Death under Hypnosis by Anna-marie Morgan

Author:Anna-marie Morgan [Morgan, Anna-Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-29T16:00:00+00:00

11

The unidentified

An hour later, and they were suiting-up outside of the cordon surrounding the half-acre of woodland containing the remains.

The sky looked black enough for a downpour, but had so far delivered only a drizzle. The DI hoped it wouldn’t change its mind.

SOCO worked in teams of two per set of remains.

Hazmat suits on, Yvonne and Dewi entered the cordon and approached the first of the tents where one team was engaged. It was where the DI had found the first skull.

“What have we got?” she asked, adjusting her mask.

“This one looks to be female, late teens or early twenties.”

Yvonne pressed her lips hard together.

The male SOCO officer continued. “Someone hacked her with a sharp, heavy implement, most likely an axe.”

“Before or after death?” The DI asked, although she knew from Sheila Winters’ account it was likely to be the former.

“Can’t say for sure, but probably prior to death. You should check with the pathologist after he has had a good look at the bones.”

Yvonne nodded. “Of course.”

“It was a shallow grave, not more than a couple of feet deep. Someone must have run out of steam.”

“I’m surprised it took so long for anyone to discover the body. Surely, a dog would have found it? The smell of a rotting corpse is hard to miss. ”

He shrugged. “It’s a bit out of the way. We’re miles from the major centres. I doubt anyone comes this far to walk their dogs.”

“I guess that’s why the killer chose this place.” She sighed, eyes scanning the trees.

“The gaffer says you have someone in custody for it.” His knees clicked as he stood, arching his back to relieve the stiffness.

“Wow.” She raised an eyebrow. “News travels fast. Our guest is only one of our persons of interest. There will be others.”

His assertion had grated with her. It was a reminder of how easily rumours took off and of how serious was the responsibility of police when arresting for murder. Mud stuck, even when the person proved culpably innocent as could happen with Sheila Winters.

She was about to say something along these lines, when someone else caught her attention. It was Steve Besson. She had met him only once before, but she recognised the thirty-seven-year-old pathologist from Ceredigion. The DI made her way over to him, followed by her sergeant.

“Steve.” She extended her hand. “Hi. Yvonne Giles. We met-”

“Ah, Yvonne. Nice to see you again.” He moved his mask lower so he could talk more easily. “Not a pretty site, this.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Can I ask, are they all female?”

He nodded. “They are. And, from what I can tell, they were all young when they died. I’ll include the ages in my report obviously, but I believe there were none older than early twenties.”

“Do all the remains show injuries consistent with an axe?”

He shook his head. “No. As far as I can tell, only two of them have axe marks. Another has markings more consistent with a knife. And the others, I can’t say until we’ve got the bones properly cleaned up and had a better look at them.

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