Chapter Nine

When Kate woke up that morning the sun was shining brightly on the glitter of ice-crystals on the outside of the bedroom window. The glare was so bright that for a moment she thought it was snow she was looking out upon.

“Bloody cold this morning,” Anderton said, putting a cup of tea down on the bedside table.

“It’s nice and warm in here, though.”

“Well, you know me. I was only going to live in an old building if I had a nuclear-powered heating system.” Kate grinned and sat up, tucking the duvet across her chest and under her arms.

Anderton caressed her cheek and she turned her face into his hand and kissed his palm. “Last night was fantastic,” he said in a voice that made her want to start all over again.

“Mm.”

“Shall—” He began and then his mobile began its tinny, insistent ringing. Anderton cursed and pulled it from his dressing gown pocket. He mimed an ‘I’ll take this outside’ to Kate who nodded and reached for her tea.

She sipped it, staring dreamily out of the window at the glitter of sun on ice. Anderton’s voice could be heard outside in the passageway but Kate was only aware of it as a sort of background hum – that was until his sharp exclamation made her blink and tense. Something had happened.

It was obvious by the look on his face when he came back into the bedroom and the way he marched straight over to the wardrobe and began pulling clothes out with sharp tugs.

“What’s happened?”

Anderton turned to look at her. He was silent for long enough to make her anxiety spike higher and then spoke. “They’ve found another body. Another young man.”

Much as their department dealt with murder on an everyday basis, Kate didn’t make a flippant comment about that being a surprise. She knew exactly what he meant.

“In a graveyard?” was all she asked. Anderton’s nod of agreement made her shoulders drop as she sighed. “God.”

“Tell me about it.”

Kate threw back the covers, uncaring now about her nakedness, and bent to collect her overnight bag. She and Anderton were silent as they moved about, getting ready to go. She wondered if he was thinking what she was thinking; remembering the butterfly case, the prostitute killings; the murdered women who had all died at the hands at the same person, the terror of not knowing whether they would be able to catch them in time to prevent another murder.

When Kate came back from the bathroom, showered, dressed and ready to go, Anderton was sitting on the edge of the bed. For an alarming moment, she thought he was slumped, head in hands, but he was actually leaning down to tie his shoelaces. The spike of adrenaline from the relief made her speak again. “Are you all right?”

Anderton sighed and got up. “I’m fine, Kate. Just thinking.” He looked hunted for a moment. “Another bloody serial killer, is what I’m thinking. Just what we need.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Kate said, rather awkwardly, not wanting him to think she was trying to tell him his job.

“I know.” Anderton kissed her, tipped her chin up with one finger, kissed her again. “Presumably someone’s filled you in on the details already?”

“Yes. I just spoke to Rav.”

“I’ll see you there, then.”

*

When Kate had first heard the news that the newest victim had been found in a graveyard, she’d assumed it would have been the same one as the place Joe Vickers’ body had been found. She was wrong. Having got the details from Rav, she keyed the new coordinates into her car’s satellite navigation system and set off, repressing the usual desire to go back and check that she’d properly shut the door to Anderton’s cottage. I must ask for a key. She pondered that thought, as she drove through the sunshine of the autumn morning, before dismissing it. Once keys were exchanged, surely that was a declaration of the relationship moving into more serious territory. Did she actually want that? She thought she did, but…

Keep your mind on the job. She thrust every thought of Anderton out of her head and attempted to switch to ‘work mode’.

She didn’t know this area of Abbeyford well – it was a suburb lying between the rundown houses of Arbuthon Green and the ring road that encircled the south side of Abbeyford before fields and woods took over. Struggling to find a parking space, Kate eventually managed to squeeze in at the end of a row of cars and walked the half mile to where she could see the blue and white crime tape stretched across the entrance to the graveyard. It was a smaller church than the one before, and the graveyard itself was fenced with a crumbling stone wall and then a thick belt of evergreen trees. A row of down-at-heel houses faced the side of the graveyard that ran beside the road but the thick dark branches of the pine trees cut off the view as effectively as a blindfold.

Kate had expected to see at least some press here already, but perhaps it was too early – or someone in the department had managed to keep their mouth shut for a change. Leaks of information to the media were a perennial source of annoyance to Anderton.

She flashed her credentials to the officer guarding the entrance to the graveyard and ducked under the tape. She could see that the forensic tent hadn’t yet been erected – two Scene of Crime officers were unpacking it, ready for construction. Kate made her way to where the biggest group of people were standing, right over at the far wall.

Even though she had been expecting it, the first sight of the body made her shiver. The young man – very young, hardly more than a boy – lay on his back, his arms crossed over his chest. His head had fallen to one side, and Kate could see, even from a distance away, the wound in his neck. This time, there was blood, dried in a trickle on the dirty skin of his neck.

Anderton looked up as she approached and caught her eye. This time, neither of them could quite help the intensity of their gaze before Kate blinked and looked away, hoping nobody had noticed.

“All right, mate?” Theo greeted her. Kate felt a rush of fondness for him for being just the same as usual and noticing nothing.

“Yes, I’m fine.” She realised that Olbeck wasn’t amongst them and looked around for him. A quick scan of the graveyard didn’t reveal him.

“Mark’s late,” Anderton said, reading her mind.

Looking down at the body, Kate felt a shiver of deja-vu. This was just like the first time; a young man dead, pale and posed on the ground, Olbeck missing…

“Good morning,” said a familiar, quiet voice, and Doctor Kirsten Telling moved between them, smiling her usual reserved greeting. She placed her bag some distance from the body and began to unpack her instruments. A moment later, the young intern, Joshua Garton, arrived and stood by Kirsten, clearly awaiting instructions. He looked quite calm and unfazed by the macabre setting. Kate thought he was probably getting used to all the death.

“Right,” said Anderton, drawing them all back so the doctors could get to work. “I want us to start moving on this one. House to house – Kate and Theo, you take that. Chloe, talk to SOCO and see if they have anything for us yet and do a general search, see if there’s anything we can start with. Rav, you stay here and get any medical info that we can run with. Anyone have anything to add?” They all shook their heads. Kate debated whether to bring up the possibility of this being a serial case. Just as she decided not to mention it yet, Anderton himself added, “You’re probably already thinking what I’m thinking. And you’re probably right. But we don’t know enough yet to draw any conclusions, and I certainly don’t want anyone saying anything to the press, is that clear?”

Again, they all nodded. Anderton stepped back, dismissing them.