‘I think she’s pregnant.’
‘Oh no,’ Kelly said. ‘Are you sure? Is that a stupid question?’ The tragedy hit them both like a warhead. She saw her father wrinkle his brow and she got off her stool and they peered at the woman. Kelly placed her gloved hand over Water Nymph’s brow and thought of Lizzie and how excited she’d been when she carried her inside her body.
‘I’m pretty sure. I’ll tell you definitely in a few minutes, but I can feel changes in the uterus, cervix and surrounding tissues consistent with gravid.’
Kelly had heard the official term before but today it sounded as sterile as the walls, and just as inhuman. Two murders had occurred on the shore of Grasmere. Whoever killed this poor girl killed her baby as well.
When Ted cut into the body, Kelly forced herself to be present because it was the least she could do for this poor woman who’d suffered so much.
‘Oh dear, that is unexpected,’ he said.
She saw what he meant straight away. There was muddy water in the woman’s lungs. He cut further and pulled out a soggy mass of gunk. The organs gurgled and fizzed with air and water and Kelly watched as the brown gunge ran across the woman’s chest.
‘If she was dead when she was placed under the boat, she wouldn’t have inhaled any water from the lake. There’s only one way to be sure, and that’s to test the water. Bath and shower water is very different under the microscope,’ he said. He took a small sample and peered at it under his microscope, then he glanced back at Kelly. ‘Mites and organisms consistent with fresh open water in my view,’ he said gloomily.
‘Jesus, poor woman. She was still alive when he left her.’
Kelly looked up at the sterile ceiling and anger burnt her chest.
Chapter 7
What to feed a group of health and fitness influencers was a headache Lee Lovett took seriously. So far, everything had gone smoothly. Canapes from the 1970s playbook were out of the question. Avocado mousse, mini sausages wrapped in bacon, cute bite-sized pies and vol-au-vents were firmly off the menu. In their place, Lee had overseen the genius construction of protein powder shots, banana blinis, yogurt sorbets and lettuce wraps. He was pleased with himself.
These healthy types had to eat too, but they were the sort to turn their nose up at food they deemed to be too predictably full of enemy calories. Lee reckoned he’d cracked it with the variety of dishes on offer and he’d even tried some of them. He wasn’t one for health and fitness, and he barely had time to do anything other than earn a wage, but his new job was important to him.
His promotion to head of conference and banqueting at the Heron Hall Hotel on the shore of Rydal Water had gone to his head, and he waltzed around the final event of the afternoon checking the guests were happy with their low-sugar ginger champagne cocktails. He was consummately friendly and professional.
It was only day two of the four-day conference and everyone was on a high after the speech by the woman who sneaked away for a clandestine cigarette whenever she could. Her mutiny amused him.
Lee had worked silently in the background as speakers lectured about pills and potions that could reduce your waistline, stop depression, lower cholesterol and promote longevity. They were lofty promises, and he was cynical about their efficacy, but it wasn’t his place to question the claims ofscience, and there were plenty of experts here. They knew better than he did. His weekly shop consisted of whatever he found in the supermarket, and he wondered who had time, or the money, to shop for the concoctions being promoted by the guest speakers.
He was tired of hearing slender women in their twenties promising diet shakes that really worked and testosterone-fuelled gym bunnies proclaiming a miracle new protein bar delivering every nutrient required to achieve their rippling physiques. They were liars and charlatans. He’d seen them in the hotel gym when he topped up the water cooler, and he recognised the telltale signs of starvation and medical injections: that gaunt skeletal look that was so in vogue now.
There was nothing wrong with steak and butter in Lee’s book, but he kept his views to himself and pocketed the generous tips and smiled sweetly. The attendees of the conference were mostly young, ignorant and very wealthy. As well as sales and marketing reps, they also had podcasters, YouTubers and Instagram stars who made money from followers and clickbait. It was a symposium of beautiful people who knew everything but understood very little. They lived in a bubble and for the duration of the forum, Lee indulged their whims. It was a well-orchestrated sales event, that was all.
But the woman called Sandy stood out. She was an older woman and not like the others. She smoked heavily – he’d seen her down by the lake when he nipped out for his own nicotine fix – and she looked exotically wizened, as if she’d existed on common sense her whole life.
Lee couldn’t help thinking that they were all a bunch of lunatic Dr Frankensteins playing with the human body, but it wasn’t the woman’s speech he’d been interested in; it was the mischief in her smile. He could tell she’d once been a good-time girl and Lee had been working in the hotel industry long enough to spotwhen a woman was lonely. He’d watched her from the back of the hall, between giving out orders for clean napkins. She was an expert speaker, bringing just the right balance of emotion and professionalism to her presentation. She’d received a standing ovation for her delivery, and he could tell she was respected in her field. She’d talked of metabolism, disease management and clinical experiments and had received rapturous applause, but Lee wasn’t interested in any of that.
A couple of days ago, before the conference got going, they’d shared a cigarette during one of his breaks down at the lake. She’d joined him on the jetty, overlooking the tiny body of water, and he’d asked her how she was able to smoke cigarettes and preach about fitness at the same time. She’d laughed and told him that her job had nothing to do with her personal life. Her lips had tripped over the words in a way that made him feel intrigued and had assured Lee that she was flirting with him. The age gap didn’t bother him. A beautiful woman stayed beautiful no matter her age. She wore no ring on her wedding finger and her eyes twinkled like stars when she lingered a little too long on what she wanted from the bar. She’d insisted it was brought to her room and that’s when he’d enjoyed her company for a couple of hours, learning not for the first time that older women not only knew exactly what they wanted, but also how to get it.
Now, his eyes found her as she appeared beyond the entrance outside, through the highly polished glass doors. She didn’t see him at first but then she nodded over her shoulder at him. He guessed she’d been out for a cigarette, enjoying the glorious sunshine of the late afternoon. She looked distracted. The hotel buzzed with energy and the hum of conversation filled the seating areas near the foyer.
He put down the tray of nibbles, which nobody was interested in anyway, and headed to the double doors, his body tense withanticipation of a repeat of this afternoon when they’d spent an hour in her suite.
He got halfway across the entrance, which sat underneath a dramatic atrium, before a loud bellow, followed by a crunching noise, made everyone duck.
The sound of chatter ceased immediately, and people looked at one another, unsure what had occurred, until a delegate screamed, and Lee covered his ears.
He lost sight of Sandy through the glass doors, and his lust deserted him as he tried to make sense of the chaos ensuing rapidly around him.
Then he saw the blood.
The crunch had been a body breaking on the tile floor as it dropped from the atrium above the main entrance.
People screamed, some darted away, others reached for their phones. The VIPs’ bodyguards from the US, who hung around the organisers, drew their weapons and people only screamed louder and panicked even more. He saw a podcaster recording on her phone.
Lee realised his legs had turned to jelly but he knew he must take charge. He walked quietly to the scene, aware that he felt terribly sick, and he knew that his body had gone into the first stages of shock. He breathed deeply, not wanting to look, but not being able to glance away either.
