Ben led the way, his heart heavy for Morgan, and for the woman who had been chased up these stairs before being murdered. She must have been so scared, he couldn’t begin to imagine the fear she’d felt in her last moments. Sometimes hewished, especially when she’d got into a fight or been injured, that he had never seconded Morgan into his department on that first day from her role as a response officer. If he hadn’t, she wouldn’t be so weighed down with the responsibilities that solving murders brought with it. She should be on shift nights out, getting the train to Lancaster or Manchester, getting drunk with colleagues the same age as her, then dealing with the day-to-day crimes that came in. He stopped outside the doorway to the room where Lauren’s rapidly cooling body lay. Morgan shouldn’t be dealing with this, the guilt and the horror. He found that he couldn’t swallow for the lump in his throat and stepped to one side to let Declan pass.
‘Declan, this is Lauren.’
‘Oh Lord.’ His usually bold voice was a whisper. He walked towards Lauren and bent down. ‘Lauren, this is dreadful. I am so terribly sorry to meet you this way. Please know that I will take the best care of you now, and your family. I’m Declan and I will look after you.’
Ben swiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, his heart so broken and full of guilt, he wasn’t sure he could do this. He watched as Declan opened his case and, taking paper bags out, gently lifted her blood-soaked hands and placed them inside of the bags to preserve any forensics.
He turned to Ben. ‘I hope to God she managed to get me some DNA under those fingernails.’ They weren’t long, but long enough to count if she’d managed to scratch at him. He took her temperature. ‘Her body is cool to the touch. How long ago did patrols get here after she called for help?’
Ben pulled his tablet out of his pocket, glad to have a distraction. After opening the log, he looked up. ‘Approximately twelve minutes from when Scotty arrived on scene to when the abandoned nine nine nine call came in.’
‘So, she had literally just died when he arrived. At least you have her time of death which is precise. Did he not pass the killer on the way here?’
Ben shrugged. ‘I’ll speak to him when I go back. I would say there is a very good chance he had, but when he was rushing here, he would have had no idea this was a murder. It’s not his fault.’
‘I’m not saying it is, of course not. Nobody is to blame here except the guy who wielded the knife, but if he thinks carefully, he might be able to recall the vehicles he passed on the way.’
‘He might, it’s worth checking, but this is Scotty we’re talking about. He’s the most unobservant copper I know.’
Declan smiled at Ben. ‘Just thinking out loud, I want to help.’
‘I know you do, and I appreciate that more than you know. It’s so desperately sad.’
‘It is. You know, she looks familiar, but I don’t recognise her name and I don’t think I’ve ever had cause to speak to her before.’
‘Ah, that’s because you did a post-mortem on her sister not that long ago.’
Declan straightened up. ‘I did what?’
‘Lydia Williams, Scotty said that was her sister.’
‘Oh Lord, yes, she looks very much like her. Oh no, why on earth? Who on earth would do this? Her family has been through enough.’
‘Exactly, somebody has a dislike of them so much it’s enough to kill both sisters. It’s shocking beyond belief is what it is. I’m struggling to get my head around this one, Declan, I mean they’re all horrific and unjustified, but what the hell is going on inside the killer’s mind to think that this is okay?’
Declan stared at the knife protruding from her chest. ‘Same modus operandi, cut throat, knife in the chest cavity.’ He studied the handle. ‘Same brand of knife if I’m not mistakenthat was recovered from both Lydia Williams’s and Sharon Montgomery’s bodies. What does this mean, Ben? No wonder Morgan was so glum.’
‘It means that we messed up big time, that if we’d paid closer attention to Beth Montgomery, we would have realised she didn’t work on her own.’
‘Lord, this is a mess, but you weren’t to know that. Anyone in their right mind would have listened to her confession and tied it all up nicely with a bow on top for good measure.’
‘Would they? I disagree with you there but thank you.’
Declan’s normally stoic, composed face betrayed him by the look of horror in his eyes. He sat down on the chair that Morgan had not long vacated. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘Go back through everything we have, every file, every witness interview and see if there is anything we missed. That’s where Morgan has gone, to get copies of it all, so we can do a thorough check. It’s all we can do.’
‘If it’s any consolation, I’m sorry.’
Ben let out a harsh laugh. ‘None whatsoever but I appreciate it.’
Declan stood up and continued with his initial examination. ‘Not a lot more I can do here; you can move her when you’re ready. It’s pretty obvious what cause of death is. I’ll see you tomorrow, first thing. I’ll be there from eight onwards.’
‘Thank you.’
Declan didn’t speak; there was nothing more to say. He left Ben staring down at Lauren’s lifeless body.
NINE
