LITMIR.BIZ

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pressing delete every time.’

      ‘Jesus Christ, Annie, remind me what it was that you said? Come and work with me in Bowness, Jake. It’s lovely in the summer and ever so quiet in the winter. You won’t know you’re born. It’s all ice creams and summer fetes.’

      Annie’s cheeks turned pink. ‘Well, it is most of the time. You’re not blaming this one on me; it’s all your fault. Is the rest of her body under there?’

      ‘I haven’t looked yet, boss. Oh my God, I dragged it out thinking it was my hat. Do you want to do the honours? And what the hell do we do with that? Everyone’s looking.’

      Annie slid her torch out of her body armour and shone it underneath the building. She could see Jake’s helmet, which she reached under and grabbed, but there was no sign of a body. She turned around and looked at the size of the head; it wasn’t as big as Jake’s.

      ‘Should I cover her with your helmet?’

      ‘Piss off. I have to wear that!’

      ‘Stop being so dramatic. You can get another one. We can’t just leave her on show for the tourists to stare at; it’s not right or dignified.’

      She bent down and placed the helmet on top of the head and Jake cringed.

      ‘If I get bollocked for not wearing my hat it’s all your fault.’

      ‘It’s always my fault so it won’t make a difference. Have you notified control?’

      ‘Yes, CID are on their way, along with CSI and the chief super, and now, thanks to you, when the circus gets here I haven’t got a hat.’

      ‘I’m doing you a favour. Stop complaining. Anyway, my darling husband, Will, is the on-call detective sergeant tonight so it will be him, and he was going to his dad’s for tea so he won’t take long. At least I hope he won’t.’

      ‘It’s just like the good old days when you, me and Will were the crime-busting, serial-killer-investigating task force back in Barrow before that evil, murdering bastard Henry Smith came along and ruined everything. Only most of the time they weren’t actually that good. I wonder who is duty CSI. If it’s Debs then we’re all back together. But I have to tell you I have a bad feeling about this, a really bad feeling.’

      Annie didn’t say it out loud but so did she. How had the very well-preserved head of a woman who had gone missing from Barrow three months ago turned up in Bowness, on the patch she worked, when all three of them just happened to be on duty? What exactly were the odds of that? There had been no sightings of her stalker, the serial killer Henry Smith, or the nurse he’d escaped with from the secure mental hospital four months ago in the area. Yet she felt sick at the thought that this could be so much more than a coincidence. Jake had gone back to the car and was now taping off the immediate area with a huge roll of blue and white crime-scene tape that was flapping so hard in the wind it looked as if it was going to take off, bringing the tree with it.

      There was quite a crowd beginning to gather and Annie pushed the thought of Henry out of her mind as she began to tell people to leave the area because there was nothing for them to see. Which wasn’t strictly true but it was the best she could come up with at this moment in time. Bang went her early finish. Will would be here for hours in charge of the scene. She would be here until they could draft in reinforcements to guard the scene, and then she and Jake would have to go back to type up statements. Will would be working for hours waiting for the scene to be processed and then meeting the undertakers at the hospital.

      Technically it was Jake’s job to go and fill out the sudden death forms at the path lab but he would want to get home to his partner, Alex, and Alice, their nine-month-old adopted daughter. Annie knew she would be the one to go instead. She had no children to rush home to. Besides, if Will was working late there wasn’t much point in her finishing early. She may as well stay behind. She turned to hear Jake shouting at a group of tourists who were all chattering excitedly and trying to duck under the tape. She walked over to give him a hand. At least they would be kept busy until reinforcements arrived.

      Before long the sky lit up with flashing blue and white lights and the area had soon been completely sealed off. PCSOs had arrived in force to guard the scene and keep the tourists away, and Annie could have kissed every single one of them. Guarding a crime scene for hours on end was her worst nightmare. She had hated the days when she would spend a full shift standing outside a crime scene while it was being processed and didn’t miss it at all. Claire and Sally, along with Sam, Tracy, Tina and Phil, had been drafted in from Barrow, and Annie had thanked them all, promising she would make sure they weren’t forgotten about and that she would bring them a hot drink in an hour. Jake had been so glad to see them he had spent ten minutes gossiping with them all before Annie had dragged him away to go and write their statements up.

      Unfortunately for Debs, she was the on-duty CSI so she had also had to travel up from Barrow to do the honours and process the crime scene. It was like some big community reunion and Annie had to admit that they had all worked well together and made a pretty good team. It was just a shame about the circumstances, but at least they could now tell this poor woman’s husband where she was. Will’s familiar black BMW pulled up and Annie felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat as she caught sight of him. He waved and she lifted her arm back, wondering if he would still have the same effect on her in ten years’ time. He got out of his car and smiled at his wife. He was there before his boss so he walked across to Annie and pecked her on the cheek.

      ‘What are you two like? He is supposed to be the one keeping you out of trouble not dragging you into it.’

      Will nodded his head in Jake’s direction.

      ‘I know, but I wish I’d taken a photo of his face. He looked as if he was about to pass out. Have you eaten yet?’

      ‘Yes, my dad made some lasagne and he’s sent a plateful for you, but am I going to throw it all back up? Is it bad?’

      ‘It’s bad but not that bad. I’m pretty sure you’ve seen worse.’

      Unlike his colleague, Detective Constable Stuart Martin, it took a lot to make Will throw up. He went back to the car to get suited and booted, then he walked across and ducked under the plastic tape. He approached Jake’s helmet, which was lifting slightly with the wind, threatening to blow away again. Turning to make sure there were no members of the public watching he crouched down, blocking the view from the pier as best he could, and lifted the helmet up.

      ‘Bloody hell.’ The head looked like it had fallen off a waxwork dummy. It was so lifelike but at the same time dead. There was a milky film over the eyes, which were wide open and staring straight at him. He shivered. What an awful way to die. He hoped she had been dead before whoever it was cut it off. Who in their right mind would do this to someone?

      ‘DS Ashworth to control.’

      ‘Go ahead.’

      ‘I can confirm this is a foxtrot.’

      A male voice answered instead of the call handler and Will assumed it was the control room inspector.

      ‘Sergeant, you can’t confirm a foxtrot until the doctor arrives.’

      ‘I think I can, sir. We have a severed head and no body. Full decapitation. It doesn’t need a doctor to confirm this is a foxtrot.’

      ‘Now then, DS Ashworth, what have we got here?’

      The chief super’s voice boomed down his ear and he jumped. He turned to talk to him and saw the duty detective inspector over by the panda car talking to Jake.

      ‘Evening, sir. I don’t really know, to be honest. We have a head but no body as yet.’

      ‘Well, have you called the dog handler out?’

      ‘No, boss. I’ve only just arrived myself. I’m about to do that now.’

      A vision of the dog turning up and running off with their severed head filled Will’s mind and he had to shake himself to stop it. All he knew at this moment

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