Kim knew the other two anthropological classifications were Caucasoid and Mongoloid. A term to describe a broad division of humankind native to Asia but had been turned into a sickening insult over the years.
‘Do you see here?’ she said, pointing with a pencil. ‘The skull is high and square. The face is straight and the eye socket is triangular.’
Kim did see a definite disparity between the skull of the victim on gurney one and gurney two.
‘Also, Negroids have proportionally longer arms and legs and their femurs are straighter.’
Kim accepted the woman’s expertise.
‘These characteristics diminish in mixed-race people but are significant here.’
Kim looked to Travis, who, for once, wasn’t writing the detail down. She was grateful for the information. It would help narrow the search on missing persons.
Kim walked along the bottom of the gurneys holding the other two victims.
‘Nothing to indicate any more victims?’ she asked, hopefully.
Doctor A shook her head. ‘I think three is our final count.’
Kim paused at the end of gurney three.
She lowered her head and peered closer at the fibula bone. The thinner lower leg bone lay beside the tibia but there was a marked difference in the texture of the two bones.
The tibia appeared smooth and even, whereas the fibula displayed dozens of nicks and grooves along its entire length.
Kim pointed. ‘What are these marks?’
Doctor A rolled her eyes dramatically. ‘Further inspection is one of the seventeen next jobs I have to do, Inspector.’
Kim ignored the dig and smiled. ‘Anything you can tell us would be helpful.’
Doctor A placed her hands on her hips. ‘And once I’m done I’ll go and solve this crime for you,’ she said.
‘Feel free, and I’ll stay and finish your jigsaw.’
Her mouth began to twitch. ‘Inspector, you better get out of here before I…’
‘I’m going. I’m going,’ Kim said, heading for the door.
Travis was already on the phone, giving his team the updated information.
‘How the hell did that woman get the job?’ Travis asked when he’d ended the call.
‘Because she is very intelligent, dedicated, knowledgeable and bloody good at her job,’ Kim replied.
‘With a very poor bedside manner.’
‘Her customers don’t mind that too much,’ she offered, drily. ‘But since you mention her bedside manner, Tom, I’ll give you an insight. She was once the attending tech on the body of a nine-year-old boy found in the grounds of a listed building in Romsley. He was discovered late in the evening on New Year’s Eve and we couldn’t get him removed until early the next morning.’
She paused, remembering that night four years earlier.
‘I left around eleven and she was still there. I got back at seven in the morning and yep, she was still there. Right alongside her sleeping bag and a flask of chicken soup.’
He looked unimpressed. She shook her head. She supposed it was difficult for a clock-watching man like himself to understand that, dead or not, Doctor A just hadn’t been able to leave that young boy on his own.
She sighed heavily. ‘I think we need to head straight back to the station,’ Kim said. ‘Trying to identify a missing black male anywhere from the last thirty years is a task too big for just Penn and Gibbs.’
Travis nodded and glanced in to the main reception as they passed by en route to the car.
She realised why and stopped walking. ‘Wanna go and check on him?’
You didn’t just forget the life of a man you’d helped to save. The fact that the road traffic incident had been passed to another investigation team would not stop Travis from seeing the man’s face in his mind’s eye for a long time to come.
He shook his head. ‘Intensive Care,’ he answered. ‘On life support.’
Kim nodded, and they carried on walking.
‘You know, I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve already—’
Kim stopped talking as Travis’s phone began to ring.
Travis listened intently as the voice talked on the other end.
He stopped at a bin and rested the leather wallet expertly on the top with one hand and began to write. Kim tried to see but his fist was in the way.
‘Good work, Penn,’ Travis said, ending the call.
‘No need to return,’ he said, with a flash of pride. ‘Our first victim has been identified.’
Kim couldn’t help but be impressed. Finally, victim one was about to get a name.
FORTY-SIX
18 OCTOBER 1989
Jacob James woke to a sniffling sound coming from the other side of the room.
It took him a few seconds to think through the groggy haze in his mind and realise that this whole thing was no nightmare. He was still naked, bound and cold in a pitch-black room.
He heard a sob somewhere to his right.
There was someone else in the room with him.
‘Hello,’ he offered tentatively.
A sharp cry of surprise came from that direction. He realised the voice was female. He had no idea if it was a girl or a woman.
‘Please don’t be frightened,’ he said as gently as he could manage. He wanted to reassure her immediately that she was in no danger from him.
‘O… okay,’ she said, timidly.
‘What’s your name, love?’ he asked.
‘D… Devorah, Devorah A… Abramovich,’ she answered.
Jacob wondered if it was the fear making her voice sound young. He hoped so.
‘How old are you, Devorah?’ he asked.
‘S… seventeen,’ she stuttered.
‘Did you get taken too?’ he asked.
‘Y… yes, I think so. I remember leaving shul…’
‘School?’ he asked.
‘No, no, synagogue. I was studying away from college for the day and… oh… tell me what’s going on, please,’ she said as the panic clutched at her voice.
‘My name is Jacob,’ he said. ‘And I was taken as well. I’m not sure how long I’ve been here. Have you been given anything to drink?’
‘No, they took me from the van and threw me in here. I didn’t see…’
So they hadn’t drugged her yet.
‘Were you conscious for the journey?’ he asked. He had been knocked out. They had obviously felt no threat from this young girl.
‘Y… yes,’ she answered.
He wondered if he could glean any information to help him clarify how long he’d been in this place.
‘Devorah, can you tell me what time you were taken?’
‘I left the synagogue at about two o’clock. Please, tell me, what are they going to do to us?’
Jacob closed his eyes and shook his head. He wished he knew.
What he did know was that he’d been taken around 6 p.m., which meant he had been gone for almost twenty-four hours. Adaje would have missed him by now. She would have raised the alarm but what details would she have been able to offer? She hadn’t even known he was going to get fish and chips.
The hopelessness settled heavily on his heart.
‘Did you hear them say anything when you were in the van?’ he probed, gently.