Rob Minshull ordered coffee from the small mobile catering van by the council offices like he was surrendering his worldly goods to an arresting officer. Cora said nothing as she waited, wondering what lay in store for her in the case Minshull had come to share.
Since officially joining the South Suffolk CID team as a special consultant, Cora was becoming used to the summons from Police HQ in Ipswich. Every new case brought with it an opportunity to further explore her ability, to push the boundaries of the emotional echoes – or audible fingerprints as she’d come to term them – she could sense from objects she was asked to inspect. Even though she was tired already from the relentless workload in her day job as an Educational Psychologist for South Suffolk Education Authority, the prospect of assisting Minshull and the team excited her.
But today the darkness she’d caught in Rob Minshull’s tone tempered the thrill. It had been unmistakable when he’d called her from the car park, although she couldn’t exactly define it. A warning. An edge. A sense of foreboding.
The granite-grey clouds that remained stubbornly over Ipswich all morning were now painted by rays of bright sunshine, a stark contrast of soothing light and threatening shadow. As Cora and Minshull moved to a bench near raised flowerbeds separating the car park from the approach to the buildings, the split personality of the sky gave a dramatic backdrop.
‘I can’t stay long,’ she said the moment they sat.
‘Neither can I.’ Minshull risked a smile. ‘Sorry to pull you away from work – I wish it was just a social call.’ He took a breath, the gravity of what he was about to share heavy in his inhale. ‘We have a murder investigation. Multiple bodies, I’m afraid. The crime scene was discovered this morning, in Evernam.’
‘Evernam? I thought the most controversial thing that happened in Evernam was the annual livestock fair.’ Seeing her smile not mirrored, Cora relented. ‘How did they die?’
‘Their throats were cut. We found a knife at the scene that we’re treating as a suspected murder weapon.’
An involuntary shiver traversed Cora’s spine. ‘What do you need from me?’
‘The victims were found in a bizarre arrangement. Five objects placed at deliberate intervals around each body.’
‘Belongings?’
Minshull blew steam from his cup. ‘We’re assuming so, except there’s no obvious link between them. We’ll know more when we have ID, but for now, it’s a puzzle.’
‘And you want me to listen to them.’
Minshull nodded. ‘The objects are being taken to Forensics for testing, but I can arrange for you to inspect them once they’re cleared.’
‘Okay. When is that likely to be?’
‘I wish I could tell you. They’re being fast-tracked, but you know how resources are.’
‘Tell me about it. How’s everyone doing – without Les?’
Minshull took a sip of coffee, wincing at the heat. ‘We’re all trying to stay positive, but the workload is insane. Unless we’re granted temp cover for him, I don’t know how we’ll cope.’
‘Have the bodies been identified yet?’
‘Unofficially. SOCOs found driving licences for three of the victims, and the fourth was named by a man we arrested at the scene. But until we get formal identifications on the bodies, we can’t know for certain.’
‘You’ve arrested someone?’
‘At the scene, yes. He was wandering around on the street outside, drenched in blood and very distressed. Insisted it was his fault that the four other men died.’
‘Wow.’
Minshull grimaced. ‘I know. What’s odd is that there was a fifth collection of objects, placed identically to the others, but with a space at their centre where a fifth body might have been.’
Cora observed him carefully. ‘Do you think the man you arrested should have been the fifth victim?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe? If that was the case, why claim the murders were his fault?’
‘Could be shock. Or guilt that he survived while the others didn’t?’
Minshull considered this. ‘Would you be able to tell? From, you know, the audible fingerprints on the knife and the objects around the bodies?’
It was a careful question, a gesture Cora both appreciated and hated in equal measure. With all they had gone through on previous cases – and their personal friendship outside of work – such caution should no longer be necessary. But Minshull’s belief in Cora’s ability had stumbled during the last investigation, a mistake he was doing his best to make amends for.
‘It’s possible. It depends whether the perpetrator was wearing gloves or not. But I should be able to sense heightened emotion, anger, fear. Circumstantial, of course, but it could help you and the team piece together what happened.’
‘Okay. Thanks.’
Cora watched him cradle his paper coffee cup. ‘How bad was it?’
Minshull’s body belied the answer before he spoke. It was impossible to miss. She saw it in the tension in his shoulders, and the stoic expression he maintained. Did he realise how much of his body language betrayed his true reaction? Cora suspected not.
‘Horrific,’ Minshull admitted. ‘The worst I’ve seen. I should warn you, the crime scene photos you’ll see in the office will be distressing.’
‘I understand.’ Cora willed conviction into her reply, but in truth, her nerves had been building since Minshull had mentioned the multiple murders – and the presence of a knife and blood. Four dead men, all presumably killed with stab or slash wounds: it was a prospect that scared her. She’d witnessed many horrors since her first case with the police. Was she ready to face this?
‘Are you sure? Because this won’t be like anything we’ve asked you to work on before.’
‘I am,’ Cora replied, her intention set. ‘I’m part of the team, right?’
‘Right.’
They shared weary smiles.
‘I’ll call you as soon as we’re ready,’ Minshull said, making to stand. ‘I have to get back, but thanks.’
‘You’re welcome.’ Cora stood, too. ‘Keep me updated?’
‘Sure.’ He was already backing away, the call of the myriad of concerns summoning him from this place. ‘We’ll speak soon.’
Cora watched Minshull’s car pull out of view, then turned and walked slowly back inside.
Dr Tris Noakes looked up from the stack of papers covering his desk when Cora knocked on the door of his office. ‘How was the good detective?’
‘Not so good.’ Cora sat on the chair opposite his. ‘There’s a new case they’re bringing me into.’
‘Do you need to go? I can have a look at shifting some work around here if you do.’
‘Not yet. Forensics need to release the objects first. Might be a couple of days.’
Tris put down his pen. ‘You’re nervous about this one.’
Was it that obvious? Cora loved many things about her boss, not least that he was a self-confessed fan of her ability and a fervent cheerleader for her own efforts to explore it further. But the way Tris could read her was unnervingly accurate. She shifted a little in the chair.
‘I’m still getting my head around it.’
‘It’s a bad one?’
‘Sounds like it could be. Strange, too.’
‘Define strange.’
Cora laughed despite herself. ‘The objects they want me to assess were placed around four bodies. Rob thinks they might be specific belongings for each of the deceased, but until the police have formal IDs, he can’t be certain. What’s odd is that they were arranged in very deliberate patterns. Identical spacing, identical number…’
‘A code?’
Cora considered this. ‘Possibly. I won’t know until I can inspect them.’
‘So, why are you nervous?’
Circumspection was of little use where Tris Noakes was concerned. ‘Because there are multiple deaths involved. Because it suggests a level of premeditation I haven’t encountered before.’ She took a breath; the ache of her bones suddenly pronounced. ‘And because the items found at the scene include a knife.’
‘Ah.’
‘I haven’t encountered a suspected murder weapon before. And the fact it was used as recently as this morning…’ She shivered again. ‘What if I hear more than the person using it? In the periphery sounds?’
‘Do you think you might?’
‘I don’t know. It’s possible. Rob was shaken by what he’d seen at the crime scene – really unnerved by it. I haven’t seen him respond like that before. I might hear the act that he saw the aftermath of. And I don’t know if I’m ready.’
‘I don’t know that anyone would be ready for that.’ Tris offered a sympathetic smile. ‘The only thing you can do is try not to build preconceptions beforehand. See it as objectively as you can: as a new area your ability can shed light on.’
He was right, of course. Cora could and would approach it as she had every other task assigned to her by South Suffolk Police. She just hoped her nerves wouldn’t hinder her.
Now all she could do was wait.