It felt tense as Kate and Tristan stood with Faye, watching the Coastguard team work to find the car. A couple of times, Kate glanced back at Bev, but all she could see was the outline of her inside the car, watching with the police officer.
The Coastguard’s team wore long waders as they stepped into the thick, gloopy sand around the long metal pile. Three of the men had long metal hoses, which they used to fire high-pressure seawater down into the sand and loosen it, whilst the other two men dug. After twenty minutes, a shout went up, and a voice came over Faye’s radio, confirming that they’d found a car bumper.
“We need to move fast,” said Faye into her radio. “You’ve got thirty minutes until the tide turns.”
“How do you think Bill drove Bev’s car so far out in the sinking sand?” asked Tristan.
“If he left the road and crossed the beach at high speed, then the momentum could have taken him far out to the water’s edge,” said Kate, feeling a burst of excitement that this could be it. This could be Bev’s car.
They watched as a long chain from the front of the tractor was fed out across the sand to the Coastguard team, who attached it to the car down in the sand. The tractor began to reverse, an inch at a time, until the chain was stretched taut. Its engine roared and hit a higher pitch as it pulled, and its wheels stuck and spun, throwing up wet sand. The Coastguard team dug in with their spades and used the metal hoses to irrigate the sand around the trapped vehicle.
“Oh no, the tide’s already starting to come back in,” said Kate, seeing the foamy water creeping closer to where the team worked.
Then there was a roar of shouting as the wheels of the tractor gained purchase on the sand, and it began to move backward. The sand in front of the metal pile began to move up and bulge, and then, rising out of the sand, came the shape of a car.
Kate looked back toward the shore and saw Bev was now standing outside the police car with her hand on the open door, staring at the ruined wreck. The tractor kept reversing and, with a jolt, pulled the wreck of the car free, up and out of the gloopy sand, dragging it back to firmer ground.
They followed the car as it was pulled up to the forensics tents pitched at the edge of the beach. The body of the car had rusted badly. The rubber of the tires had long perished, exposing the wheel rims. Kate tried to see inside, but she couldn’t make out where the windows had been, and it looked as if the roof had caved in. Two forensics officers unhooked the chain, and the tractor lumbered off, back down the beach. The white forensics tent was lifted and moved closer, until it covered the rusting hulk of the car.
A tense hour passed, and Kate and Tristan went up to wait by the police van with Faye, drinking more tea. They could see Bev was becoming more anxious inside the police car until she got out and ran down to the tent. A moment later, Faye’s radio crackled on her lapel.
“We have a positive ID, boss.”
“Okay, on my way down.”
Faye indicated that Tristan and Kate should come with her. When they reached the tent, Bev was in the arms of a middle-aged male police officer, who was half supporting her and half holding her back from entering the tent. A terrible low keening was coming from her. It was more animal than human, and it chilled Kate, making the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.
The side of the tent facing the car park was open, and bright lights inside shone down on the rusting hulk of the car. The interior was a mess of mud and sand and twisted metal.
The forensics officers had spread two large white sheets in front of the car. On the first lay the remains of a leather bag and a laptop with the plastic housing in surprisingly good condition. On a second sheet Kate could see the yellowing bones of a skeleton. The eye sockets of the skull were wide and staring. The teeth were intact, and next to the skull lay a part of the jawbone. The skeleton looked so small.
“The number plate matches. This is the car which belonged to Bev Ellis,” said one of the forensics officers. “We’ve been able to compare the teeth from the skull with dental records. The skeleton we found inside the car is Joanna Duncan.”
Bev screamed in pain and broke away, reaching out to touch the skull, but Faye and Kate moved to hold her back. Her legs sagged, and she gripped Kate’s shoulder.
“My little girl . . . You found my little girl,” she said. Kate put her arms around Bev and held her.
“I’m so sorry, Bev,” she said. “I’m so, so sorry.”
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later, Kate and Tristan and Ade were on the beach behind her house. The sun was going down, and they were sitting on a large driftwood tree, which had been washed up after a storm a couple of years ago and pulled up clear of the tide. In front of them they’d built a fire on the sand.
“You know, this nonalcoholic sparkling shite is actually not bad,” said Ade. “What’s the occasion for us not drinking?”
“You’re a bit cheeky, considering you’ve crashed the barbecue,” said Tristan.
“I brought meat!” said Ade.
“Thank you, and you’re very welcome,” said Kate, taking a sip of the sparkling fruit drink and agreeing that it wasn’t bad. “We’re celebrating being paid for solving the case, and the big interview that we did for the West Country News.”
“And we’re hoping it will lead to more work,” said Tristan.
Jake was standing to the side of the big tree and trying to light the small barbecue that they’d dragged down from its regular place on the cliff outside the back door.
“We’re also celebrating that we’ve finally managed to find staff to do the caravan changeovers,” he said, picking up his glass of fizz. He came over to Kate, Tristan, and Ade and held it up.
“To the detective agency, the caravan site, and the end of scrubbing toilets,” he said, and they all clinked glasses.
“You’ll learn, Jake, that part of life is having to scrub toilets,” said Ade. He took another sip of his drink. “Have you got any ice?”
“I bought some ice. I’ll get you some,” said Tristan.
“Bring the meat down, too, in the fridge,” said Jake.
“I’ll come up with you,” said Kate. “There’s a lot to bring.”
They left Jake and Ade on the beach, chatting over the barbecue, and came back up to the house. Just when they were in the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Kate frowned. Tristan went with her, and when they opened the door, it was Bev. They hadn’t seen her since Joanna’s skeleton had been recovered from the sand.
“Sorry to bother you,” she said.
“No, please, not at all,” said Kate. Bev looked exhausted and wore a long black Lurex skirt and a black roll-neck pullover. There was an inch of gray in the roots of her dark hair. “Do you want to come in?”