THERE WAS ROOM FOR ONLY THE CORONER TO STAND inside the Fort. Tyler peered over his shoulder. The bluebottles were thick on the body, which was lying on its side, facing away from the entrance. The stench was overpowering. One foot and part of the lower leg was severed where an animal had gnawed at it and dragged it to the edge of the blanket. There was something incongruous about the neat shoe still on the intact foot. Spiders were crawling over it. The skirt of a flowered summer frock was pulled up high on the white thighs. Murnaghan crouched down and shooed the flies away. They didn’t move far and were back feeding almost immediately.
“Bloody things. Can you get in here, Tyler, and keep them off so at least I can get a look at the face?”
Tyler squeezed inside, trying to breath as shallowly as possible. He waved his hand over what was left of the face. Birds had taken her eyes and picked at the soft flesh of the cheeks, but she was still recognizable.
“It’s Rose Watkins all right.”
“Poor sod. Remind me that dead bodies have no sensation, will you?”
He didn’t really need a reply and Tyler just nodded.
“Look at that, Inspector.” Murnaghan was pointing at a length of thin rope that was wrapped tightly around Rose’s neck. “She’s been strangled and God knows what else. Well, I can’t do anything until I get her into the morgue.” He started to back out of the opening and Tyler followed suit.
Eagleton and Collis were waiting outside the Fort. They both looked nervous. Country policing wasn’t usually like this.
Both Tyler and Murnaghan took in deep breaths of air as they emerged.
“You’ll probably want to supervise the removal,” said Murnaghan. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.” He tugged his hat down tighter and strode off across the clearing. He showed none of the excitement at being back at work that there had been with Elsie. Tyler thought that the coroner at this instant would have preferred to be cleaning out his mother’s attic.
He turned to Eagleton and Collis. “We’ve got to bring out the body. I don’t really want to drag her out, but I don’t think we can remove her otherwise.”
“Is it Rose Watkins, sir?” asked Eagleton.
“Yes.”
The constable bit his lip. “I met her at a dance a couple of weeks ago. Tiny little thing. She was shy. I wanted to accompany her back to the hostel but she said she was with her friends.”
He looked upset but Tyler knew he had to be tough. “Let’s save the reminiscences until we’ve got the job done, shall we? Right now, I think the best thing we can do for Rose Watkins is get her out of here and into a proper grave. We’re going to have to break away some of these branches. I don’t suppose either of you thought to bring an axe, did you? No? I thought not. Next time be prepared for all eventualities.” He was taking out some of his upset on the two young men and he immediately regretted it. “Never mind, do the best you can. Eagleton, you take the upper part, Collis the lower. Get her onto the stretcher. It’s not a pretty sight, so be prepared. If you concentrate on the task, which is to disturb as little as possible, you might find it a titch easier. But there’s nothing to ashamed of if you feel queasy. If you’ve got to upchuck, get yourself outside quick. Ready?”
Tyler went back to the station, where Sergeant Gough greeted him immediately, coming round from the desk. Tyler thought for a minute the sergeant might even embrace him, he looked so concerned.
“I’ve got a pot of tea freshening, sir. I thought you’d need it.”
“I need a bloody stiff drink, that’s what I need.”
“I took the liberty of purchasing a medicinal bottle of whisky. You can add it your tea.”
In spite of the situation, Tyler almost laughed. How a big, tough-looking man like Gough managed to come across as the perfect valet, he didn’t know, but right now he appreciated it.
“Thanks, Guffie. Give the lads the same treatment, will you, when they come in. I think Eager is all right, but young Collis was looking green at the gills. They’ve taken the body to Dr. Murnaghan.”
“Was the lassie murdered, sir?”
“No doubt about it. She was strangled. Murnaghan is getting to the post-mortem immediately so we may have more information later today. The rooks had got to her and some animal had chewed off her foot.”
Gough cleared his throat with a polite cough. “Saw a lot of that on the Transvaal, sir. Over there it was jackals and hyenas, nasty brutes.”
Tyler gaped at him. “I didn’t know you fought in the Boer War.”
“Two years of it. I was a mere lad when I signed up. Needed my head examined I would say, gave me a broken nose and a leaky gut and I don’t know that it did anybody else any good. When you come to think of it, the Boers were only defending their own land, weren’t they? Same as we are doing now. Three bloody wars in my lifetime. Will we never learn? Animals behave better. They only kill for food.”
“But you go to church on a regular basis, Sergeant. Doesn’t that …” he waved his hand, not finishing his sentence. Gough understood him.
“I sing in the choir, sir. I like music. It calms the savage breast.”
Tyler made a mental note to take his officer out for a beer soon. He had no idea Gough was capable of such depth. That’d teach him to take people for granted. Next thing young Eagleton would be telling him he was writing poetry.
“Are you going to enlist help from A and B divisions, sir?” Gough asked.
“Probably … oh shite, I don’t know. You get too many men on the case and they trip all over themselves and they’re more of a right hindrance than a help.”
Even to himself, the excuse sounded thin. Of course, more manpower could be an asset if they were organized properly. The problem was, he wanted to hog the case to himself. He didn’t want anybody else interfering.
“I’ll decide tonight when we see if the reservists come up with anything. Bring in the medicine, will you, Sergeant?”
He walked back to his office, picked up the phone, hesitated, and replaced the receiver as Gough came in carrying a tray. Without being asked, he poured out a cup of dark strong tea. There was a whisky bottle standing beside the cup.
“I’ll let you add to it, sir.”
Tyler felt like dumping the tea and filling the cup with whisky but he restrained himself and poured in two large shots.
He sipped. “Ah. Heaven. And that’s where you’ll go, Guff. I personally will recommend to God that you get a place of honour in Heaven for such thoughtfulness.”
“Thank you, sir. I wasn’t aware you had the ear of the Almighty but I appreciate the offer.”
Tyler took another swallow. “I’m going over to the hostel to talk to the warden. Ring me there if there are any new developments. I’m not sure how long I’ll be.”
“When will we notify the girl’s next of kin, sir?”
Tyler sighed. “Now, I suppose. There’s no point in putting it off. We’ll have to get one of the London bobbies to do the dirty.”
“I’ll put you through right away, sir.”
“All right, just give me two minutes to finish my tea.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gough’s talents were wasted in this backwater, thought Tyler. He drank down more of the hot whisky-laced tea and felt the warmth flood his belly. It was almost unbearable to imagine how Rose’s parents would take the news. First they were rendered homeless, now this. And Mrs. Watkins was injured. The intercom beeped and he pressed the on switch.
“I have Scotland Yard on the line, sir,” said Gough.