CHAPTER 38

 

They handcuffed Slater and drove him to Central Park. There was a police cruiser waiting for them along with a van from the police academy and a CSU vehicle, parked with its lights flashing. An overweight uniformed cop pointed them in the right direction and they headed off across the park, Mitchell and Lumley walking either side of Slater.

“How about taking the cuffs off so that I can have a cigarette?” he asked.

“It’s illegal to smoke in the park,” growled Mitchell.

“You know why we’re here, don’t you?” said Lumley.

“To get a breath of fresh air,” said Slater.

“To put you behind bars,” said Lumley.

Ahead of them were a group of police cadets in blue overalls holding shovels and pickaxes. They had stopped digging and had moved away from the area of grass that they’d been working on. A CSU investigator was photographing something in the ground while two uniformed officers looked on.

A second CSU investigator walked over, holding a portable GPS unit. He was in his late twenties with a shock of ginger hair and freckles across an upturned nose. “Detective Lumley?” he said.

She nodded. “What have you found?” she asked.

“A leg,” he said. “Part of a leg, anyway. From the hip to the knee.”

Lumley looked at Slater. “Got anything to say now?”

Slater shrugged.

“Come on Slater. We got this location from your book. We cracked your code. We’ve got another four teams digging at the moment and before long we’ll have them all.”

Lumley’s cell phone rang and she walked away from Slater to take the call.

“You know you’re done for, don’t you?” Mitchell said to him. “You think you’re so clever but you’re not half as smart as you think you are.”

Slater grinned. “Let’s wait until the fat lady’s sung, shall we, Sergeant Mitchell?”

Lumley walked back, putting her phone away. “We’ve got an arm in Battery Park,” she said. “Complete with a charm bracelet that we know Jenny used to wear. You’re about to be charged with murder, Slater.”