The boy was lying on his back on the inflatable mattress with his head resting on a single pillow. His eyes were closed, his mouth open, and his lips were red and badly cracked.
He was chained to the brick wall, his wrists shackled by a pair of leather manacles with mini padlocks attached.
There was no way he could have done anything to escape the fire since the chain was only about five feet long.
Gayle Western, the forensic pathologist, stood up and turned to Anna. She spoke through her forensic face mask, her voice tense and clipped.
‘This is beyond barbaric,’ she said. ‘The poor lad didn’t stand a chance.’
‘How long has he been dead?’ Anna asked.
‘Only a matter of hours. And it seems obvious to me that death was due to smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. Tell-tale signs include the colour of his skin and the state of his lips. During the post-mortem I expect to find damage to his upper airways and respiratory tract.’
The boy was wearing a blue shirt drenched in water, and grey trousers. Next to him on the floor was an uncovered quilt and a pair of black scuffed shoes, along with several empty plastic water bottles and food wrappings.
Walker drew Anna’s attention to a small polyester holdall between the mattress and the wall.
‘It’s filled with sweets, sandwiches and various drinks,’ he said. ‘It suggests to me that whoever abducted him had planned to keep him here for a while.’
Walker then pointed to something else that Anna hadn’t yet noticed. It was a portable camping toilet with a steel frame and a plastic seat over a disposable bag.
‘Seems like his captor – or captors – thought of everything,’ he said. ‘The bag’s half-filled with urine.’
‘So if the boy has been here since Monday it must have been emptied on a fairly regular basis,’ Anna said. ‘It means that the perp or perps might have been caught on nearby CCTV cameras.’
Walker nodded. ‘We’ve thought of that and I’ve already asked for a trawl to be carried out. But we shouldn’t expect results soon. Most local uniforms are dealing with trouble elsewhere.’
‘Of course they are,’ Anna said.
‘In any case, there aren’t many cameras in the immediate area and some have been vandalised by the rioters.’
Surveillance cameras had proved enormously effective during the 2011 riots and were instrumental in bringing many offenders to justice. It stood to reason that they’d become prime targets during subsequent periods of civil unrest.
Anna knew that it was just one of a number of problems that would in all likelihood hinder her investigation. The sheer scale of what was happening on the streets would swamp the Met’s resource structure, slow down communication lines, and make it difficult for officers to move freely, and safely, across the capital.
‘The boy’s blazer was hanging from a nail over there,’ Walker said, with a flick of his head towards the opposite wall. ‘It’s already been bagged up. There were no personal belongings in the pockets, but his parents have said that he was carrying a mobile phone and a wallet when he went missing. There’s no sign of them or his school rucksack.’
‘Do we know what kind of wallet it is?’
‘Just one of those folded Velcro types that kids like, and it had his name on it. He supposedly carried his front door key around in it along with loose change and some sweets.’
Anna stepped closer to the body and crouched down beside it. As she did so she felt tears push hard against her eyes. She had attended a great many ghastly crime scenes since joining the force, but this was one of the most unusual. An icy chill slid down her back as she took in the marks on his wrists where he’d try to free himself from the cuffs. The sight of his emaciated, tear-stained face caused the heat to rise in her chest.
A wave of fury rattled through her at the thought of how much the lad would have suffered. And not just when the smoke drifted down into the cellar and started robbing him of oxygen.
There seemed little doubt that he had been here since Monday when he disappeared, chained up for four days and nights and terrified beyond belief. The questions surged through Anna’s mind.
Had he spent the nights in total darkness?
Had he been physically or sexually assaulted?
Was this the work of one evil monster or several?
What was the motive?
Was he a victim of human trafficking or had the intention been to seek a ransom from his parents?
Anna stood up and said to Gayle, ‘Can you tell if he’s sustained any injuries to his body?’
Gayle shook her head. ‘His face and hands are unharmed as you can see. I’ve checked beneath his shirt and there are no cuts or bruises on his torso, but I haven’t removed his trousers. I won’t know for sure what he went through until he’s in the lab.’
