Breaking Ground: A Tale of Mystery and Suspense Across Time by Mikey Campling

Author:Mikey Campling [Campling, Mikey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Mikey Campling
Published: 2016-07-09T04:00:00+00:00

EPILOGUE

2014

Detective Sergeant Myers picked his way carefully down the steep slope. The bracken had been trampled down by those who’d been first on the scene, but since it had been drizzling all morning, the flattened undergrowth was damp and treacherous. A bramble snagged the leg of his trousers and he cursed under his breath as he freed himself. Christ, he thought, what a dump. He looked down the slope, beyond the crime scene tape and toward the abandoned quarry. It was a neglected and dismal place. Much of the ground was covered with dense bracken, the rest was bare rock, or mud. A scattering of spindly trees grew up at awkward angles, or leaned against their neighbours, broken and rotting before they’d had the chance to fully grow.

Myers took a breath and carried on down the slope, keeping his balance by holding onto each slender tree trunk that he passed. It’d be just my luck to fall on my backside, he thought, especially with him watching. He glared at the young constable who’d been left to guard the crime scene. Although the man was trying to hide his smirk, there was no doubt he was enjoying the detective’s discomfort. I can’t blame him, Myers thought. If I’d been left alone in here, I’d be ready for some entertainment. But Myers wasn’t in the mood for jokes. As he stumbled down the last few feet of the slope, he thought back to the case file waiting on his desk: missing persons, grievous bodily harm, burglary, aggravated trespass, and some kind of botched kidnapping attempt. The file spanned four years, and none of it added up. But it was his job to untangle it, to build the chain of events, to catalogue the evidence, and interview the witnesses. He had to make sense of it. Somehow.

Myers squared his shoulders and strode toward the crime scene. At least this part of the quarry was flat. As he reached the cordon of yellow tape, he set his jaw and showed his ID to the constable.

The younger man knew exactly who Myers was, but he glanced at the offered ID anyway. “Morning, Sir,” he said, and lifted the yellow tape so that Myers could duck underneath.

Myers scanned the area. “So,” he said, “have the white suit brigade done their bit?”

The constable frowned for a moment. “Oh, yes, Sir. The scenes of crime team have finished. I was told to wait until CID arrived.” He shifted his feet and looked uncomfortable.

Myers narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”

“There was someone else here earlier. An inspector. He said he was Special Branch, but I don’t know. What would they be doing here?”

Myers stared at the constable. “You let him in?”

“Well, he had the right ID, Sir. There wasn’t much I could do.”

Myers sighed. “OK,” he said. “You kept a note of his name of course.”

“Yes, Sir.” The constable produced his notebook and opened it.

***

On the road that ran behind the abandoned quarry, a middle aged man, smartly dressed

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