Anna nodded and then, without being asked, gave a detailed explanation of why she had been at the bungalow and her subsequent meeting with Gail Sickert’s mother. ‘I did explain to the station last night.’
‘Yes, I know, but the phone number for Mrs Dunn has been cut off — bill unpaid — so we are getting someone from Newcastle on standby to visit her. We’ll need to ID the victim if possible.’
‘She had three children,’ Anna said quietly.
‘I know. Like I said, we’ve not done a thorough search so we won’t know yet. I’m praying to God we don’t find them, but they could be anywhere around this awful place.’ He turned away, his red cheeks puffing out like a blowfish. ‘Worst scenario is they might have been cut up and…’ He shook his head. ‘Terrible to even think about it, but it’s been done before. Pigs’ll eat anything.’
Anna pressed her mask to her face and glanced over to the white tent. ‘Well, let’s do it. Have you asked the landlord to look at her?’
‘Yes. He couldn’t say either way. She’s pretty decomposed, partly due to the manure eating away at her.’
Anna stepped out and put up her umbrella. Mallory followed and they headed towards the tent.
Inside the tent, the only good thing that could be said was that it was dry. The stench was overpowering and her mask didn’t give much relief. She was guided towards the white plastic floor sheeting; lying exposed was the head and torso. Anna had by now been on a number of very gruesome murder cases but this was, if possible, one of the worst.
The dead woman was naked, apart from a pink brassière around her exposed breasts. Her arms and legs were missing, and her face and body were covered with manure and millions of maggots. Her thin blonde hair covered one side of what was left of her face. Anna could only see her profile.
‘Can you move the hair away for me, please?’ Anna asked one of the scientists. He knelt down and, using a thin wooden spatula, eased back the mud-clogged hair.
Anna had to lean in very close; she moved around to the other side, staring down at the remains. She straightened up.
‘I can clean her face up a bit more if you like?’ the scientist suggested; Anna nodded. With a tissue, he carefully wiped some mud and grime away and gently turned the dead woman’s head to face upwards.
Again Anna bent down; this time when she straightened up, she was certain.
She looked towards Mallory. ‘Yes, that’s Gail Sickert.’
‘Oh,’ he said flatly, and gestured to the body. ‘I was just hoping it wouldn’t be her, because of the children.’
Anna thanked the forensic scientist who had cleaned Gail’s face. He gave a rueful smile. ‘This is going to be a very unpleasant job. We’ve got a lot of area to search for any other remains. I’m getting help shipped in; we are going to need it.’
Anna returned to the station with Mallory, who would now give the go-ahead for Beryl Dunn to be contacted and brought to the mortuary. At least she would not have to see the state in which her daughter had been discovered.
Anna followed Mallory into the local station’s small car park. He was talking on his mobile as he gestured for Anna to go in ahead of him. By the time he joined her, he was looking even redder in the face. Anna thought that perhaps he had been given more news about the children.
‘Have they found more?’ she asked.
‘No no, that was from Scotland Yard homicide division; they’re sending in some DCI to handle the case.’
‘Did they give you a name?’
‘No, they didn’t. But it’s unusual, isn’t it? I mean, we’re in the sticks out here. To be honest, I’m way out of my depth,’ he continued as he ushered Anna towards his office. ‘We’ve had a number of bodies over the years — you know, dumped in the forest — but not like this. I’ll be glad to hand over the reins.’
He plumped his wide backside into a swivel chair, saying, ‘I just need to take down all the information,’ and searched in a desk drawer to take out a statement notepad.
Anna sat opposite him. ‘Perhaps they are interested because of the victim’s connection to Arthur Murphy?’
‘Could be.’ He was now looking for a pen.
‘The SIO on the Murphy case was a DCI Sheldon.’
He shook his head and then patted his pockets. ‘Got it. Right, let’s go from the top. The first time you met Gail, she was using the surname Sickert; previous to that, Summers, and her maiden name was Dunn — that all correct?’
It was painfully slow; Mallory wrote everything down in full, constantly holding up his hand for her to pause. He would reread everything she had just said, before he continued.
‘And on these two occasions you met her, did anything else happen?’
Anna described the interaction with Sickert, but did not mention the threat he had made to her. She just said he was very aggressive.
‘Can you describe him? You say his Christian name was Joseph.’
Anna nodded and then tried to conjure up his face; she was only really able to give the details that he was black, wore his hair in dreadlocks and that he was very well-built and over six feet tall.
‘Did she seem afraid of him?’
‘Yes. She was worried by the presence of the police.’
‘I see. So far, we have been unable to trace him. We’ve got prints from the house, but we’ve no previous on him.’
‘Yes, I was told.’ Anna looked at her wristwatch, impatient now to leave.
‘Can you describe the children?’
‘Well, the youngest child, Tina, is a toddler. There was a daughter Sharon, blonde and very skinny; I think she is seven. The boy, Keith, I only saw once. I am sure the local school will be able to give you more details, as will the social services.’
Anna stood up as his desk phone rang. He excused himself for taking the call.
‘DI Mallory.’ He listened, then put his hand over the phone. ‘It’s Newcastle; they’ve traced the victim’s mother.’
‘I can show myself out, all right?’
He nodded and returned to the phone call. By the way his cheeks puffed out, she knew it was someone important. She made her escape fast, closing the door quietly behind her. As she passed through the station, she saw an incident room being set up: the telltale desks being moved along a corridor and two officers carrying computers. She pressed her back against the wall as they squeezed past, then continued out to the car park, where she sat for a while in her car. She could still smell the stench on her clothes. She closed her eyes, not wanting anything more to do with the hideousness, but it lingered like the smell of death mixed with manure. She hoped to God they would not find the remains of the children.
The first thing Anna did when she got home was shower and wash her hair to get rid of the stench. As she stepped out of the shower, her landline rang. She wrapped a towel around herself to answer it.
‘Anna?’ Langton’s voice sent shockwaves through her.
‘Yes,’ she said, almost inaudibly.
‘I’m going to head up the murder enquiry.’
She remained silent.
‘You were out there this morning.’
‘Yes.’ She was shaking.
‘I asked to be put onto the case. You will obviously know why.’
She swallowed.
He continued. ‘I don’t want there to be any mention of Sickert’s taped shouting match with you. Did you bring it up at all?’
‘No.’
‘Good. I’ll mention it when it’s the right time, but it’s obvious that there would be grave concerns if there was a direct link to my attack. Hampshire police are setting up the incident room; I’ve got Mike Lewis on board, and—’