Silent Scream

Twenty-Five

The site she’d left yesterday now looked like a small walled city. The entire edge of the property was surrounded by interlocking metal fencing. There was an entrance at the top of the site and one at the bottom, each guarded by two constables. Others roamed the fence edge, keeping within the eye line of other officers. Kim was satisfied that the perimeter was secure.

A corral had been set up along the top of the site for press but she could see they were already spilling out along the fence line. Two white tents had been erected; one around the pit and another for the technicians to store equipment.

Kim headed into the first tent but was not prepared for the sight of the skeleton in the pit – or the effect it would have on her. She had attended many crime scenes; had witnessed bodies in every stage of decomposition, but this one was just bone. When tissue was still present it felt as though there was something to return to the family, something of the person left to bury and mourn. But bones felt anonymous, featureless; like the foundations of a building but without the architecture that made it unique. Kim realised she didn't like that thought one little bit.

She was also shocked by the tiny amount of space the skeleton occupied.

'No clothes?' Kim said as the forensic archaeologist came to stand beside her.

‘Good morning, Detective,’ said Cerys.

Yep, she always forgot that bit.

'To answer your question, it doesn't mean there weren't any clothes. Only that they're not there now. Different materials deteriorate at different rates. Depends how long they're in the ground. Cotton can disappear in ten years or so, whereas wool can remain intact for decades.' Cerys turned towards her. 'I wasn’t too sure you’d be back.’

They both stepped away as technicians took photographs from every angle. A yellow marker had been placed alongside the length of the bones.

‘We didn’t get much time to chat yesterday,’ Kim said.

Cerys tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. ‘Didn't have you down as the chatting type but okay ... I'm twenty-nine years old, single and childless. My favourite colour is yellow. I have a weakness for chicken-flavoured crisps and I am enlisted in the Territorial Army when I'm not busy knitting.’ Cerys paused. ‘Okay, I lied about the knitting.’

‘All good to know but that's not really what I was asking.’

‘Then ask the question you want to, Detective.’

‘How qualified are you for this job?’ Kim said without flinching.

Cerys tried to hide her smile but her eyes lit up. ‘I achieved my degree in archaeology at Oxford eight years ago. I then spent four years travelling on archaeological projects, predominantly in West Africa, came home and earned my forensic science degree and have spent the last two years trying to gain respect in a male-dominated arena. Sound familiar, Detective Inspector?’

Kim laughed out loud and offered her hand. ‘Glad to have you on board.’

‘Thank you. Now, the bones have been exposed and I’m waiting for the anthropologist to discuss removal. I have to be sure we don’t under cut or over cut.’

Kim looked at her blankly.

‘Sorry, we need to be as careful as possible that we don’t either take too much or too little. We can’t go back and do it again.'

Kim's expression remained unchanged.

Cerys thought for a moment. 'Okay, imagine the ground as a brick wall. Each course of the wall is a period in time. If we take too much of the soil we risk encroaching on other events that occurred before the murder and which could give us false information.'

Kim nodded her understanding.

'Once the bones are removed we’ll begin sifting the soil for clues.’

‘Ah, Detective, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.’

Kim heard the familiar voice of Keats, her favourite pathologist.

‘Detective Inspector Kim Stone, please meet Doctor Daniel Bate. He is the forensic anthropologist from Dundee and will be working both here and at my lab for the duration of this case.’

The male offering his hand was two inches taller than Kim, with the build of an athlete. His jaw was strong and his hair black. Startling green eyes offered an interesting contrast with the darkness of his features.

Introductions ensued between Cerys, Keats and the new boy. The handshake he offered Kim was strong and firm.

Immediately, Doctor Bate started walking around the pit and Kim took a moment to observe him. He didn't look like a scientist. His build appeared more suited to an outdoor profession that called for physical activity. Kim supposed his attire of jeans and a sweatshirt didn't help.

‘So,’ Keats said. ‘We have the three key people to get to the bottom of this crime. The person who will uncover the clues, the person that will explain the clues and the person who will pull it all together and give us a murderer.’

Kim ignored him and stood beside Doctor Bate.

‘Is there anything you can tell us on first inspection?’

