Without another word, he stepped into the small gym, the plastic sheeting crackling as he trod on it, being careful not to disturb the other technicians who were crouched and huddled around the room. Kate stepped where he did, as camera flashes reflected off the blood-spattered walls.
‘We found it over there,’ he commented, pointing to where some of the plastic sheet was bunched in the far corner, behind the standard lamp. ‘It’s impossible to know whether it was left there deliberately or by accident,’ he continued solemnly, as he stopped where another technician was busy snapping images. Ben gently tapped the figure in white on the shoulder, and the technician stepped to one side, allowing Kate to see what it was.
‘Oh my God,’ Kate whispered under her breath.
The foot was lying on its side, the little toe closest to the floor, the yellowing sole staring back at them.
Kate choked back the urge to retch. ‘It’s so… small.’
Ben nodded. ‘Based on the heel-to-ball length, the narrow instep and the medial and lateral malleoli heights, I’d say we’re looking at a female foot.’
Kate was filled with dread. ‘And can you estimate the likely age of the victim?’
‘Conservatively, based on the size and shape of the foot, I’d say a young adult, certainly below the age of twenty.’
Kate didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but a severed foot belonging to a female under the age of twenty found in the school that missing girl Daisy attended was hard to ignore.
‘I’ll need to take it back to the lab to examine it further,’ Ben continued, ‘but I saw some blistering on the ball of the foot, which could indicate the victim was regularly on their feet. We’ll get a DNA profile created as a priority and let you know the results as soon as we have them.’
Kate glanced around the rest of the room. ‘Have you found any… anything else?’
‘Looking at the tearing of the flesh above the ankle, I would estimate some kind of electrical circular saw was used to make the cut. It would also explain some of the haphazard spray on the walls. No sign of the tool, though.’
‘Electrical?’ Kate questioned. ‘The place has been without power for several weeks according to the caretaker. How recently do you think the foot was removed?’
‘We’re talking a couple of days at most, not weeks,’ Ben said gravely. ‘They could have used a battery-powered saw, I suppose.’
‘Do you think you’d be able to find a match?’ Kate asked hopefully. ‘Might help us narrow down a suspect pool.’
‘I’ll do what I can,’ he promised, silently mouthing, ‘are you okay?’
Kate took a deep breath and nodded reassuringly.
Ben continued to study her face, his eyes telling her he was there when she needed him. She gently touched his arm. ‘I’ll leave you to it. I need to speak to the head teacher and caretaker again. Call me the moment you have news?’
4
Kate couldn’t wait to escape the hall, peeling her overalls off in the tent and dumping them in the disposal sack, before heading back out to Patel. She was pleased to see that DCs Laura Trotter, Olly Quinlan and Vicky Rogers had arrived. Beyond them, additional portable lights had been erected by the camera crew trying to capture the unfolding scene, while a reporter shouted questions in their direction.
Kate faced her team and cleared her throat. ‘Right, ladies and gents, I need your undivided attention and I need it now. I know the temperature is dropping by the second, but we’ve got work to do. Quinlan, I want you to get those reporters pushed back and as far from the school as possible. I don’t care if you have to close off the entire road, but I don’t want details of this making the ten o’clock news. Once that’s done, I want you to check the local area for properties with security cameras. It is important for us to establish any unusual activity over the past week or so. High fences separate the car park from the rest of the school grounds and, short of scaling the fence, the only other ways into the grounds are via the school building, or through the students’ gated entrance further down the road. The school doesn’t have cameras in the actual grounds but there are cameras at the teacher and student entrances, so that’s probably the best place to start. I’ll speak to the head teacher to get hold of that, and I want those recordings viewed as a priority.’
Quinlan nodded, jogging over to where the reporters were starting to assemble.
Kate glanced at her watch. ‘It’s late, but we need to get house-to-house enquiries on the neighbouring residential streets started as soon as we can. Patel, I want you to coordinate that. Reach out to Inspector Bentley and ask him to spare as many uniform units as he can. For tonight, you should only approach properties where there is still sign of activity; lights on or noise from within. Everywhere else can be approached first thing. As it’s Saturday tomorrow, we might get lucky and make contact with all residents before the end of the weekend. We’re looking for any unusual goings-on in and around the school premises. We’re looking for unfamiliar vehicles in the vicinity and anyone seen lurking around the perimeter, that kind of thing.’
‘What should I do, ma’am?’ Laura asked, stepping forward.
‘I want you with me when I speak with Mrs Kilpatrick and the caretaker again. Something about all this feels wrong. We know the school would have been closed up when Daisy was last seen, so if – and it’s only an if right now – but if she is the victim, how the hell did she get into that sports hall, and who on earth managed to get into the grounds and kill her?’
* * *
Kate could hear Mrs Kilpatrick talking on the other side of the half-closed door as she approached with DC Trotter. Knocking gently, Kate pushed the door open to find her with her head buried in her hands and a phone pressed to her ear.
‘I’ve got to go, darling,’ Mrs Kilpatrick said. ‘The police are here now. Yes, I’ll keep you posted when I’ll be home. Yes, I love you too.’ She returned the phone to its cradle. ‘My husband,’ she added when she saw Kate looking at the phone. ‘Oh, I hope that’s all right? I just told him there’d been an incident and I wouldn’t be home until later. That is okay, isn’t it?’
Kate lowered herself into the same threadbare chair she’d been in earlier. ‘Of course, it’s important to act as normally as possible.’
‘I didn’t tell him what had happened, just that it was something I needed to see through tonight.’
Kate appreciated the woman’s discretion. Keeping a lid on matters was now a priority, and the last thing she needed was to be fending off calls from the press. Ultimately, rumours would escape in time, but the team didn’t need the distraction.
‘When my DS and I arrived earlier today, we were required to sign a visitors’ book. I’d like to be able to take that with me tonight so we can make copies of the names of those who have visited the school in the last week. Is that okay?’
Mrs Kilpatrick was gazing into the distance. ‘Sure.’
‘And your security camera feeds. I presume you record those somewhere too? We need copies of all footage from the last week.’
‘Sure.’
‘Mrs Kilpatrick?’ Kate asked, forcing eye contact. ‘I appreciate what we’ve discovered this evening must be a tremendous shock. Would you like me to call anyone to be with you? Your husband, perhaps?’
Tears were pooling in Mrs Kilpatrick’s eyes. ‘No, I’ll be fine, thank you. My husband… he-he-he’s at home with our children.’
‘Is there anyone else who can come and sit with you? A friend, perhaps?’
‘No, no, I’ll be okay. Do you know yet…?’ But her words trailed off as her face contorted into a sob.
‘I can’t go into too much detail with you,’ Kate said, leaning forward. ‘All I can say is we have reason to believe that someone may have been killed in the gymnasium, and my team of specialists will need to spend the next few hours processing the scene to try and identify exactly what happened and to whom.’ Kate paused, passing over the box of tissues from the corner of the desk.