Woody didn’t even chide her for her failure to knock.
His eyebrows narrowed. ‘What are you talking about? Forensics have just stood down from the site. They’ve been there all night and found a total of nothing.’
He thought she meant a team of techies. He was going to have to dig deeper into his annual budget for what she was about to request.
She shook her head. ‘No, sir, I need detection equipment, probably extraction and I need a full team of forensic—’
‘Calm down, Stone. What’s the development?’ he asked calmly.
Sometimes she wished he would just act before asking her twenty questions. It reminded her of calling an ambulance in an emergency situation. You wanted to shout, ‘Just get it on its way – then I’ll give you the details.’
‘The sample taken from the soil in Jemima’s mouth. It was scraped up from the scene and forced in. The dirt contains traces of blood that do not belong to Jemima.’
‘The killer?’ he asked.
Kim could swear she’d just had this conversation. ‘Unlikely. Too much of it and it’s been there a while.’
‘You’re sure?’
She nodded. ‘Keats tested the soil with luminol and, to use his phrase, “it glowed like a beacon”, sir.’
‘Any indication how old the blood is?’
‘No. Keats is doing further tests, but he said it can be detected for years, at least six to eight,’ she said, sharing with him something she hadn’t known before the phone call.
He sat back in his chair and sighed. Time to sell herself and get what she needed. She had a sudden flash of Dragons’ Den.
‘Sir, I think there’s going to be another body buried at the site,’ she clarified in case she wasn’t making herself clear.
Kim knew he was weighing up the expense of the operation against the likelihood of a find. She was eternally grateful that financial planning fell under his remit and not hers. She was also grateful that he was not guided solely by budgetary constraints. Like her, his priority was always the journey to the truth. Only his job description said he had more questions to answer if it went horribly wrong.
‘Any change with the second victim?’ he asked.
She understood his logic. If there was a chance they could make an identification in the near future from the second victim, the expense was unlikely to be sanctioned without further justification.
‘Called first thing. They’re still stabilising her after surgery to the head. They’ll let us know if and when we can speak to her.’
He paused and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. ‘I understand that Daniel Bate is on site at Westerley.’
Kim frowned. ‘He was, I’m not sure he’s still—’
‘Probably a good idea to try and keep him there. I’ll get it authorised.’
‘He’s not the only osteoarchaeologist in—’
‘He’s the only one who is on site now. If you want this to move as quickly as you normally do, I’m surprised you haven’t made the call already.’
She stared at him for a moment, unable to find the right words to argue. She had experience of Daniel’s expertise in determining sex, age and health of human remains in the past.
He stared right back and then frowned. ‘Probably best get moving, Stone. Daniel Bate is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.’
‘Sir, I…’
‘It’ll take hours, if not days, to get another scientist of his expertise on site. If I were you I’d hope that he hasn’t already left.’
Kim turned and left the office, annoyed that she had to converse with Daniel Bate. Her boss could not have been clearer. Use the resources available and this will go ahead.
Okay, Woody had won this one. If Daniel Bate was still at Westerley she would speak to him.
And, if it helped find the killer sooner, she would even ask him to stay.
Twenty-Four
Kim entered the Portakabin and was faced with a wall of despair. She supposed having one dead body and one battered woman turn up in a matter of a few days was enough to crush your workplace morale. That they were all still turning up for work was a testament to their professionalism.
And now they were to be told it was probably going to get worse.
‘You’re still here?’ Kim said to Curtis Grant.
He smiled. ‘I have been home. Different suit,’ he said, flicking at his jacket.
She acknowledged his response. ‘Are you almost finished, Mr Grant?’
He glanced over at Jameel, who nodded.
‘I’ll be back later in the week to add two new cameras and upgrade the software.’
Kim nodded and headed further into the space as Bryant and Dawson came to a halt behind her.
Catherine sat at the meeting table. A quick glance acknowledged their presence.
Professor Wright and Daniel Bate stood at the furthest point from the door.
‘Morning everyone,’ Kim said. ‘We have some information that we need to share following some test results.’
‘And that is my cue to be on my way,’ Daniel said, shaking the professor’s hand.
He stepped past her on his way out and offered a nod in her direction.
Bryant coughed.
She glared at him before stepping past Dawson to the door.
Kim followed Daniel outside. Two steps away from his pickup truck he turned.
‘Excuse me, are you lost?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘We need to talk.’
He leaned his arm on the side of the vehicle as his gaze narrowed with interest.
‘About?’
‘This case,’ she clarified.
He stepped away and opened the passenger door. Lola tried to jump down from the passenger seat. He held her back and wound down her window before closing the door again.
Kim could see his overnight bag in the foot well.
‘I’m not sure I can offer anything to help,’ he said, walking around to the driver’s door. The keys jangled in his hand.
‘I think there’s another in the ground,’ she said.
He paused.
‘Don’t ask me to repeat what I know, and Bryant is explaining it inside right now, but my boss has asked me to ask you to stay and help.’
Daniel paused at the door and turned, leaning against the pickup section of his truck. He put the keys in his pocket and looked up at the sky before turning his head towards her.
‘So let me get this straight: your boss, Detective Chief Inspector Woodward, has asked you to ask for my help should you find a body buried underground?’
She nodded.
He smiled widely. ‘And you’re just hating every single minute of it, aren’t you?’
She dug her hands into her pockets and said nothing.
He placed his arms on top of the cab and then rested his chin and stared at her.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked. His blatant stare was as annoying as his delay in giving her an answer.
‘Oh, I’m wringing every second of enjoyment I can from your discomfort.’
‘Not childish at all though?’ she asked.
‘Probably,’ he said. ‘So if you just ask me nicely, I’ll give it some thought.’
She felt the heat burn in her cheeks. ‘Daniel, this is no longer funny.’
‘I disagree, and hearing my actual name from your lips is almost enough to persuade me to stay.’
‘Are you prepared to assist on this case or not? I need to call my—’
‘You can’t do it, can you? You can’t actually ask me to stay,’ he said, still amused.
She faced him squarely. ‘Daniel, I’m asking for your help but if you’d rather this bastard—’
‘One condition,’ he interrupted. ‘I’ll stay if you just do me one small favour.’
Kim frowned. She wasn’t agreeing to anything until she knew what it was.
‘Drop the Doc and the Doctor Bate and continue to call me Daniel.’
She considered for a moment then nodded. That, at least, she could do.
From behind she heard the truck door open and four paws landed on the gravel.
‘Come on, girl. It looks like we’re hanging around.’
Kim hid the satisfaction in her smile.
Twenty-Five
‘He’s like a dog with two dicks,’ Bryant said as they headed out of Westerley.