A Darker Place E-Book

Rachel Amphlett

• Herausgeber: Saxon Publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

The frozen body of a man is discovered in a used car yard on the hottest day of the year, his face contorted by fear and pain.

Detective Kay Hunter and her team are assigned the case, but when they find out who their victim is, their worst fears are realised.

There is another man missing – but is he a victim, or a killer?

With time running out and witnesses afraid to talk, Kay is thrust into one of the most challenging investigations of her career to date.

A Darker Place is the tenth book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett, and perfect for readers who love fast-paced crime thrillers.

Praise for A Darker Place:

"This is one hell of a thriller – highly recommended" Goodreads

Leseprobe

A Darker Place

A Detective Kay Hunter crime thriller

Rachel Amphlett

A DARKER PLACE © 2021 Rachel Amphlett

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. While the locations in this book are a mixture of real and imagined, the characters are totally fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Contents

Reading Order & Checklist

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

About the Author

Missed a book? Download the FREE Official Reading Order and Checklist to Rachel Amphlett’s books here

Also available in audiobook:

Chapter One

Kevin Short tugged the navy baseball cap over his ears and squinted in the bright early morning sunshine. A freshness clung to the air, a slight dew pooling across the tops of the second-hand cars lining the concrete hardstanding.

Traffic roared past, motorists ignoring the speed limit sign concreted into the pavement a few yards from the forecourt’s entrance. They wouldn’t slow down until they rounded the corner, just before the speed camera and a good half mile before the pedestrian crossing.

The doors to the sales office were pegged open, the sound of a vacuum cleaner scrubbing back and forth across the thin carpet and a faint scent of pine furniture polish wafting out to where Kevin stood beside an outside tap, a hose aimed at the yellow plastic bucket at his feet.

Eyeing the vehicles arranged across the concrete apron, he assessed the ones that would take the longest and which ones would only need a quick wipe down.

His gaze rested on a vehicle parked at the end of the left-hand side of the line.

It was older than the rest, and wasn’t there when he finished work yesterday.

The car had been parked nose-first beside the whitewashed brick wall bordering the forecourt instead of being reversed in but the burgundy paintwork looked all right from here, not too shabby.

He reckoned if he T-cut the scuff he could see on the rear passenger door, it’d be ready today, and then he could get a head start on the paperwork for it once all the other vehicles were primed and ready for the day’s trading.

Kevin glanced down as water sloshed over his shoes.

He cursed, reaching for the tap and turning it off before coiling the hosepipe behind one of the doors. Lifting the bucket in one hand and box of cleaning materials in the other, he slouched towards the four-year-old silver hatchback at the right-hand end of the semicircle display nearest the road.

The hatchback suffered the most wear and tear out here, as did any car in that position. Parked next to the pavement, it was subjected to all the splatter and dirt ejected from passing vehicles and bore the brunt of any bumps and scrapes from careless or vindictive pedestrians.

The weekend mornings were the worst.

Kevin never knew what he would find thanks to the number of drunken patrons from the pub up the road who walked past the garage on their way home at night.

Today, a Monday, was better.

Quieter for a start.

An old bus rumbled to a standstill at the stop opposite the garage, belching out diesel fumes and a pair of pensioners who meandered up the road towards the traffic lights as it drove away. Kevin turned his head to one side and blinked, coughing to clear his throat as he began to work.

Squirting a liberal amount of soap over the bonnet of the hatchback, he slopped water across the vehicle, grimacing as he rubbed at the bird shit that clung to the roof.

It was why Mike, the owner of Mike O’Connor’s Used Car Sales, insisted that the cars be wiped down every morning before the official opening time. Most occupants of the vehicles going past were watching Kevin as he worked, perhaps eyeing up their next car.

You never knew where the next sale was coming from, that’s what Mike said.

Kevin straightened and stretched his back before carrying the bucket over to the next vehicle, wiping it down while his thoughts turned to the couple who had taken the car for a test drive yesterday afternoon.

They made all the usual noises when they got back, trying their luck, trying to haggle a better deal.

Mike was having none of it, and sent them packing with a recommendation they try the auto barn on the other side of Maidstone if they wanted a cheap vehicle – one that would probably break down with alarming regularity.

He only dealt in quality used cars here, nothing less.

Kevin squeezed out the sponge, pulled a cloth from his back pocket and swiped moisture from the windows and windscreen.