Anna dragged her eyes back to the boy and tried to bring to mind the photo of Jacob Rossi that she’d seen on the news. But when that failed, she took out her phone and googled his name. In the picture his family had shared with the media Jacob was in his school uniform and grinning at the camera. He had short, dark hair and a thin face with high cheekbones. It struck Anna that he was the image of his famous father.
‘Before we break the news to his parents, I want to talk to whoever has been leading the investigation into his disappearance,’ she said.
‘It’s a DI Joe Benning who’s based over in Bromley,’ Walker told her. ‘Control have already been in touch with him and he’s on his way here now.’
‘Good. In the meantime, we mustn’t allow the press to get wind of the fact that it’s a small boy who died here.’
‘One of the calls DC Sweeny is now making is to the media liaison department,’ Walker said. ‘She’s briefing them on what we’ve found and asking them to ensure the fire brigade keep schtum.’
Anna asked Gayle how quickly she’d be able to perform the post-mortem.
Gayle shrugged. ‘I really can’t say for certain. Everything is up in the air because of the riots. I have no idea how many bodies we’ll have on our hands by tomorrow morning. But I promise I will try and prioritise this one.’
Anna knew that she could depend on Gayle to do her best. The pair had worked cases together for some years, and had become firm friends as well as colleagues. They knew they could count on each other to pull out all the stops when it mattered.
Anna cast her eyes around the cellar and asked Walker how much more work the forensics team needed to carry out.
‘Unfortunately most trace evidence will have been destroyed by the water,’ he said. ‘Everything down here is soaking wet, and they’re concerned that the ceiling is unstable. So the aim is to haul stuff out as quickly as possible after the body has been removed.’
Anna nodded. ‘Then we’d better leave them to it. We need to crack on and inform the parents. After that we have to try to pull together a team and I fear that’s not going to be easy.’
Anna started towards the stairs just as another suited-up figure came hurrying down them. She saw at once that it was a man because he wasn’t wearing a mask or hood.
He was somewhere in his forties with closely cropped brown hair and a pale, gaunt face that was tight with tension.
‘DI Benning,’ he announced to no one in particular as he held up his ID card. ‘I got here as quickly as I could.’
Anna pulled down her mask and introduced herself, but instead of making eye contact with her, Benning stared beyond her at the boy’s body.
‘Please tell me that’s not Jacob Rossi,’ he said.
‘I’m afraid there’s almost no doubt it’s him,’ Anna said. ‘It’s our guess he’s been here since he went missing on Monday.’
Benning got near enough to see for himself that it wasn’t a mistake and his body went rigid.
‘Oh my God this wasn’t supposed to happen,’ he said. ‘I promised his parents that I would bring him home to them.’
Anna’s heart went out to the detective, who was clearly devastated. He had obviously put everything into finding the boy and in doing so had no doubt got close enough to the family to feel their pain.
‘His name tag is on his blazer, which has already been bagged up,’ Anna said. ‘But so far there’s no sign of his phone or wallet.’
Benning shook his head. ‘My gut was telling me all along that I’d find him alive.’
‘And he still would be if a petrol bomb hadn’t been hurled into the building.’
Benning turned away from the body and looked at Anna. Tears had welled up in his eyes and he spoke through gritted teeth.
‘What the fuck am I going to say to his parents? I made them believe that there was hope.’
‘You won’t have to say anything to them,’ Anna said. ‘That will be my job. This is now an MIT investigation.’
Benning shook his head again. ‘I need to stay with it, ma’am. I can’t just step back. Not now. And I’m guessing that with things the way they are you’re going to need all the help you can get.’
Anna nodded. ‘You’re absolutely right on that score, DI Benning. It makes sense for you to be part of the team considering what you already know. I’ll make a call and get it sorted. It shouldn’t be a problem.’
‘Thank you.’
Anna reached out and touched his arm. ‘And rest assured that we’ll do everything we can to find the bastard or bastards who put him here. As far as I’m concerned whoever was responsible might not have meant for him to die, but they still deserve to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.’