When the last of the people had left and it was just the crematorium staff, he’d wandered back up to take a look at the flowers which had been placed outside the building. Bending down he read the cards with a smile on his face. It was nice, he supposed, how dearly loved Mr and Mrs Williams were. It was such a shame these people hadn’t known the truth about them, how they didn’t light up a room, how they weren’t good people. No matter, that was well and truly in the past now and he wondered if they had gone up to meet the good guys or been sent down to hell where they belonged.
SEVENTEEN
The outside of the empty hotel reminded Morgan of something out ofAmerican Horror Story, it really was creepy. The blue and white crime-scene tape strung across the entrance was flapping in the breeze. It wasn’t raining today but the sky was gloomy with the threat of it. Ben was talking on the phone, and she got out of the car. They’d signed into the crime-scene log with the PCSO who was sitting in an unmarked car at the entrance gates. There was a police officer who Morgan didn’t recognise standing inside the open doorway, and she walked towards them and smiled. The woman was much older, and she smiled back.
‘Hey, you’ll be glad to know Task Force are on their way to do a search of the grounds, so you’ll probably be able to leave soon. We’re going to take one last look and then get the body removed too.’
‘Good, I feel so bad for that woman. She’s been stuck up there since last night. It’s bad enough she was killed inside of there, but to be left; it’s not right.’
Morgan realised that despite being older she was probably quite new to being a response officer. ‘I know, it’s horrid, but sometimes you have to do stuff that doesn’t feel right. I’m Morgan, I’m with CID.’
‘Gail, I’m just out of probation, can you tell?’
Morgan grinned. ‘Only because you still have a heart that hasn’t been turned to stone yet.’
‘Is that what happens? Will I get called to crime scenes as horrific as this and not even blink an eyelid?’
Morgan thought about lying, but it wasn’t in her nature. ‘It kind of depends on the kind of person you are. If, say, you’re not easily emotionally attached to people, it gets easier. If you’re anything like me, you relive the worst days when you’re trying your best to switch off. I kind of envy people who can switch it off and push it to one side.’
Gail nodded. ‘Yeah, I bet. It’s bad enough getting a full night’s sleep with this blooming perimenopause crap that’s already happening. It’s good to know I can add this to the list of reasons.’ She grinned at Morgan. ‘Sorry, too much information.’
‘Not at all, I have it all to look forward to.’
Morgan slipped on her shoe covers and double gloved, though there was no need for a crime-scene suit, as forensics had been completed. They were just having one final walk through before they could get Lauren’s body moved. Morgan wanted to double check if her suspicions were right about the similarities between the two sisters’ crime scenes. On the way to the hotel, she had checked the images of the knife used to kill Lydia and the position it had been left, and wanted another look to make sure she was on the right track. Gail was right, it had been pretty awful to leave Lauren there all night.
Stepping inside the hotel, the faint smell of damp and mould filled Morgan’s nostrils; she avoided walking where the yellow numbered markers were placed on the floor. Imagining how Lauren must have felt, Morgan’s pulse began to race as she closed her eyes. Hearing someone else’s footsteps inside of here must have scared the crap out of her, then to be chased by a real-life bogeyman. Morgan’s entire body shuddered; she ran up thestairs imagining being chased. The horror was almost too much; her walkie-talkie had been smashed. Lauren had her phone but that was also smashed in the bedroom. Morgan could feel her heart pounding as she ran along to the room she thought was a safe place to hide and stepped inside and flinched at Lauren’s now cold, stiff body on the floor. She crouched down next to her and whispered, ‘I am so sorry, Lauren, we’re getting you out of here now.’ The wound across Lauren’s throat looked identical to the ones on Lydia’s crime scene photos, although she’d need official confirmation from Declan; Morgan wasn’t a doctor.
‘Hey.’
At Ben’s voice, the scream that escaped Morgan’s lips echoed throughout the first floor. She hadn’t heard him coming up the stairs behind her, the carpet, although it had seen better days on the stairs and hallways, was plush and cushioned any noise he made.
‘Christ, Ben.’
‘What are you doing?’
‘I was reliving Lauren’s last moments; she must have been so scared. She also probably never heard him walking along here because I never heard you.’
He nodded. ‘Undertakers are on their way.’
‘Good, I don’t think we should have left her alone all night in here. It’s scary and she’d been through enough.’
He frowned at her, and she knew he was wondering if she was a little too emotionally attached to this case.
‘I don’t think Lauren would have minded too much, she’s not here now, is she? That’s just her body; her soul is hopefully somewhere up there in the light with her loved ones.’
‘I know that, and I hope it is, but it’s still crap that we left her though.’
‘I know, she wasn’t totally alone she had someone guarding the door downstairs.’
Morgan nodded, this job was getting harder.
‘Ben, Morgan.’ Gail’s voice echoed up the stairs. ‘Control are asking for either of you.’
Ben glanced at Morgan, who pulled her radio out of her pocket and turned the volume up.
‘Control this is Detective Brookes.’
‘Ah, Morgan, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There’s a scene not too far from where you are now, patrols are requesting CID to attend. A member of the public found a tent hidden in the forest with a body inside of it, are you or Ben able to attend?’
