Anthony, who had driven at speed from Shepherd’s Bush, crouched inside the small forensic tent pitched on Henley’s lawn. From a distance, it looked like a gazebo for a garden party. Stanford had also arrived and Linh was on her way.
Stanford had taken charge of Emma and was currently sitting in the back garden trying to distract her and Luna from the onlookers by the gate.
‘Tell me again what happened,’ said Pellacia. He was sitting on a chair opposite Henley while Rob stood by the kitchen sink, his arms folded across his chest, not moving. Just watching.
Henley shifted her chair back, away from Pellacia, closer to her husband.
‘I was in here,’ she said. ‘Listening to the radio. Drinking my tea. I was about to make breakfast as I knew that Rob would be back from his run.’ She looked across to him. His face hadn’t changed, no acknowledgement that she had been thinking about him. ‘The news came on, so it must have been coming up to eight. Then someone knocked. It was loud enough to make me jump. I got up and met Emma at the bottom of the stairs. I looked through the window, but I couldn’t see anybody. I put Emma in the living room, turned on the TV and then opened the door.’
Henley felt flushed. She pulled off the headscarf that was still wrapped round her head.
‘I shouldn’t have opened it. I knew that something wasn’t right. There was no address. Just my name. It didn’t feel right.’
‘And you didn’t see anyone?’
‘She’s told you twice that she didn’t see anyone,’ said Rob from his position by the sink.
‘What about you?’ Pellacia challenged. ‘You were the first one out of the house this morning. Did you notice anything suspicious?’
‘Are you saying that this is my fault?’ Rob said aggressively.
‘That’s not what I’m saying,’ Pellacia replied through gritted teeth. ‘I left at half seven. I would have noticed if someone was hovering outside my house.’
‘What about cars, mopeds?’
‘Flying saucers?’
‘Rob, stop it,’ said Henley. She went to him. ‘Stop being a dick,’ she whispered as she reached behind him, picked up a glass from the draining board and turned on the tap.
‘There was nothing unusual,’ Rob huffed. ‘I saw Mr Flores from number 8 walking his dog when I left.’
Pellacia scribbled the information in his notebook.
‘And number 5’s son.’
‘Liam?’ asked Henley, sitting back down.
‘No, the younger one. Terrell. That’s it. He was leaving to go to football. I ran past him as he came out of his house, but that was on my way back.’
Pellacia nodded. Henley noticed that he didn’t thank him.
‘We’re going to have to take your prints,’ Pellacia said.
‘What the hell for?’ Rob stepped towards Pellacia, who stood up. There wasn’t enough time for Henley to act as a physical buffer between them. Rob was taller and broader than Pellacia, but he didn’t tower over him.
‘You handled evidence,’ said Pellacia with a barely susceptible smirk. ‘We need your prints in order to eliminate them from our enquiries.’
‘That’s fine. I’ll ask Anthony to do it.’ Henley placed a hand on Rob’s arm.
Rob angrily pushed Henley’s hand away. ‘Is there anything else?’ But he didn’t wait for an answer, brushing past Pellacia he stalked out of the kitchen.
‘You didn’t have to do that,’ said Henley as Rob turned the corner and disappeared up the stairs. ‘You’re both as bad as each other.’
‘Your husband’s an idiot,’ Pellacia replied. ‘You told him not to touch it and what does he go and do?’
‘That’s not the point. If that was any other witness you wouldn’t have spoken to them like that,’ said Henley.
‘Well, he’s not just any witness. He’s… Sorry, I’m sorry.’ Pellacia pulled Henley towards him. She breathed him in, feeling safe for a moment.
Someone coughed loudly. Twice. They both pulled away as Stanford appeared at the doorway, carrying Emma.
‘Madam here has just pointed out that she hasn’t had breakfast,’ said Stanford, giving Pellacia a look of warning. At this moment, the rules of seniority didn’t apply.
‘Oh my God,’ said Henley. The eggs, sausages and bacon still sat where she’d left them on the worktop.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said Stanford. ‘I’ll get her dressed and take her to McDonald’s. She can have some pancakes with her uncle Paul. Would you like that, princess?’
‘Yes,’ Emma said. Henley felt a tugging at her heart as Paul blew a raspberry at Emma and she began to laugh.
‘Thank you,’ Henley said softly.
‘She’s grown a lot,’ Pellacia said, watching Stanford walk away with Emma.
‘Don’t,’ Henley said. She picked up the food from the counter and went to the fridge. ‘Don’t talk about her.’
The muscle in his jaw tensed again. ‘Did you recognise who it was?’ asked Pellacia.
‘Who?’
‘The head in the box?’
‘No, no. I didn’t even look. I just felt the… No, I didn’t look. I don’t have a clue who it is, or why it’s on my doorstep and, before you ask, I’m not going out there to take a fucking look!’
Pellacia put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily as Henley stood at the doorway.
‘I’m going to arrange for a couple of the officers outside to start making door-to-door enquiries. Talk to that Mr Flores and what was his name? Terry?’
‘Terrell. He’s a good kid and he’s only twelve, so don’t frighten him. And forget about CCTV. There’s nothing on this road.’
‘That box was hand-delivered. Someone must have seen something.’
‘Hmm,’ was all Henley said.
‘Are you OK?’
‘Of course I’m not OK. The sooner these lot are done—’
‘Thanks very much,’ said Anthony as he walked into the kitchen.
‘I’m sorry. Are you nearly done?’ asked Henley.
‘Yeah. Should be another half hour or so then we’ll be out of your hair.’ Anthony peeled off his purple latex gloves. ‘Shit, wrong choice of words.’
‘Can you tell us anything about it?’
‘Definitely human. Definitely male. Definitely dead.’
‘Anthony!’
‘Sorry. I don’t know what else to tell you. We’ve recovered prints from the box and the tape. Cross fingers, those prints don’t just belong to you and Rob. The most interesting thing about the head is…’ Anthony paused, as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was going to say next. ‘It’s defrosting.’
‘What?’
‘Linh can’t guess how long he’s been dead for because someone’s been keeping his head in the freezer.’