CHAPTER 40

The air in the dimly lit Our Lady and St Patrick's children's home hung heavy with the stench of decay, a stark contrast to the brisk November morning outside. Jess led her team through the abandoned corridors, torches illuminating the dilapidated surroundings. The creaking floorboards echoed eerily in the desolate halls as they explored deeper into the heart of the building that had become ingrained in the twisted narrative running through this disturbing case.

After clearing each room of the three-storey building, Jess did a risk assessment before descending into the damp cellar closely followed by Dan and Rose. A cold draft whispered through the cracks in the floorboards above their heads, carrying a sense of menace. The powerful beam of Jess's Maglite caught a glimpse of something amid the shadows. She raised a hand; Dan and Rose held back midway down the steep concrete steps.

Jess approached cautiously, revealing the immobile form of a middle-aged woman sprawled at the foot of the stairs. Her lifeless eyes stared into the blackness; the grotesque twist of her neck and dried blood pooled on the concrete below her skull told a morbid tale. Nervously, Jess placed the Maglite onto a step, retrieved her phone and opened the picture gallery.

Dan shone his Maglite onto the body. ‘Is it her, boss?’

Turning her head solemnly Jess said, ‘We’ll need her partner to identify the body, but I’m pretty sure this is Fiona Mitchell. It’s tragic her life ended in a place she so desperately wanted to forget. OK, let’s get the CSI’s here.’

***

Meanwhile, back at the station, Ruby Wilson anxiously awaited news. The ticking clock on the wall seemed to reverberate with each passing second. When Jess's call finally came, Ruby's heart skipped a beat. The devastating news that the love of her life, Fiona was gone, crushed her.

The investigation into Fiona Mitchell's suspicious death had begun; a haunting new piece of the puzzle that demanded answers from Mary Delaware about her covert note and meeting with Fiona; leaving Jess and her team to navigate the layers of complexity that had unravelled in the most chilling way possible.