‘Yes, she wanted to. It would be the quickest way of getting his identity confirmed. From the photos she sent to us and the link to his Facebook profile, it looks like it’s definitely him but we have to make sure. Our victim had no record either so we had nothing on the system that would have flagged up from his fingerprints or DNA.’ She swallowed, not relishing being with the woman when she viewed her son’s body.
‘How old did you say he was?’
‘Thirty-four.’ She flinched as Jacob’s coat caught her face. ‘Can you stop pacing around?’ She smiled.
He fell into the plastic chair and linked his hands in front of him. ‘Sorry, I’m just getting a bit restless after sitting for so long.’
‘How do you think he ended up in such a bad way?’
The chair creaked as Jacob leaned back. ‘Who knows? Drugs maybe, relationship breakdown, lost his job.’
‘Hmm, I hope meeting his mother will clarify that. Let’s go over what we know from the post-mortem so far.’
‘Go for it.’
Gina glanced at the pathologist. He continued working as the clean crime scene assistant kept stepping in to take more photos. The victim was respectfully laid out on his back in the sterile room. She shivered as the scales bobbed when the pathologist knocked them. Only an hour ago, the victim’s liver had been weighing them down.
Gina’s stomach was screaming for food but her throat tightened a little. She flipped back to the last page in her notebook. ‘Male, white, six foot, blue eyes, various piercings and a tattoo. Piercing in his right eyebrow that has almost healed and a ring in his right nipple. Tattoo of a lion on his thigh. A lot of dirt under his fingernails and ingrained on his hands. The smell of smoke oozing from his every pore and traces of ash in his neckline and his hair suggest he’s spent a lot of time in front of open fires. Crew cut, blond hair. Track marks on his arm and groin. Screams drug problem.’
‘Toxicology will tell us what he was taking.’
Gina nodded. ‘Those results won’t be back in a hurry. We know the track marks are a mixture of fresh and old. We need to contact all local drug services, see if he has been on a methadone programme. If someone was looking after his case, they may be able to tell us more about him.’
Jacob made a note.
‘I just hope that the more we learn about him, the more we might find out about who did this to him.’
‘I’ve never come across anything like this, guv.’ Jacob stared at the corpse as the pathologist began to stitch him up.
‘It’s creepy, isn’t it? We have to catch whoever did this. I checked social media this morning and there’s a lot of scaremongering about the ghost that buries people alive. The press are really going to town on this one and Lyndsey Saunders is taking all the credit. She’s right you know.’
‘About what?’
‘Cleevesford is a dangerous place to live. It used to be a desirable town and now house prices have dropped a little. This town has a sick feel about it and it’s not getting any better. We can’t let this happen to anyone else. It’s just unthinkable.’
Silence fell between the two as they watched the pathologist remove his plastic apron and face mask.
A spark of an image flashed through Gina’s mind. Nails on wood, clawing their way out. Blood, lots of blood and gritty tears, then the letter. The smell of fear, sweat and urine. The uncontrollable shivering as she took her punishment. Who knows about her past?
‘Guv?’
She flinched. ‘What?’
‘We’re being called through.’
The pathologist pointed to the corridor. She stood and followed Jacob, fighting the need to leave and inhale mouthfuls of fresh air. She wanted to get outside and run away, anywhere.
As her signal returned her phone beeped. A flood of messages came through at once and her phone rang. She looked up at Jacob. ‘You go ahead. I’ll catch you up in a moment.’
As he walked away, she accepted the call from Briggs. ‘You need to get back to the station, now.’
‘What is it?’ Her stomach dropped and she felt a jitter running though her fingers.
‘I’d rather you be here to talk about it. Don’t talk to the press, don’t talk to anyone. Just hurry.’ He ended the call.
‘Jacob.’ He glanced back just as he was about to enter a side room with the pathologist. ‘I have to get back to the station now. I’ll get someone to come back and collect you as soon as I get there.’
He smiled and nodded. ‘Okay, see you in a while. Is everything alright?’