The water was cool against his warm skin, and he slicked back his floppy fringe with the back of his hand before adjusting his baseball cap.

The weather app on his phone promised a blisteringly hot day, and he wanted to be done before the sun crested the buildings opposite the forecourt.

He worked as fast as he could, moving around to the front of the next vehicle and scrubbing dead bugs from the radiator grille.

Another test drive yesterday, another sale later this week perhaps.

By the time he’d squeezed out the cloth and rolled his neck, sweat prickled at his forehead. Pausing to take off his sweatshirt, he tied it around his waist and glanced over his shoulder at the passing traffic as a horn honked.

Half past eight now, and tempers were starting to fray.

A phone rang inside a dark blue four-by-four, the hands-free system booming out the caller’s voice as it was answered, the volume increasing while the vehicle inched past and an argument ensued.

Kevin shook his head, wondering if people knew how much of their conversations escaped their metal cocoons.

Whistling under his breath, he worked his way along the cars back towards the office, stopping to empty and refill the bucket with clean water before returning to his work.

He paused to check his watch as Mike’s voice carried out through the open doors, his broad Wiltshire burr carrying over the sound of the traffic as he spoke into his mobile phone.

Kevin raised his hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun’s glare as he peered inside the office to see Mike pacing back and forth, gesticulating with his free hand, a frustrated edge to his voice.

The vacuum cleaner had been abandoned in the middle of the carpet.

He turned, saw Kevin, and lowered the phone. ‘Finished yet?’

‘Almost.’

‘Clock’s ticking. Aren’t you meant to be at college by eleven o’clock?’

‘Class got cancelled. I’m not due there until two now. Do you want me to do the paperwork for the new one when I’m done?’

Mike’s brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to reply, but then someone squawked on the other end of the phone and he waved Kevin away.

Kevin took the hint.

Twenty minutes until opening time, and five more cars to wipe down.

Wandering along the forecourt to the new car at the end of the line, he squinted as sunlight caught the rear window, blinding him for a moment.

He placed the bucket on the concrete next to the back wheel, wrung out the sponge and peered at the damage to the door.

It looked deeper upon closer inspection, and recent too. There was no rust embedded in the cut, and, as he crouched to take a closer look, he noticed the wheel arch bore scuff marks as well.

‘Shit.’

Kevin ran his hand over the paintwork, reckoned on a couple of hours’ extra work to fix that, then straightened. Reaching out for the door handle, he gave a satisfied snort as it gave under his touch.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered if Mike realised the car had been left unlocked overnight.

Then his eyes fell upon the figure slumped across the back seat, the man’s face turned away from him, and his legs curled at an awkward angle.

A dark puddle of liquid had soaked into the polyester upholstery beneath the man, and Kevin’s top lip twisted into a snarl as he sniffed the air.

If he’s pissed all over the seat…

‘Bloody great,’ he muttered, and raised his voice. ‘Mate, wakey-wakey. Pubs closed ten hours ago. Time to get up.’

He frowned, then sniffed the air.

No alcohol fumes.

No signs that the man had been sick.

That was something, at least.

But how the hell had he managed to park his car on the forecourt overnight?

And why?

Kevin reached out to shake him awake, then paused.

There was a damp coldness to the man’s denim jeans, scuff marks to his leather shoes, and when he looked closer he could see that the man’s hair was wet as well.

But it hasn’t rained in days…

Kevin’s heart lurched, a sickness clenching at his bowels.

‘Mate, are you all right?’

No answer.

Leaving the door open, Kevin walked around the back of the car to the other side. Hand hovering over the door handle, he glanced across the roof to the sales office but Mike was still busy, phone to his ear and his back turned to the forecourt.

He took a deep breath and pulled open the door, then staggered backwards, arms wheeling as he tripped over the low kerb stones between the forecourt and the pavement.

The man stared at him from the back seat through terror-stricken dead eyes, mouth open in a rictus scream exposing blue lips and tongue, his fingers clawing at an invisible enemy.

Kevin screamed.

Chapter Two

By half past nine, the road had been blocked in both directions and a diversion route put in place that led disgruntled drivers away from the Tonbridge Road and onto a circuitous route between Barming and Maidstone.

Warm sunshine bathed the pavement outside the used car dealership, the coolness of early morning long forgotten.

