At just over five feet tall, Jon didn't need to look up much to meet her eyes. She was still wearing her outfit for court, a tailored black trouser suit over a crisp white shirt, collar overlapping the jacket's lapels. Her dark brown hair had grown longer since he'd last seen her, and the style had evolved from tousled to wavy. She pushed some strands away from her face and smiled. 'What?'
Jon's eyes flickered momentarily to the side. Shit, I was staring. 'Thanks for coming out so fast.'
'Yeah well, you're lucky I didn't get lost. I'm not used to leaving the city centre.'
He wondered if she still had the little loft apartment in the Northern Quarter. He remembered her description. Exposed brick walls, steel girders and floor to ceiling windows with views out over the city. It sounded a nice pad. And with her determination never to have kids, why sacrifice it for some cramped semi in the suburbs?
She pointed to the map. 'Are you really going up there alone?'
He nodded. 'Everyone else is back at Longsight in a briefing.'
'Do you know the way?'
'Kind of. There's a track branching off the A6024 near the top of the moor. It leads towards Black Hill. Rose Sutton's body was found in a gully just a short walk from there.'
'What's wrong with getting an officer from Mossley Brow to show you the way? Surely they'll be familiar with the area?'
Jon thought about how Clegg was hiding something. 'I don't trust the officer in charge.'
Nikki arched an eyebrow. 'So why not Rose Sutton's husband? He must know the moor like the back of his hand.'
'Same reason.' Jon looked at the carry case. 'So, how does this work?'
Nikki crouched down and popped the clips. Inside was a layer of high density foam. Securely nestled in precision-cut cavities was a collection of items. She placed a finger on the largest, a black box with an empty bulb socket at the front. 'This is the Portscope, a handheld forensic light source.' She touched a smaller black box alongside. 'Twelve-volt battery, fully charged. Here's the bulb, it screws into the front. These are your filter covers. Different things show up under different wavelengths of light. UV light, which is less than four hundred nanometres is good for certain powders, inks and dyes, though not gunshot residue. Violet light illuminates blood stains, blue light shows up most other bodily fluids, blue green and green are best for fingerprints.'
'OK, where's the switch for the wavelengths?'
'It's not that simple. You need to tune in the lamp to the different colour bands, then fine tune it with the filters. You're scanning grass and earth right?'
'And rocks. Grit-stone boulders.'
'OK. There's a good chance the rocks will create background interference. They may glow or darken under certain wave- lengths, so you'll need to eliminate that… ' She paused. 'I'm going to have to come, aren't I?'
'No,' Jon said, folding the map over. 'Just talk me through how to do it.'
'Pissing hell!' She stood up. 'Why did I ever think I could explain how to use this in five minutes? It takes an entire training course to learn how to use it properly.' She walked back to the boot of her car, opened it and removed an industrial sized torch, Wellington boots and a big red quilted ski jacket. 'We go in your car though. I'm not driving Mojo down any farm track.'
'Mojo?' Jon replied with a grin.
'What's wrong with that?' She smiled back, flicking a black shoe off.
As they followed the road to Hollingworth, Nikki produced a purple hair band and started tying her hair back. Jon watched her from the corner of his eye, always impressed at how she never shied away from a challenge.
'How's home life?' she asked, face obscured by her raised forearms.
Jon stared at the road in front. 'Not bad. Holly's three months old now. She's doing fine, feeding really well. Actually, she can be a bit awkward at night.'
Nikki grimaced. 'The thought of feeding a baby every two or three hours round the clock. I don't know how you do it.'
'Well, I get the easy deal. Alice is breastfeeding. I normally just give Holly a bottle of formula last thing before bed. Maybe the odd night feed if Alice is really knackered.'
'All credit to her, that must take some willpower.'
She looked out of her side window and Jon could see the tension in her neck. The silence began to grow heavy and he searched for something to say. 'So, are you seeing anyone at the moment?'
Still looking away, she shook her head; Jon noticed the stubby ponytail shake. 'Nah. Spending too much time doing this bloody job.'
The comment was meant to be light-hearted, but she didn't quite pull it off.
He tapped the edge of the steering wheel with his forefingers.
'No sexy lawyers caught your eye recently?'
She quickly turned her head, eyes searching out his, checking the comment was meant in jest. 'Oh yeah, some smooth-talking guy in an even smoother suit. Just my style.'
'What about judges or magistrates then? Let one be your
Sugar Daddy.'
She was looking back out the window. 'Just drop it, Jon. You're safely wrapped up in your idyllic family life. It's easy for you to take the piss.'
Yeah right, he thought. Idyllic is one way of describing it. 'I wasn't taking the piss.' He stopped, aware the conversation had dwelled too long on their relationships. They drove on in silence, the subdued light of Tintwhistle's cottages fading away behind them. Soon they were surrounded by darkness, his car advancing into the ever-receding tunnel of light cast by its headlamps.
Nikki pressed her nose to the glass and cupped her hands to the sides of her face. 'There's nothing out there.'
'Wait until we get to the top.'
The turn-off for the A6024 soon appeared on their left and the sound of the engine dropped as he slowed down to take it. Moving into second gear, he eased his foot off the clutch and the engine's noise returned, now revving much higher as they started climbing the steep road.
He saw Nikki's shoulders shudder as she crossed her arms.
'You still happy to do this?'
'Of course. What's that light up ahead?'
Hanging in the darkness above was a red glow. 'It's the top of a radio mast. We'll use it to guide us back to the car.'
As they completed the ascent, the light seemed to float in the air like a crimson will-o'-the-wisp. Resisting the temptation to stare at it too long, Jon kept his eyes on the road. When its glow was almost above them he slowed to a crawl. There was the mouth of the track, base of the mast just visible as they turned down it.
The vehicle began to bump and lurch as they rolled slowly along. After thirty metres a large pothole appeared in front of them and he brought the car to a halt. 'I'm not risking that.'
'Right,' said Nikki in a businesslike voice. 'Let's get this done.'
Jon killed the engine and blackness flooded the vehicle. He quickly reached up a hand, flicked on the interior light, then spread the map out. 'OK, so we're here.' He slid his forefinger over the paper, aware of the eddies of wind nudging the car.
'There's Black Hill.' He nodded at the windscreen and then looked back down. 'A kilometre that way, maximum. At the top is a cairn of rocks, so we'll know once we reach it. The gully Rose Sutton was killed in is just nearby.' Squinting, he focused on a series of V-shaped kinks in the contour lines. 'Must be one of these. Grouse Clough I should think. Are you ready?'
'Ready.'
Their doors opened simultaneously and a rush of cold air whisked through the vehicle, almost flipping the map from his hand.
'Bloody hell,' Nikki said, climbing out and shutting the door. The turbulence instantly vanished and Jon folded the map so the section they were on was uppermost. Outside he looked about, the wind moaning as it passed through struts of the radio mast. Thanks to a faint glow where the moon was trying to shine through a thin layer of cloud, he was able to make out the dark terrain stretching out all around them. He peered ahead, just able to make out a lump that stood fractionally higher than its neighbours. 'Black Hill, straight in front.'