and Lauren, and also Sharon Montgomery; it’s in an almost identical position.
I would say whoever used it had to have the same strength.
Can you see how far the blade has gone in, up to the hilt of the knife.
That would take some force because of the chest plate; obviously, until it’s removed I can’t say much more, but between the pair of us and because I know how urgent this is, I would think that it’s the same killer. ’
He nodded at Ben. ‘Call me when you have a free minute to arrange a little get-together, supper at ours, Theo is lonely.’
‘I will.’
‘Obviously I’ve had to postpone Lauren’s PM, but I’m thinking that if we can get together once the body has been moved, I’ll do them back to back. It will be interesting to compare the injuries.’
Declan picked up his case and began to walk back through the overgrowth, following the tiny path he’d walked down to get to the scene.
Ben watched him until he disappeared from sight.
Wendy asked, ‘Where’s the boss?’
Ben shrugged. ‘Annual leave. He said he would cancel, and I told him not to, we’d manage, but how come no other DI has turned up to take the lead?’
Wendy looked around to make sure they were alone. ‘You’ll be glad they haven’t arrived yet.’
‘Why, who is it? I missed the radio chatter.’
‘Not sure I should tell you when you have no emotional support on hand to wipe your tears.’
He groaned. ‘Not Sherlock?’
She shook her head. ‘Who is worse than Sherlock?’
Ben didn’t think there was anyone worse than Sherlock. ‘No idea.’
‘Seriously, Ben, you can’t think of anyone you’d rather poke yourself in the eye with a stick than have to work with?’
‘No.’
‘Bigfoot.’
‘I thought he was retiring?’
‘He is, in four weeks, he’s on one last roll. Probably wants to go out in style. Thinks he’s going to breeze in, take over, piss everyone off and then leave with his golden handshake.’
The sound of heavy footsteps approaching through the trees silenced the pair of them.
When Detective Inspector John Wilde came into view it was easy to see why he was nicknamed Bigfoot.
He was almost seven foot tall and had the biggest hands and feet that Ben had ever seen on a guy; his salt-and-pepper hair made him look a lot older than he actually was.
‘What a nightmare this place is to find. I’ve been along every back road from here to Hawkshead looking for this crime scene.’
‘Boss,’ both Wendy and Ben said at the same time. Wendy carried on with what she was doing, leaving Ben to update him.
‘How are you, Ben, long time no see, which is not a bad thing, I suppose.’
‘Busy, too busy to be honest, but you know how it is.’
He nodded. ‘Did you know I’m supposed to retire in four weeks.
Not sure whose idea of a joke this is, sending me to work this case, but I’m not happy about it.
I wanted to wind down not come in and take over a high-profile serial murder investigation, because that’s what it is, isn’t it?
I mean you don’t do anything by halves in your spot, do you?
Control said this is the third woman from the same family.
Somebody has a big grudge to bear if they’re killing their family off.
Any persons of interests, jealous brother, cousin, uncle? ’
‘The entire family is dead.’
‘What, all of them? Impossible, get someone on that genealogy website, can’t remember the name; there must be someone left we can talk to or pin this on.’
Ben thought it was actually a good idea, if only they had the staff to do it.
As if reading his mind, John said, ‘What’s Stan up to? He’s good with computers, get him to look into it.’
‘He’s on enquiries with Cain.’
‘Well, tell the pair of them to split up; he can crack on with that. I’ve worked with Stan a couple of times in the past, and I bet he can come up with something.
He’s a bit of a computer whizz. Always thought he’d have gone up to headquarters to work a cushy job in the high-tech unit.
He’s not exactly feet on the ground material for a hands-on detective, but I can’t always be right I suppose. ’
‘I’ll do that, boss; I’d be grateful if he could. We were going more along the lines of it being a stalker, as two of the women were very active on social media with quite large followings.’
‘Who is looking at that angle then?’
‘Morgan is at the station now doing a deep dive into their accounts.’
John was nodding. ‘Good, that’s good. What are we doing here then? Do we need to be hanging around or can we move the body to the mortuary? I mean, looks as if it’s been here way too long anyway, there’s nothing much left of it.’
‘We can move the body as soon as CSI are finished.’
Wendy held up one hand. ‘I’m not done yet and I’m waiting for Carl to arrive to give me a hand. This is a big area to document; I can’t do it alone.’
John shrugged. ‘Your call. I’ll meet you back at the station then, Ben.’ He turned and walked away, stomping through the underbrush with as much finesse as a bear, not even giving Lynsey’s body more than a brief glance, and Ben felt his blood begin to boil.
Marc was an arse at times, but he was always respectful to the victims. John on the other hand was a complete idiot, and he didn’t know how he was going to be able to work with him without losing his mind.
Wendy whispered close to his ear. ‘You better speak to Morgan and warn her Bigfoot is real and heading her way.’
At this Ben laughed a little too loudly, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders. ‘She’s going to think I’ve lost my mind if I text her that.’
‘Yeah, well I’m just saying better to forewarn her because if he goes into the office all gun’s blazing, she’s likely to tell him where to go and I’m not sure it will help the pair of you any.’
‘I’ll message her now.’
‘You’re welcome. Now get out of here, I’ve had enough of polite conversation, I have work to do.’
Ben blew her a kiss, but was relieved to be leaving this lonely, sad crime scene. He wondered if he could make it back to the station before Bigfoot got there.