The kerbside was cluttered with liveried Kent Police cars, vans and a growing cluster of uniformed officers who fanned out along a line of blue and white tape that already sagged in the middle as the sun’s rays beat down on the concrete forecourt.

A quartet of white tents placed strategically across the far side of the property provided shelter to the working crime scene investigators from both the weather and any passing unauthorised drones.

Detective Inspector Kay Hunter popped her seatbelt as the blue pool car came to a standstill behind a plain panel van and frowned at the sight of a lanky individual smoking a cigarette while he leaned nonchalantly against the rear doors.

‘The body’s still in situ, then,’ she said. ‘That’s Simon Winter from the morgue.’

‘From what I’ve heard, he won’t be going anywhere for a while.’ Detective Sergeant Ian Barnes turned off the engine and opened his door.

Kay climbed out and shrugged off her suit jacket, placing it on the back seat before her colleague locked the car and fell into step beside her. ‘What’ve you heard, then?’

‘He’s frozen solid,’ Simon called out as they drew near, stubbing out his cigarette before placing the butt in an empty soft drink can.

Barnes narrowed his eyes. ‘In this weather?’

‘That’s what Lucas said.’ Simon jerked his chin towards the cluttered sale yard. ‘He’s still back there if you want to take a look.’

Kay rolled an elastic band off her wrist, tied her shoulder-length blonde hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck and strode over to the first cordon that stretched across the pavement between a speed limit sign and a fencepost.

Beyond the tape, the used car business appeared to be in good shape with a cluster of newer model vehicles for sale and none looking older than about seven years. The signage above the open double doors was bright and clean, and the concrete apron appeared to have been pressure-washed on a regular basis.

Someone took a lot of pride in their work, and cared about first impressions.

She pursed her lips as she approached the tape.

It didn’t look the sort of place that would attract trouble, so why had a body been found here?

‘Morning, guv.’ Police Sergeant Tim Wallace shot her a cheerful smile and thrust a clipboard at her.

At six feet five, he towered over Kay, his stab vest and equipment belt adding to his bulky frame.

‘Morning.’ She scrawled her name across the sign-in sheet, then passed it to Barnes and ducked under the tape. ‘What’s the latest?’

‘Lucas Anderson is over there inside the main cordon,’ he said, pointing at the largest of the white tents. ‘He’s confirmed the bloke’s dead but wanted to hang around and run some more tests while Harriet and her lot are working. I’ve got a team of eight constables taking statements from businesses and home owners along this stretch of road, and we’ve put in a call to the council requesting their assistance to obtain CCTV images.’

‘Good work – you’ve been busy. Any idea who he is?’

‘No, guv. Harriet’s lot didn’t find a wallet or mobile phone on him. There’s no documentation in the glove compartment, either.’

‘A mystery man, then.’ Kay’s gaze followed the small crowd milling about between the cars. ‘Who’s currently managing the scene?’

‘Gavin Piper.’ Wallace pointed to the office. ‘He’s in there, speaking to the owner and the young lad who found the body. Apparently he only works three or four days a week in between his college timetable.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Shall we take a look before we speak to the owner?’ said Barnes, nodding towards the tent beside the pavement. ‘Might as well see what we’re in for.’

‘Lead the way.’ Kay fell into step beside her colleague, holding up her hand to greet a slim CSI technician swathed in protective clothing as they drew near. ‘Morning, Harriet.’

‘Good morning, Kay.’ The CSI lead wiggled her mask free from her mouth and nose. ‘Lucas is just finishing his examination if you want to suit up and join him.’

‘If that’s all right with you.’

‘We’re finished with the preliminaries so as long as you don’t touch anything, you’ll be fine.’

‘No problem.’ Kay took the protective suit another of the CSI technicians held out. ‘What do you know about the vehicle so far?’

‘Nothing yet. Your officers are still interviewing the kid who found it and the yard’s owner.’

Kay tore open the suit’s plastic wrapper. ‘I’ll catch up with you again before we leave for the station, then.’

Ten minutes later, protective booties over her shoes and attired in the full body protective suit and gloves, Kay followed Barnes through the tent opening and immediately baulked at the temperature caused by so many people working within the confined space.

‘Christ, it’s stuffy in here,’ Barnes mumbled behind his mask.

A figure crouched beside the back door of the car glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Look on the bright side – he’ll defrost quicker that way.’