He rubbed his chin. ‘Yes, I can definitely confirm that there are bones in that pit.’

Kim sighed. ‘Well, I can see that myself, Doctor Bate.’

‘I understand that you want immediate answers but I have yet to touch the bones and will not presume anything until I have.’

‘Relative of yours?’ she asked Keats.

Keats laughed. ‘I knew you two would hit it off.’

She turned back to the doctor. ‘Surely you can offer something?’

‘Okay, I can tell you that this poor soul has been down here for at least five years. The body of a typical adult will decompose fully in the space of ten to twelve years; non-adults decay in half the time.

‘The first stage of decomposition is autolysis, which is the destruction of the body tissues by enzymes released after death. The second stage is putrefaction, where the soft tissues decay because of the presence of micro-organisms. Eventually the soft tissues become liquid and gas.’

‘Get invited to many parties, Doc?’ Kim asked.

He laughed out loud. ‘My apologies, Detective. I recently returned from the Body Farm in Knoxville, Tennessee where bodies are disposed of in different ways to establish ...’

‘Sex?’ she asked.

‘Not before you’ve bought me dinner, Detective.’

‘Not even a bit funny. Any ideas?’

He shook his head.

She rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t tell me. You haven’t had the chance to examine the body at the lab.’

‘It might not make any difference, I’m afraid. If we’re dealing with a juvenile the changes to the bones that distinguish the sexes won't have taken place.

‘If our victim is sixteen to eighteen then we may have a chance, based on the adaptation of the pelvis, but any younger than that and few scientists will attempt to sex a non-adult by bone.’

‘That indicates there are other ways?’

‘There are techniques for using dental DNA to identify the X and Y chromosome, but it is both expensive and time-consuming. It’s much easier to age a non-adult than sex it. For that we have bone growth and development, dental development and the degree of closure of the joints in the skull. You’ll have an approximate age later today.’

‘Best guess?’ she pushed.

Bate turned to look at her. His eyes were intense and challenging. ‘Date, time and place you will arrest the murderer?’

Kim was unfazed. ‘It will be Professor Plum in the library on Thursday the eighteenth at eleven o’clock. And although you didn’t ask, he’ll be holding the candlestick.’

‘I’m a scientist, I don’t guess.’

‘But surely you can deduce something from ...’

‘Keats,’ he called, over her head. ‘Please rescue me from this interrogation before I admit to the Lindbergh kidnapping.'

Kim found the rich Scottish tone at odds with the Black Country accents floating around the dig site. If she closed her eyes he almost sounded like Sean Connery. Almost.

‘I knew you two would get along famously.' Keats offered with a smirk. 'Daniel, the boxes have just arrived.’

Kim moved to the end of the pit as more technicians approached, carrying clear plastic boxes. She no longer had any idea which people belonged to which team and she was now pleased that Dawson would be remaining at the site and not her.

If she had to deal with the obstructive doctor much longer she might be responsible for a second burial.

‘Made a new friend over there?’ Bryant asked.

‘Oh yeah, a barrel of laughs, that one.’

‘Typical scientist type?’

‘Yeah, and I told him as much.’

‘Oh right, I bet he loved you for that.’

‘It was pretty difficult to tell.’

Bryant chuckled. ‘Hardly qualified to judge other people’s emotional responses are you, Guv?’

‘Bryant, go f—’

‘No, no, no,’ Doctor Bate shouted stepping into the pit. His voice was loud and commanding. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

He knelt down in the pit beside the man who had been working on the skull. Cerys entered the pit and crouched beside the doctor.

No one spoke as the two of them conferred quietly. Eventually the doctor turned and looked directly at her.

‘Detective, I have something for you after all.’

Kim moved closer, her breath caught in her chest. She jumped into the pit beside him. ‘Go on.’

‘See these bones here?’

She nodded.

‘The back bone leads into the neck where there are seven bones that form the cervical vertebrae. This top one is C1; the atlas, the next is C2; the axis.’

His finger continued down the length of the neck pointing out the other C bones from three to seven. Kim saw a clean break between three and four. Instinctively her right hand moved to the back of her own neck. She wondered how the hell he had seen that from up there.

‘Spell it out for me, Doc.’

‘I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt, this poor soul was decapitated.’