‘Amazing, thanks again, Danielle. You take care and someone, probably me, will be in touch soon to take an official statement, if that’s okay.’
‘Of course, bye, Morgan.’
‘Bye, Danielle. Bye, Ruby; thank you.’
Morgan gave Ruby’s head a gentle pat before she straightened up. Then she made her way along Scotty’s path to see the scene for herself. Her stomach was in knots, and she knew her hands were a little shaky. She needed sugar. God, she hoped she didn’t pass out, the tiredness, this humidity, these murders and the walking up a steep hill were not helping her to feel her best at the moment.
Ben and Scotty were standing in front of the tent; Ben had, out of nowhere, found the protective clothing he needed to get a closer look at the scene. Scotty must have brought it with him. She nodded at him and realised he must be devastated, if the body inside was Lynsey’s, as he had said he was friends with her. He had also been first on scene to Lauren’s murder yesterday. She walked as close to him as she could.
‘I only grabbed one set of overalls out of the van, Morgan, I’m so sorry.’
‘Don’t be, I’m quite happy to observe from a distance. Scotty, are you okay? Is it Lynsey Williams?’
He shrugged. ‘Honestly, mate, I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again. It’s hard to say, she’s such a mess, there isn’t much of her face left with all the insect activity, but that’s definitely her car and if she wasn’t driving it, I don’t know who else it could be.’
Morgan glanced at the tiny pink car in the distance, where the forest was beginning to take over. Vines and plants were starting to grow up the tyres as if it had been there for years not weeks. ‘Did she reply to your message?’
His head shook slowly. ‘Didn’t even read it, which makes me think that it is her, you know. But why? Who would want to kill three sisters from the same family?’
Morgan shrugged. ‘I don’t know why, but I’m going to figure it out and, when I do, they better watch out because I’ll be coming for them.’
Scotty turned and stared at her. He was taller than her by several inches, but he looked down into her eyes and smiled, not a full smile; a sad, half smile. ‘I know you will, you’re the best detective there’s ever been.’
Her cheeks flared a burning, hot red. She’d never heard Scotty have a good word to say about anyone and this had taken her by surprise. ‘Better than Vera or Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple?’
He nodded enthusiastically. ‘Better than any of those, they’re not real, are they? You’re the living, breathing, kick-ass hunter of killers.’
‘Well, thank you, I try.’
‘You do more than try, Morgan, you go out and do it. No fancy talking bullshit, you go out and do what it takes. I never really appreciated just how much you’ve sacrificed over the last few years, and it puts me to shame. I trundle along doing the bare minimum to get through my shift because I just don’t want the hassle anymore, but this has been a wake-up call. I want to find him too; I want to help.’
She nodded. ‘I’ll ask Ben, see if there’s anything you can do.’
‘Thanks, I appreciate that.’
‘What is going on here, then? Scotty lad, you need to stop finding bodies, we’re busy enough at the moment.’
Cain’s voice echoed through the trees, and Morgan tried not to smile too much. His attitude was refreshing and not always the best timing, but she was glad to hear his voice. Somehow, she always felt safer with Cain around and she wondered if that was how Amy felt.
Ben was staring through the opening of the tent, his shoulders stiff. He took a step back, dropping the flap down.
‘Are CSI on the way and do you know if they called Declan yet?’
Morgan hoped that Declan was on his way to the scene. Nobody answered Ben, so Morgan took out her radio and repeated Ben’s question a little firmer.
‘Control, this is Morgan, is the pathologist travelling and are CSI en route to the scene?’
‘That’s confirmed for both. Doctor Donelly’s ETA is approximately thirty minutes. CSI should be with you any minute.’
‘Step away from my scene, all of you. What the hell are you thinking?’
As if by magic, Wendy’s out-of-breath voice boomed into their ears as she strode through the overgrown path to reach them.
‘Cain, Stan, Scotty, Morgan, get out of here. None of you are dressed appropriately. Ben, you can stay, and someone go get my case out of the van for me; in my haste to check what you were all up to I left it behind. I don’t trust any of you; it’s like an unsupervised school outing working with you lot.’
Cain blew her a kiss. ‘Chill, Wends, we just got here and haven’t gone anywhere near it. Can’t vouch for those two reprobates though.’ He was pointing at Morgan and Scotty.
Morgan shook her head. ‘Haven’t been anywhere near. Scotty was first on scene.’