‘Morning, Lucas,’ said Kay. She edged closer, peering past the pathologist’s shoulder, then swallowed. ‘Jesus. That’s different.’

‘Isn’t it?’ He prodded the dead man’s arm with a gloved finger. ‘You won’t be getting the post mortem results for at least forty-eight hours. He’s going to take most of today and tomorrow to return to some sort of normality.’

Kay’s eyes roamed over the blue tinge to the victim’s skin, and she shuddered at the terror in his frozen gaze.

He had been placed on the back seat on his right side, his knees pressing against the back of the front passenger seat and his feet now dangling out the opposite side of the car.

She raised her hand to shield her eyes as Patrick, one of the CSIs, leaned in and raised his camera, the flash illuminating the interior while he worked his way around the vehicle.

‘All right,’ she said, moving to one side so that Barnes could peer in, ‘what are your first impressions?’

Lucas tossed the last of his instruments into a canvas bag at his feet and straightened. ‘There are no signs of any wounds or trauma other than the obvious signs of frostbite to his fingers and nose. There’s no blood in his hair, but I can’t rule out a head wound until we get him back to the morgue and I can take a closer look. Same as the rest of his body, really. We can’t risk moving him just yet while he’s still so frozen.’

Barnes gave the dead man a final glance before turning his back to the car. ‘How did he get into this state?’

Lucas held up a gloved hand. ‘That’s all you’re getting from me until I carry out the post mortem, detective. I’m not going to hazard a guess – there are too many considerations. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to organise getting him out of here.’

Kay followed him outside and squinted in the bright sunshine. ‘Unusual for you to hang around to do that, Lucas. Isn’t that what Simon’s here for?’

‘This one’s going to be a bit tricky.’

‘Oh?’

The pathologist grimaced. ‘Put it this way, Hunter. I don’t want anything important to fall off if we can help it.’

Chapter Three

Kay placed her discarded protective suit, gloves and booties into a biohazard bin outside the tent and took a moment to assess the cars arranged across the forecourt.

She glanced over her shoulder at the rear of the vehicle where the victim was found, the back bumper showing through a gap in the tent as Patrick stood outside talking to Harriet, thumbing through images on the back of his camera.

The four-door car was older than the others on display – scruffier, worn.

And a different colour.

All the other cars were varying shades of white, grey or silver.

The burgundy paintwork looked out of place alongside a gleaming white four-by-four only a couple of years old, and as she craned her neck across the roof of the nearest two-door hatchback she wondered why the car salesman – O’Connor – had purchased it or taken it as a part-exchange.

‘We got Emma’s car from here,’ said Barnes as he joined her. ‘Couple of years ago after she passed her test.’

‘Really?’

‘In the nick of time by the look of it. The prices have gone up a lot since we were here. There’s no way I’d spend this much on a first car.’

‘Perhaps O’Connor is aiming for a different clientele to make more money?’

‘Maybe. Shall we ask him?’

‘Come on, then.’

Kay followed him into the sales office and, as her eyes adjusted to the subdued lighting, she spotted a familiar lanky figure with spiky hair sitting at a desk in the middle of the room opposite a thick-set man in his early sixties.

Gavin Piper was a capable detective constable whom she had grown to rely on more over the past year as personnel within her team had changed, and a surge of pride enveloped her as she listened to him guide Mike O’Connor through his preliminary questions.

She held up a hand to Barnes and paused beside a floor-to-ceiling display of brochures for insurance, car detailing and servicing companies local to the area, taking a moment to have a look around the small office.

A lemon scent hung in the air and, as her gaze moved across the room, she saw a vacuum cleaner abandoned beside a second desk off to the right. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint but, overall, the business seemed to be well looked after.

The man sitting opposite Gavin twitched as the phone rang, his eyes moving to the flashing lights displayed across the top of a black plastic unit beside his elbow before he pressed a button and it fell silent.

The lights kept flashing.

O’Connor raised his gaze as she and Barnes approached and Gavin turned at the sound of her footsteps.

‘Morning, Gavin.’

‘Guv.’

The detective constable rose from his seat, notebook in hand.

He gestured to the older man sitting behind the desk who wore a pale grey suit that matched his pallor. ‘This is Mike O’Connor who owns the place. Laura’s chatting with Kevin Short, the teenager who found the body. They’re in the kitchen, out the back.’

