Read Online Double Dealing (Detective Sergeant Catherine Bishop Series Book Two) by Lisa Hartley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lisa Hartley
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end of November?’
‘I’m told the call came from a teenager who was parked up there last night with her boyfriend.’
‘Ah.’
‘Yes. He’s older than her and she didn’t want her parents to know about it. I don’t think they were sure about what they saw, but she’d been awake all night worrying about it and finally rang in.’
‘And some of our lucky uniforms went to see?’
‘Yep. PC Lawrence and PC Roberts.’
‘Good thing we didn’t stay out too late last night then.’
Knight hesitated, then asked, ‘Did you have a good time?’
‘Apart from Chris and Faye doing their Cilla Black act, you mean?’
‘Ellie seemed nice.’
‘I’m sure she is, but that doesn’t mean I fancy her or that she fancies me. It’s only a month since Claire died.’
‘I know. They had good intentions.’
‘I’d rather they didn’t bother,’ Catherine muttered, sounding like a spoilt brat even to her own ears. ‘It’s the next right.’
They were out in the countryside now, the trees bare and the verges thick with frost, the road little more than a track. Catherine peered through the windscreen.
‘It’s here somewhere . . . Here, left here.’
Knight slowed down and they turned into a gravelled area. There were a couple of small white vans parked close together and a squad car stood to one side. Knight pulled in beside it. As they crossed the car park, the tiny stones crunching beneath their shoes, PC Roberts appeared with a clipboard in her hand. The outer cordon had already been set up, the familiar ‘POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS’ tape moving in the breeze.
‘Good morning. She’s by the pond, that way. Mick Caffery’s just getting set up.’ She gestured with her thumb. Catherine took the clipboard from her and signed her name, then handed it to Knight.
‘Morning, Nat. Good thing you were on the mineral water last night then?’
Roberts shuddered.
‘I’ll say. She’s not a pretty sight, I’m afraid, poor woman.’
‘Is it Lauren Cook?’ Catherine’s voice was quiet. Her stomach, already tight, seemed to turn over and she swallowed.
‘You’d better see for yourself, Sarge. To be honest, I’m not sure who she is and I don’t think you will be, either. You can see her from the path, you won’t need to get near enough to worry about contaminating the scene.’
‘I thought the kids who called it in were in a car?’ Knight asked, rubbing gloved hands together.
‘The boyfriend got out for a pee and thought he saw a body. He couldn’t believe his eyes and got his girlfriend to go and have a look.’
Roberts stamped her feet, the chill of the frozen ground finding its way through to her toes despite the uniform boots and her thickest thermal socks.
‘That was considerate of him,’ Catherine commented.
‘Yeah, now they’ll both be having nightmares. They couldn’t tell if it was human or just a roll of carpet or a lump of wood. So they said.’ She shrugged. ‘It was dark, I suppose. Emily’s staying by the body, I’ll wait here. There are a couple of other paths leading to the pond but this is the only one with a car park. Mick says that because of the severe frost last night he’s not expecting to find footprints, so we might never know which path she was brought down, if she was killed somewhere else and the body was dumped here. We’ve cordone d off all the possible routes anyway.’
After they had donned their white protective suits, shoe covers, face masks and gloves, Knight led the way down the narrow winding path towards the pond. Catherine followed close behind him, careful where she put her feet. Although the ground was frozen, it would have been easy to trip and fall over the many stones and pieces of tree branch that littered the ground. Caffery had placed footplates here and there and she took care to set her foot in the centre of each one.
The path soon opened out into a clearing with the
‘I’m told the call came from a teenager who was parked up there last night with her boyfriend.’
‘Ah.’
‘Yes. He’s older than her and she didn’t want her parents to know about it. I don’t think they were sure about what they saw, but she’d been awake all night worrying about it and finally rang in.’
‘And some of our lucky uniforms went to see?’
‘Yep. PC Lawrence and PC Roberts.’
‘Good thing we didn’t stay out too late last night then.’
Knight hesitated, then asked, ‘Did you have a good time?’
‘Apart from Chris and Faye doing their Cilla Black act, you mean?’
‘Ellie seemed nice.’
‘I’m sure she is, but that doesn’t mean I fancy her or that she fancies me. It’s only a month since Claire died.’
‘I know. They had good intentions.’
‘I’d rather they didn’t bother,’ Catherine muttered, sounding like a spoilt brat even to her own ears. ‘It’s the next right.’
They were out in the countryside now, the trees bare and the verges thick with frost, the road little more than a track. Catherine peered through the windscreen.
‘It’s here somewhere . . . Here, left here.’
Knight slowed down and they turned into a gravelled area. There were a couple of small white vans parked close together and a squad car stood to one side. Knight pulled in beside it. As they crossed the car park, the tiny stones crunching beneath their shoes, PC Roberts appeared with a clipboard in her hand. The outer cordon had already been set up, the familiar ‘POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS’ tape moving in the breeze.
‘Good morning. She’s by the pond, that way. Mick Caffery’s just getting set up.’ She gestured with her thumb. Catherine took the clipboard from her and signed her name, then handed it to Knight.
‘Morning, Nat. Good thing you were on the mineral water last night then?’
Roberts shuddered.
‘I’ll say. She’s not a pretty sight, I’m afraid, poor woman.’
‘Is it Lauren Cook?’ Catherine’s voice was quiet. Her stomach, already tight, seemed to turn over and she swallowed.
‘You’d better see for yourself, Sarge. To be honest, I’m not sure who she is and I don’t think you will be, either. You can see her from the path, you won’t need to get near enough to worry about contaminating the scene.’
‘I thought the kids who called it in were in a car?’ Knight asked, rubbing gloved hands together.
‘The boyfriend got out for a pee and thought he saw a body. He couldn’t believe his eyes and got his girlfriend to go and have a look.’
Roberts stamped her feet, the chill of the frozen ground finding its way through to her toes despite the uniform boots and her thickest thermal socks.
‘That was considerate of him,’ Catherine commented.
‘Yeah, now they’ll both be having nightmares. They couldn’t tell if it was human or just a roll of carpet or a lump of wood. So they said.’ She shrugged. ‘It was dark, I suppose. Emily’s staying by the body, I’ll wait here. There are a couple of other paths leading to the pond but this is the only one with a car park. Mick says that because of the severe frost last night he’s not expecting to find footprints, so we might never know which path she was brought down, if she was killed somewhere else and the body was dumped here. We’ve cordone d off all the possible routes anyway.’
After they had donned their white protective suits, shoe covers, face masks and gloves, Knight led the way down the narrow winding path towards the pond. Catherine followed close behind him, careful where she put her feet. Although the ground was frozen, it would have been easy to trip and fall over the many stones and pieces of tree branch that littered the ground. Caffery had placed footplates here and there and she took care to set her foot in the centre of each one.
The path soon opened out into a clearing with the
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