He tensed. “Where was it?”
“Right where Deck the Halls is moored.”
With difficulty, he resisted the impulse to yell, What did I tell you?
Earnshaw added, “We haven’t opened it.”
“Don’t,” he said. “That’s a job for forensics and I need to be there. Where is it right now?”
“Here on the jetty. There’s something bulky inside.”
23
Ingeborg ignored the police officer trying to wave their car into the field where everyone had parked. She drove on to where the action was — if action is not an exaggeration. The searchers were still spread across the field progressing slowly forward and the CSI team in the taped-off area were scarcely moving at all. Diamond got out and shouted to Wolfgang.
The small figure in his forensic suit was stooping in the cordoned area. He looked round, straightened up and ambled over. Diamond gave him the news of the find in the marina and said, “Hop aboard our car and we’ll take you there.”
“Please — it’s not as simple as that. If the suitcase has been underwater for any appreciable time, I’m not going to be of much use to you.”
“You’re a crime scene investigator. What’s the problem?”
“For one thing, we don’t know for certain if a crime was committed. And for another the marina isn’t necessarily the scene.”
“Oh, come on, Wolfgang. Give me a break. I simply want to see what’s inside and I need someone like you to make it official.”
“You’re better off getting a forensic pathologist. If there is, indeed, a body, they’ll want to see the remains in situ and then move them to wherever they do their autopsies.”
“I’ll feel an idiot if I call out a pathologist and the case is full of old saucepans.”
“And you won’t feel an idiot with me. Is that what you’re saying? You’re going to need other people anyway. A photographer for a start and possibly a locksmith. You won’t want to force it open.”
“For God’s sake. It’s got straps round. I don’t suppose it’s locked.”
“If I was disposing of a body in a suitcase, I’d lock it and I’m sure you would do the same. How can I impress on you that there are no short cuts, superintendent? You must definitely find the right experts to help you. I don’t mind being there. I can supply a forensic tent. You’re going to have an audience otherwise.”
“All this will take hours to set up.”
“A pathologist usually gets to the scene quite soon. I can’t come until later anyway. I’m making casts of tyre treads. What time is it?”
So much had already happened this morning that Diamond was surprised it was only a few minutes after eleven.
“Use the time to get your head around what’s happening,” Wolfgang said. “You don’t want to lose your grip.”
Diamond could have felt patronised, but the advice was good. He was in shock. The find in the marina called for a rethink. He’d been ready to pull in Will Legat as soon as his guilt was confirmed by a DNA match. But Legat had no conceivable connection with the marina. It was almost impossible that he would dispose of bodies there. The focus switched to the people who lived there: Fergus and Candida.
Wolfgang raised a hand in farewell. “Let me know what you arrange.”
Back in the car, Diamond told Ingeborg through gritted teeth, “Change of plan. This is going to take longer.”
He phoned the only pathologist he could think of and that was the sarcastic Bertram Sealy, who had made his life a misery on several previous cases. The earliest Sealy could manage was two o’clock and that, he said, would be as a favour for a regular customer.
“You can’t make it any sooner?”
“And ruin my lunch?” Sealy said. “The suitcase won’t walk away.”
“I hope not.”
“I assume the divers are already looking for more evidence. They may bring up another while I’m having my Big Mac.”
The thought of a second suitcase hadn’t crossed Diamond’s mind. Another one hidden under the jetty was a real possibility. He settled for two o’clock and went back to tell Wolfgang the decision.
Next, he phoned the incident room and updated Keith Halliwell on the morning’s developments. “It’s almost certain Candida has seen the suitcase on the jetty by now and alerted Fergus. He’ll be on another day’s filming. The way he reacts will be worth knowing. Find out where they are and get someone out there ASAP. I suggest Paul. Tell him to take someone with him and observe from a distance.”
“Don’t you want to collar Fergus?”
“Not yet. His movements will tell us a lot. And I need back-up at the marina. Who do you have?”
“Leaman and Sharp.”
“You have some civilian staff in the office, right? They can hold the fort. I’ll meet you three as soon as you can get here. There’s a pub called the Riverside Inn.”
After he’d ended the call, Ingeborg asked, “Where to, guv?”
“Didn’t you hear? We’ll grab a pint and some lunch and be ready for them.”
At the marina he went straight to look at the suitcase. Big enough, for sure. It was the kind you see people struggling with at airports. Faded red and part-covered in slime, it stood broadside down on the jetty close to where Candida’s narrowboat was moored. Two leather straps held it together, and there were telltale bulges in the fabric.
“Was it heavy to lift out?” he asked Earnshaw.
“It took two men and a winch.”
“And where was it found — right below where we’re standing?”
“Near enough. Under the front of the second narrowboat. It had to be dug out from the silt. Been there some time, I’d say.”
He thought of Dave Tudor, missing from four years ago. “Has anyone been by?”
“A couple of the boat owners and the woman from the office.”
“Any press people?”
“Not yet.”
“The Deck the Halls lady?”
“A few minutes ago.”
“Did she say anything?”
“No.”
“Or seem surprised?”
“Not that I noticed.”
“Where is she now — inside?”
“I think so.”
Phoning Fergus with the bad news, no doubt.
Diamond informed Earnshaw that the suitcase would be opened at two, when everyone who needed to be there was present. “We’re going to screen off this part of the jetty. We don’t want an audience. Are you continuing the search?”
“Does it look like it?” Earnshaw said. “I gave them a break after they brought up the booty. They earned it.”
“Get them back in the water as soon as possible. We’re dealing with multiple crimes. There could be more suitcases down there. If you need me, I’ll be in the pub.”
“Oh yeah — while we do all the bloody work?”
The man was far too lippy for Diamond’s liking. He felt more in command now. The dive team couldn’t complain they’d been brought here under false pretences. “Any more of that, Earnshaw, and this is the last job you supervise.”
In the pub, he sat with Ingeborg in a window seat after ordering drinks and food for them both.
“So, another twist,” he said before she did. “This is turning into an Agatha Christie.”
“You’re thinking Fergus is our man now?” she said.
“With the help of Candida. She was the lure in the hi-vis and he was the executioner waiting in the field.”
“An hour ago we were ready to arrest Will for three murders. Does this let him off the hook — or are we dealing with two sets of killers working independently?”
“Spare me that, Inge. No, the MO is basically the same each time: the sudden disappearance of someone connected with the show, a knifing and a method of disposing of the body that we haven’t cracked... until now.”