‘How’s he holding up?’

Gavin sighed. ‘I don’t think he’ll be going to college this week, guv. I might see how Patrick’s getting on out there if you’d like to speak to Mr O’Connor.’

‘Thanks, Gavin.’

Kay introduced herself and Barnes. ‘Mr O’Connor, the car the victim’s body was found in – is it one of yours?’

‘God, no. Too old for a start.’ Despite the circumstances, the salesman’s chest expanded as he straightened in his seat and cleared his throat. ‘I only deal in quality used vehicles here.’

‘In that case, how do you explain why you didn’t notice it when you arrived this morning?’ Kay glanced out through the open doors. ‘It does rather stand out compared with the other cars you have out there.’

O’Connor ran a hand over his head, worry lines creasing his brow. ‘I had a lot on my mind, detective, it’s as simple as that. Besides, the entrance to the forecourt is on the opposite side to where that car’s been parked and I live in Wateringbury so I come in from the opposite direction, too. I didn’t see it in my haste to park around the back of the building and get into the office this morning.’

‘How is business?’ said Barnes.

‘What do you mean?’ O’Connor’s gaze shifted from Kay to Barnes, then back. ‘It’s fine. Fine.’

‘It’s just that you mentioned you had a lot on your mind at the moment,’ said Barnes, his voice level.

O’Connor slumped in his chair, and held up his hands. ‘The ex-wife’s trying to get more money out of me, that’s all. Reckons she didn’t get a fair share of the profits when I bought her out last year.’

‘She owns the business too?’ said Kay.

‘No – owned. Partners, or we were.’ O’Connor snorted. ‘I told my accountant it was a mistake to make her a shareholder when I bought the place.’

‘When Kevin told you about the dead man he found, did you have a look?’

‘I didn’t believe him at first,’ he said, a shaking hand picking up a pad of sticky notes that he thumbed through while he spoke. ‘I was arguing with the wife at the time. Ex-wife. Kevin bowled in here as white as a sheet. I got as far as the four-by-four and could see the bloke on the back seat. That was enough for me. I called your lot straight away.’

Kay nodded to Barnes and waited while the detective sergeant pulled his mobile from his pocket.

‘We’re going to need you to take a look at this photo,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, it’s not pleasant but I’d like you to tell me whether you recognise him.’

She watched as O’Connor dropped the notepad, his eyes widening.

‘But…’

‘Please, Mr O’Connor. It’s important to our investigation.’

‘Oh… okay.’ His eyes filled with horror as Barnes turned the screen to face him. ‘No – no, I don’t know him.’

‘Thank you.’ Kay turned at the sound of a door opening to see DC Laura Hanway leading a teenager into the sales office, then rose from her seat. ‘Mr O’Connor, thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch. In the meantime, you can speak with DC Piper at any point during the course of this morning but I would ask that you remain here in the sales office rather than out on the forecourt.’

‘I understand.’ O’Connor jerked his chin towards the open doors. ‘Any idea how long they’ll be out there?’

‘As long as it takes, Mr O’Connor.’

Chapter Four

Laura Hanway introduced Kay and Barnes to Kevin Short, then placed her hand on the teenager’s arm and led him over to the second desk.

‘I’ll get you a glass of water while you speak to Detective Inspector Hunter,’ she said. ‘Won’t be long.’

She shot Kay a small smile as she disappeared back out through the inner door, and Kay realised that her latest protégée was learning fast under the tutelage of the more experienced team members.

Her decision to interview a key witness alone, while her colleague spoke with the kid’s boss so that they could move through the initial stages of the investigation in a timely manner, demonstrated a new confidence that radiated from their latest recruit.

The care and attention she’d shown towards the young witness was reassuring, too.

‘Kevin, we’d just like to go over a few things if that’s all right?’ Kay began.

The teenager might be as tall as her but the fluff on his chin bore the signs of someone desperately trying to leave his childhood years behind while his wide eyes retained a boyish innocence.

An innocence that had received a rude awakening only hours before.

He shrugged one shoulder, then seemed to remember who he was speaking to and stood a little taller, gesturing to two upholstered chairs in front of the desk.

‘Would you like to take a seat?’

‘We’re fine, thanks. How old are you, Kevin?’

‘Seventeen.’

‘Been working here long?’

