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The baby downstairs started crying, the way it did every night around this time. Banks turned on the TV. There wasn’t much to choose from: films, a chat show or news. He picked The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, which had started half an hour ago. That didn’t matter; he’d seen it many times before, and he knew the plot by heart. But he couldn’t concentrate. As he watched Richard Burton’s edgy, intense performance and tried to pick up the threads, he found his mind wandering back to Roy’s phone call, felt himself waiting for the phone to ring, willing it.
There was nothing he could do about it right now, but the sense of urgency and fear in Roy’s voice disturbed him. He would try again in the morning, in case Roy had simply gone out for the night, but if he couldn’t get in touch then, he would head for London himself and find out just what the hell was going on.
Why did people have to be so bloody inconsiderate as to find bodies so early on a Saturday morning? wondered Detective Inspector A
She pulled to a halt behind the blue Peugeot 106 on a quiet stretch of country road halfway between Eastvale and the Al. It had been just after half past seven when the station desk sergeant rang and woke her from an uneasy dream she immediately forgot, and after a quick shower and a cup of instant coffee, she was on the road.
The morning was still and hazy, with the drone of insects in the air. It was going to be just the kind of day for a picnic by the river, dragonflies and the scent of wild garlic, perhaps a bottle of Chablis cooling in the water, maybe her sketch pad and a few sticks of charcoal. After a few nibbles of Wensleydale cheese – the type with cranberries was her favorite – and a couple of glasses of wine, it would be time for a nap on the riverbank, maybe a pleasant dream. Enough of that, she thought, walking over to the car; life had other plans for her today.
A
There was already activity around the Peugeot. The road had been closed to all non-police traffic, and the immediate area around the car had been taped off. That would cause a few problems when the tourists started to dribble in, A
“What have we got?” A
“A young woman dead behind the wheel of her car,” said Hatchley.
“I can see that for myself,” snapped A
“Bit prickly this morning, aren’t we, ma’am,” said Hatchley. “What’s up? Get out of the wrong side of bed?”
A
“Don’t know yet. Nothing apparent. No obvious marks, no bruising. And officially she’s not even dead yet. Not until the doc says she is.”
A
“I had a quick look, that’s all. Didn’t touch anything. Winsome checked for a pulse and found none. We’re still waiting for Doc Burns.”
“So she could have died of a heart attack for all we know?”
“I suppose so,” said Hatchley. “But like I said, she’s very young. It smells a bit fishy to me.”
“Any idea who she is?”
“There’s no handbag, no driving license, nowt. At least not as you can see looking through the windows.”
“Maybe she was forced to pull over. That makes more sense than a young woman traveling alone stopping voluntarily for a stranger on a dark country road. You can see she hit the wall. Maybe someone was chasing her.”
“I checked the number plate on the computer, guv,” said Winsome, walking over from her car. “The car’s registered to a Je
“We don’t know for certain it’s her yet,” A
“Right, guv.” Winsome paused.
“Yes?”
“Wasn’t there another one?”
“Another what?” asked A
“Another murder. Like this one. Young woman found dead on the side of a road. The M1, not the A1, but even so…”
“Yes,” said A
“Yes, guv.” Winsome walked back to her car.
A
“Yes, ma’am. Says to keep him up-to-date.”
That made sense, A
“PC Farrier over there.”
Hatchley pointed to a uniformed police constable leaning against a patrol car. Pete Farrier. A
“Couple over there, ma’am.” Farrier pointed to a man and a woman some yards away from the scene. They were sitting on the grass by the side of the road, and the man had his arm around the woman, whose head was buried in his chest.
A
The woman sat in the driver’s seat, slumped slightly forward and listing to the left; her right hand grasped the steering wheel and her left held the gear stick. Her seat belt was fastened firmly in place, holding her up, and both the front windows were open. The key was still in the ignition, A
The victim wasn’t a big woman, but her breasts were quite large, and the seat belt ran between them, separating them and causing them to appear even more prominent. She looked to be mid-to-late twenties, which matched Je