Read Online BURIED CRIMES: a gripping detective thriller full of twists and turns by MICHAEL HAMBLING - Free Book Online
Authors: MICHAEL HAMBLING
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to enter the figures manually. Once I have the image, I’ll compare it to the photos of the skull to check that it’s right. Then I start adding muscle and other soft tissue. I get help with that from one of the medics who has worked with me on the programme. Finally we add skin and hair. That’s where we have to use some guesswork. In your case, we don’t know what the hair looked like, nor do we know the skin tone, so I may have to produce a range of images for each of the heads. I’ll get them emailed to you and you take it from there. Okay?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Sophie replied. ‘And if the result is anything like the image from that previous programme, it’ll be a real bonus for us. It was so good that it refreshed my memory as well as one of my team members.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. It helped us so much. He’d been lurking in the crowd outside the police station — trying to judge whether we’d fallen for his tricks, I suppose. It helped us to nail him.’
‘Is that common? Hanging around during the investigation?’
‘Oh yes. A lot of criminals have huge egos. In their minds the world revolves around them and their desires. They really do feel much more important than anyone else. Their feelings, their needs, their resentments always take priority. And checking on the police’s progress, or lack of it, helps to feed their overinflated opinion of themselves. It’s quite astonishing, the number of killers who even volunteer to help with searches of the area where a body might be found. Not that it will happen in this case, twenty or so years after the event. Deaths like these leave so few clues.’
Louisa frowned. ‘I did realise that this was an unusual case and would need a lot of sensitive handling. It’s quite shocking, isn’t it? How do you manage?’
‘We just get on with it. What else can we do?’ Sophie shrugged. ‘We have to solve the crime, just like any other. But it isn’t like any other, we know that. So we make sure we’re always aware, always careful about what we do and how we act.’
Louisa nodded. ‘By the way, since the software is still under development, I’ll categorise your request as a test case. It won’t cost anything.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Sophie replied. ‘I can see that money’s going to be a problem with this investigation, since it all happened in the dim and distant past. The powers that be consider it high priority, as you can imagine, but the budget will be smaller than for a current murder investigation. And we don’t even know that it is murder. There could be other reasons for them being buried like that.’
Louisa wrinkled her nose. ‘I can’t think of any that are anything but bad. Who would ever do such a thing?’
Marsh heard a beep from his computer and went to check on an email message. He came back a few minutes later carrying a print-out. He handed the pages to the computer software specialist. ‘The two sets of skull dimensions. I’ve forwarded the email to you as well. Remember — it’s all confidential.’
‘Of course. Just like last time. I should have some news for you in a couple of days. Is that okay?’
‘Fine, thank you. Let us know if you need more information.’
Barry Marsh saw Louisa out of the office. He returned to continue the planning, but was interrupted by Sophie’s desk phone. She listened, frowning in concentration. She wrote down a phone number and replaced the handset.
‘Curiouser and curiouser.’ She looked up at Marsh. ‘Apparently the vicar at St Paul’s phoned in a few minutes ago and asked if I could go round and see him. He might have some information about the investigation, but he didn’t say what. Let’s go and see what he has to say, Barry.’
* * *
The minister at St Paul’s parish church was a soft-featured, kindly-looking man with iron grey hair and twinkling eyes. He smiled at the two detectives, shook hands and invited them inside.
‘I’m Tony Younger, the parish
‘Sounds good to me,’ Sophie replied. ‘And if the result is anything like the image from that previous programme, it’ll be a real bonus for us. It was so good that it refreshed my memory as well as one of my team members.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. It helped us so much. He’d been lurking in the crowd outside the police station — trying to judge whether we’d fallen for his tricks, I suppose. It helped us to nail him.’
‘Is that common? Hanging around during the investigation?’
‘Oh yes. A lot of criminals have huge egos. In their minds the world revolves around them and their desires. They really do feel much more important than anyone else. Their feelings, their needs, their resentments always take priority. And checking on the police’s progress, or lack of it, helps to feed their overinflated opinion of themselves. It’s quite astonishing, the number of killers who even volunteer to help with searches of the area where a body might be found. Not that it will happen in this case, twenty or so years after the event. Deaths like these leave so few clues.’
Louisa frowned. ‘I did realise that this was an unusual case and would need a lot of sensitive handling. It’s quite shocking, isn’t it? How do you manage?’
‘We just get on with it. What else can we do?’ Sophie shrugged. ‘We have to solve the crime, just like any other. But it isn’t like any other, we know that. So we make sure we’re always aware, always careful about what we do and how we act.’
Louisa nodded. ‘By the way, since the software is still under development, I’ll categorise your request as a test case. It won’t cost anything.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Sophie replied. ‘I can see that money’s going to be a problem with this investigation, since it all happened in the dim and distant past. The powers that be consider it high priority, as you can imagine, but the budget will be smaller than for a current murder investigation. And we don’t even know that it is murder. There could be other reasons for them being buried like that.’
Louisa wrinkled her nose. ‘I can’t think of any that are anything but bad. Who would ever do such a thing?’
Marsh heard a beep from his computer and went to check on an email message. He came back a few minutes later carrying a print-out. He handed the pages to the computer software specialist. ‘The two sets of skull dimensions. I’ve forwarded the email to you as well. Remember — it’s all confidential.’
‘Of course. Just like last time. I should have some news for you in a couple of days. Is that okay?’
‘Fine, thank you. Let us know if you need more information.’
Barry Marsh saw Louisa out of the office. He returned to continue the planning, but was interrupted by Sophie’s desk phone. She listened, frowning in concentration. She wrote down a phone number and replaced the handset.
‘Curiouser and curiouser.’ She looked up at Marsh. ‘Apparently the vicar at St Paul’s phoned in a few minutes ago and asked if I could go round and see him. He might have some information about the investigation, but he didn’t say what. Let’s go and see what he has to say, Barry.’
* * *
The minister at St Paul’s parish church was a soft-featured, kindly-looking man with iron grey hair and twinkling eyes. He smiled at the two detectives, shook hands and invited them inside.
‘I’m Tony Younger, the parish
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