‘Since October last year.’ He sighed, ran a hand through thick brown hair that flopped in his eyes, then leaned against the desk, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge. ‘I wanted to get settled in college first, get used to the routine there and then find something so I could earn some money on the days I didn’t have classes.’

‘What are you studying?’ said Barnes, looking up from his notebook.

‘I’m doing an electrical apprenticeship.’

‘You didn’t fancy working for a local electrician, then?’

Another shrug. ‘I thought I’d keep my options open.’

Kay noticed the slight quirk that appeared at the side of Kevin’s mouth, and lowered her voice. ‘Do you get on all right with Mike?’

‘Yeah,’ he said, nodding enthusiastically. ‘He’s a good boss. I don’t just wash cars, you know. He has me doing all the paperwork for the new vehicles, and I’m better on the computer than he is so I put through most of the sales he makes, too.’

‘What about the business here? Everything all right?’ said Barnes.

‘As long as I get paid, I don’t really take any notice, to be honest. Especially if he’s talking to the ex-wife.’

‘Oh? Problems there, are there?’

Kevin dropped his chin. ‘I can’t help overhearing stuff, that’s all. I think she’s trying to buy him out or something. I don’t really know.’

‘Noticed anything untoward lately? Anyone hanging around who shouldn’t be?’ Barnes asked.

Kevin shook his head. ‘No, and that’s what I said to Laura too.’

He blushed.

Kay smiled at the use of her DC’s first name. Evidently her flame-haired colleague had made an impression. ‘What about the dead man? Do you recognise him?’

The teenager shuddered. ‘Never seen him before in my life. Do you know what happened to him? I mean, how the hell did he end up like that, and here?’

‘It’s too early to comment at the moment,’ said Kay. ‘Do you have someone at home you can talk to about this, or a teacher perhaps?’

‘My dad’s a firefighter. I get on really well with him, and he’s seen some gruesome stuff in his time so I won’t shock him.’ He stood, his voice stronger. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.’

‘All right,’ said Kay, handing him her business card. ‘This is my number, so if you think of anything you might’ve overlooked chatting to us – or Laura – then give me a call. Doesn’t matter what time, either. I’ll always answer.’

‘Thanks.’

She turned to follow Barnes, but then paused. ‘What about CCTV out there? Do you have that?’

Kevin blushed. ‘It broke last week and Mike asked me to get the company in to fix it but I forgot. It was on my list of things to do today before I headed over to college.’

Kay bit back the sigh of frustration that threatened to escape her lips, and forced a smile instead. ‘Not to worry. Thanks.’

When she stepped outside she spotted Harriet and Patrick beside the farthest cordon, their heads bowed in conversation, takeout coffee cups clasped in their hands.

They had removed their masks and gloves, and pulled back their hoods revealing hair slicked with sweat from working in the confined space of the tent.

‘How’s it going in there?’ said Barnes.

‘Warm,’ Patrick replied.

‘Which means we should be able to remove our victim from the car within the hour,’ Harriet added, then wrinkled her nose. ‘Just as soon as we can get him unstuck from the upholstery without causing more damage.’

‘Anything from your initial inspection of the car?’ said Kay.

Patrick moved closer so she could see the display on the back of the digital SLR camera he held, and flicked through the images. ‘Kevin mentioned a scuff mark on the near side back door, and there’s damage to the paintwork and trim on that side, too. I’ve extended our search out to the pavement, and it looks as if whoever was driving it clipped a sign next to the kerb that separates the pavement from the forecourt over there.’

Barnes cupped his hand around the display to shield it from the sun’s glare, then frowned. ‘Do you mean that whoever dumped the car was in a hurry and didn’t use the entrance – they drove straight over the pavement and kerb to park?’

‘That’s what I’m thinking,’ said Patrick. ‘Once the body’s been removed I’ll take a closer look at the front of the car – we’ll need to roll it back from the wall so I can get underneath to see what damage might be there.’

Kay turned her attention to the people milling about outside the tent, then exhaled. ‘So our victim was killed, kept somewhere cold for enough time to freeze his body, and then dumped here. Why?’

She moved away from Patrick as a shout carried over from the tent to where they stood.

‘That’s us,’ said Harriet. ‘Time to get back to it.’

The CSI lead handed her empty coffee cup to a passing colleague with a nod of thanks, then pulled up her hood.

‘Good luck,’ said Barnes. ‘I think we’re all going to need it on this one.’