‘Sorry, was just giving you a chance to finish listening to your music.’ She winked at Morgan and led them down towards the changing rooms.
‘Wendy and Joe are here, they were much keener than you two,’ Susie whispered, then she walked through the mortuary doors, leaving them looking at each other.
Declan had upgraded his vintage Roberts radio and next to it was an Alexa. He asked it to play eighties music and Wham began to sing ‘Jitterbug’; it was upbeat and made the freezing mortuary feel a little bit warmer. Morgan nodded at Wendy and Joe who were ready to go, and Ben walked in.
‘Hi, thanks for coming at short notice, everyone. I didn’t see the point in delaying until the morning when we could get this done now, and just to cheer you all up Declan intends to move on to Lynsey’s PM after he’s completed this one.’
Wendy smiled at him. ‘No problem, Ben.’
Joe, who looked miserable, just nodded, and she wondered if he’d been due to finish his shift at four and been asked to stay on. On the other hand, Declan was smiling despite this being his day off and all his plans being cancelled.
‘Are we ready?’
Everyone nodded, and Morgan stood next to Ben, watching as Declan checked the tag on the body bag before Susie cut it off. It didn’t matter how many post-mortem examinations Morgan watched, she always felt her mouth go dry and her stomach begin to churn at what was about to unfold. How did those two do this day in, day out without batting an eyelid? Joe looked as miserable as she felt. Ben gently nudged her, and she realised she was supposed to be scribing and felt in her pocket for her notepad and pen. At least she didn’t have to watch the whole process.
Declan finished his preliminary examination, and Lauren’s clothing was removed and passed to Wendy to photograph andbag up. As Lauren lay naked on the steel table the wounds on her body looked brutal.
‘The body is that of a well-developed white female. The hair is brown, shoulder length. There is blood smearing over the left side of the face down to the neck. Conjunctivae are white and show no petechiae. There are two ear piercings in both ears. No blood in the nose, mouth or ear canals. Inside the mouth is unremarkable. The neck shows one large, incised wound. The chest shows multiple incised wounds, mainly over the left breast and shoulder. The weapon is still in situ.
‘Joe, are you ready for me to remove the blade, have you got enough pictures?’
Morgan looked up and her eyes fell to the hilt of the knife that had been buried inside of Lauren’s chest. She couldn’t begin to imagine the pain and fear she had felt being chased through that abandoned hotel all on her own, and she shuddered violently. Ben touched her arm, his fingers gently brushing against her, reassuring her she could do this. She decided not to watch as Declan pulled out the blade, looking down at the notepad instead until she heard the clatter as the knife hit a metal tray that Susie was holding.
Declan was studying the entrance wound. ‘That took a bit of brute strength. He pushed that in so hard and deep that if the neck incision hadn’t made her bleed out, I’m pretty sure this would have killed her instantly. Not sure why he felt the need to stab her multiple times before finishing up with this one. Same method as with Lydia Williams, and Sharon Montgomery, too. He was making sure they were dead, that was for sure, and not taking any chances that they may survive. Have you got a suspect in your line of sight yet?’
Ben shrugged. ‘We have a person of interest, yes. We haven’t identified them yet.’
Susie stared at Ben, then asked, ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means they don’t really know,’ replied Declan.
‘We do; we just don’t have a name which makes it really difficult.’ Morgan was staring at him, willing him to meet her gaze.
Declan was measuring the wounds. He looked up. ‘Hey, I’m not saying that to be disrespectful. I’m just saying that you’re doing your best under difficult circumstances.’
‘Are you? It didn’t sound like it,’ muttered Ben.
Every person in the mortuary looked up, all eyes on Ben and Declan. They were best of friends out of work, but the atmosphere was fraught with unspoken tension.
‘This case has more twists and turns to it than anything else I’ve worked in my entire career; we are doing our best.’
Declan held the palms of his bloodstained gloved hands out. ‘I know you are, I didn’t mean that to sound as nonchalant as it did, please forgive me, Ben. My big mouth sometimes forgets to consult my brain before it puts its vocal cords to use.’
Ben grunted, and Declan smiled. He went back to measuring the wounds.
When all the swabs and photographs had been taken, he nodded at Susie who positioned a small rubber block under Lauren’s neck, so that her head was raised at the right angle. Then Declan took a scalpel and began to make the Y-incision across her breastbone and down to her pubis area.
Morgan felt herself wobble a little and planted her feet slightly apart to steady herself ready for the next part of the procedure, repeating in her mind that she could do this, she had to do it for Lauren’s sake.
THIRTY-NINE
He didn’t have a lot of time to clean up the mess he’d made. He should not have done that here, but his anger had taken over his brain and he’d acted on emotion instead of rationale.
The body on the floor, lying in a puddle of her own blood, was now a problem, a huge problem. What if someone came into his home? Her handbag was on the table. He needed to get rid of her phone and quick before anyone realised she was missing, or they would trace it to this area and then it wouldn’t take much before somebody connected the dots.
When the water under the faucet ran clear he studied his fingers, checked his nails weren’t caked with her blood then picked up a tea towel to rub them dry. His stomach groaned. The Bolognese smelled good, its aromas of tomato, garlic and basil were currently masking the smell of death that would soon begin to permeate the air in his small kitchen.
He probably already had blood spatter all over his shirt and trousers, so he would have to dispose of them. He began pulling open drawers until he found what he was looking for – an ancient pair of bright yellow rubber gloves that he’d bought to use when he was washing-up, when his skin had got a touch of dermatitis. Slipping them on he opened the door that led intothe small storage cupboard next to the sink. He should just about be able to cram her body in here and he had a lot more time on his hands to get rid of it properly. It wasn’t easy dragging her dead weight and trying to support her head at the same time, which lolled to one side because of the deep wound that had slashed her throat open with so much violence it had nearly severed it from her neck. He was furious with her, but more so with himself for being so careless and creating a problem that would not easily be solved.
