She found the scientist kneeling in the middle of the hole, talking earnestly to a white-suited female beside her. The upper part of the white protective suit was tied around her waist by the arms.
A forensic photographer was taking pictures from every angle.
Kim cleared her throat.
Doctor A turned and narrowed her eyes.
‘I do not understand this English habit of throat cleaning to announce one’s arrival. Why not a hello?’
‘Hello, Doctor A,’ Kim said.
‘So, finalling you are here,’ she said, looking beyond Kim. ‘And I see you brought your friend.’
‘Doctor A,’ Kim warned.
The scientist had witnessed their exchange the day before and knew they were not friends.
Travis offered no response. His attention had been caught by something to their far left.
Doctor A gave her a devilish smile before guiding her towards the hole.
‘Please, come take a look at Lesley, our victim.’
The scientist had a habit of giving victims ambiguously sexed names until she had a true identity.
Kim peered down into the pit as Travis appeared beside her. She heard the slow scratch of the zip as he opened his leather wallet. She had a premonition that sound would be really annoying to her by the end of the case.
Kim took a closer look and frowned. She had expected more progress.
Doctor A caught her expression. ‘Frozen,’ she explained.
It was almost ten thirty, and the temperature had now reached a balmy six degrees.
Kim nodded her understanding but her frown remained. The team had exposed more bones but the placement was unlike anything she had seen before.
‘That’s a metacarpal bone, protruding from the eye,’ Doctor A said, taking her hand. She pressed on the bone between her knuckle and first joint. ‘This one. And I think the proximal phalanx is still attached,’ she said, pressing further down Kim’s hand.
‘You’re telling me our victim has a finger in the eye?’ Kim asked.
Doctor A nodded.
Kim tried to imagine any scenario where that made sense.
There was none.
‘Any idea how long he’s been in there?’ Kim asked. For now she would presume a male identity.
Doctor A shook her head. ‘Not yet but there is something you should know before we go any further.’
‘Go on,’ Kim said, following Doctor A to the edge of the pit.
‘Do you see that bone sticking out of the ground over there?’
Kim nodded, as Travis stepped to the edge of the tent and looked outside. Fair enough that he didn’t like Doctor A all that much but he could damn well respect her expertise.
‘That appears to be a radius,’ Doctor A said, now taking her arm and tracing a line from her elbow to her wrist.
Kim was unsure when she’d turned into a presentation aide but she allowed it to pass.
‘It seems to be a long way from the rest of the body,’ Kim said. The physiology of this skeleton was not making sense to her.
‘Initial analysis of the soil is throwing up anomalies. There are elements that do not belong here. Samples have been sent to the lab.’
Kim was puzzled.
‘Doctor A, what are you trying to say?’
‘I’m saying I don’t think this is the first place our victim was buried.’
Kim was confused. ‘But, why?—’
‘Excuse me, Doctor, but is that man one of yours?’ Travis asked from the tent doorway.
Kim followed Doctor A to where he was standing and looked out.
In the middle of the field stood a solitary male dressed from head to toe in dark clothing.
Doctor A began to shake her head. ‘He is not one of mine,’ she said.
‘Are you sure?’ Travis asked. ‘He was here when we arrived.’
‘If he was one of mine he would not be standing still,’ she said, simply.
Kim looked at Travis and they exited the tent together.
She primed herself to start running as the gap began to close between them and the trespasser. As he was not supposed to be there she expected him to start moving away at the sight of them.
He remained still, staring in their direction, his hands wedged into the pockets of the long coat he was wearing.
‘Not exactly field attire,’ she observed from a distance of thirty feet.
‘Cashmere overcoat, looks like Dunhill, and I could probably just about buy you lunch with the change from two grand,’ Travis replied.
‘You’d buy me lunch?’ she asked, sarcastically.
‘Well, no, but…’
‘Excuse me, sir,’ Kim called from fifteen feet. ‘You have no business being here right now.’
The man offered no reaction as she came to rest directly in front of him.
She guessed him to be mid-thirties. His hair was black with just a touch of grey at the temples. Thick, dark lashes framed piercing blue eyes that were serious and cold.
‘I have every reason to be here, officer. You are standing on my land.’
‘Mr Preece?’ she asked.
‘Dale Preece,’ he confirmed, making no effort to remove his hand from his coat pocket for a handshake.
‘How did you get here, Mr Preece?’ she asked, looking around.
He remained silent and looked beyond her to the white tent.
‘I must ask you to leave the area,’ she said, reasonably. ‘This is a police investigation, and you could be contaminating a crime scene.’
‘I would like to know what exactly has been found,’ he said.
‘You will know in due course, sir. We will be along to speak to you during our investigation.’
‘Have you spoken to the Cowley family yet?’
Kim opened her mouth to answer when Travis stepped forward. ‘Mr Preece, you really need to leave the area. Now.’
Kim bit her tongue as Dale Preece appraised them once more before turning and heading to the far side of the field.
Kim was under no illusion that he had left because it suited him to do so.
‘Don’t you ever do that to me again,’ she rasped. ‘It was in hand,’ she said, turning back towards the tent.
He made no effort to catch her up or respond to her instruction.
‘Inspector, a moment,’ Doctor A said, as she passed by the tent.
She took two steps back and entered.
The scientist reached for a long bone lying at the far edge of the pit.
‘This is a femur,’ she said, quietly, as Travis entered the tent. She took a pencil from behind her ear, and pointed at the rounded ball shape at one end.
‘This is the fovea capitis, and down here is the medial condyle and…’
‘Doctor A, I know what a femur is, and I would expect to find two here so why the fascination?’ Kim asked, impatiently.
‘Because, Inspector, this is femur number three.’
‘I’m sorry, Doctor, but what exactly are you saying?’ Travis asked, unnecessarily.
The doctor didn’t hide her irritation as she spelled it out.
‘What I’m saying, Inspector, is that unless Lesley had more than two legs, we are dealing with a second victim.’
THIRTEEN