‘Morgan.’ Ben sounded mildly annoyed.
‘I’m coming, I’ll catch you up.’
She picked up her pace and hurried to where he was now making his way up the steep path.
‘Good of you to join me, I thought you were going to sit down and have a right old natter.’
‘Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, boss, and I was just getting the background info on her. I’ve never seen her before, but she was confident enough to give the pair of us orders.’
He paused and looked over his shoulder at her. ‘One day you’ll make a great detective, Brookes.’
She rolled her eyes at the back of his head. ‘You know, sometimes you can be an idiot, boss.’
He didn’t answer and she didn’t speak again, walking slightly behind him. He wasn’t the only one stressing out about having to deal with another victim so soon, especially if it did turn out to be Lynsey Williams. That thought was almost too much to bear so she pushed it to the back of her mind. Until they had some cold hard facts she would just focus on getting to the crime scene without too much fuss.
NINETEEN
There was a woman with a black Labrador at the top of the trail, her eyes were wide, and Morgan could tell she was shocked by her discovery. Scotty waved Ben over to where he was standing next to a makeshift path that he’d cleared by using his baton to flatten down the overgrown vegetation. She chose to speak to the dog walker.
‘Hey, are you okay?’
‘Not really, you don’t expect to find anything like this when you’re out clearing your head.’
‘No, you don’t. I’m Morgan, one of the detectives.’
‘Danielle Gaskell.’
‘Can I ask what you saw exactly, what happened that led you to call nine nine nine?’
‘I told him.’ She pointed at Scotty. Morgan turned her back.
‘That’s great, but he’s not the best copper we have.’ She smiled reassuringly. ‘Would you mind telling me?’
Danielle smiled at her. ‘Yeah, well the dog found her really. She went into the bushes and began to whine, didn’t you, Ruby.’
At the mention of her name, Ruby’s tail began to sweep the floor where she was sitting. Morgan bent down and scratched behind her ears. ‘You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Ruby, well done.’
‘I thought maybe the car was stuck or something and had to pick up a stick to beat my way through. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that little pink Fiat there; it’s so out of place. Further along the trail, Ruby was sitting on an old yoga mat, just whining.’
‘Did you go into the tent?’
Danielle’s head shook rapidly. ‘No way, sorry. I realised those brown splotches on the mat and the singing bowl looked like blood, and panicked. I clipped Ruby’s lead on and dragged her out of there, tied her to a tree and ran down to the car park to wait for the police to arrive. I was so scared.’
‘I bet. Have you walked here before?’
‘Yes, but not for a couple of months. It’s been a bit hectic at work and home, so I fancied a nice long walk through the woods to clear my head. That policeman said there’s a body inside of the tent; it’s so awful. I mean, whoever it is must have been there for some time.’
Morgan reached out and gently squeezed her arm. ‘It’s so sad, but thanks to Ruby we can make sure whoever it is gets looked after now.’
Danielle blinked away tears. ‘Do you need me to wait around?’
‘No, thank you. Would you like me to walk you back to your car?’
‘I’m okay, or I will be. Thank you, but I think you have enough to do.’
‘Did you give the officer your details?’
‘Yes, and when I rang nine nine nine.’
