Birthdays for the dead

Chapter 5

Helen McMillan had the same kind of posters on the wall as Katie. OK, so the bands were from the insipid-plastic-X-Factor school of music instead of the pretentious-angsty-emo-rock Katie liked, but other than that the sentiment was the same. These are the things that I like, this defines who I am.

With Rebecca it was Nickelback and the Pussycat Dolls She always was a strange kid.

Find anything?

Hmm? I looked up from the cluttered desk in the corner of the bedroom.

Dr McDonald was standing in the doorway. Did you find anything?

Still looking

A big pink fuzzy unicorn sat in the middle of the single bed, surrounded by brightly coloured teddy bears, all neatly arranged. The duvet cover and pillow slips were smooth and crisp, as if they were still changed regularly probably no point searching under the mattress for hidden secrets, if they were still making Helen s bed a year after she went missing anything would have been uncovered ages ago. But I checked anyway. Just wooden slats, and the plastic under-bed storage boxes I d already been through.

Ash, are you OK?

The mattress thumped back down on its wooden frame. They say anything useful?

You don t mind if I call you Ash, do you, because we re going to be working together and calling you Detective Constable Henderson seems awfully formal and you look worried, or maybe concerned, and a bit depressed actually, was it the argument with the journalist, because I think she came on too strong, don t you, it s really not

That ll be a no then. I tucked the sheet back in and straightened the duvet. So it would look a little less like I d violated their daughter s bedroom. The first card s the worst Well, they re all fucking horrible, but that first card that s when you know your daughter hasn t run away, that what s happening is I cleared my throat.

It must be horrible.

They said Helen was a quiet girl who liked her books and her gerbils and going to see her nan on a Sunday for lunch. She wasn t a wild child, she wasn t into drinking or drugs or boys, don t you think it s sad that we live in a time when people have to ask if a twelve-year-old is getting hammered and doing drugs, and you said, That s when you know your daughter

Figure of speech. I scanned the room again. No sign of a cage. What happened to the gerbils?

They died. Ian s body language got very defensive when he talked about it He probably looked after them for three or four months after she went missing, starts off as a duty, turns into a bargain if I keep the gerbils alive she ll come back to us and the longer it goes on the more desperate they get, the gerbils become symbolic of Helen s disappearance, then they become responsible for it, and gradually Ian stops feeding them and they die.

What a lovely

Or perhaps one night he got drunk and battered them all to death with a hammer She fiddled with her glasses.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dickie tells me you re still in touch with Hannah Kelly s parents?

Hannah didn t have any gerbils.

Is her house like this, have they kept it like a shrine to her memory, do they expect her to just turn up one day like nothing ever happened?

The pink unicorn had fallen on the floor while I d been shifting the mattress. I picked it up. Fuzzy. Soft. Warm. Her parents don t live there any more. Must ve moved about five times in the last eight years, and he still finds them. Every sixteenth of September: another card.

Dr McDonald wrapped an arm around herself, head on one side, frowning at the bookshelves on the wall above the desk. They were full of hardbacks: a couple with leather bindings Dickens, C. S. Lewis others in faded dust jackets Ian Fleming, Jilly Cooper, Harper Lee some that looked as if they d been wrapped in clear plastic sheeting Anthony Horowitz, Gabriel King, a couple of Harry Potters, some vampire bollocks. She pulled Moonraker from the shelf and flicked through it, the creases between her eyebrows getting deeper. Then she did the same with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, chewing on her bottom lip.

I ve been through them, no hidden messages tucked in between the pages. I checked my watch. Time to make a move.

Nothing. She was still squinting at the book.

Hello? You in?

A blink. Yes, right, time Dr McDonald slid the book back onto the shelf, then picked up a framed photograph from the chest of drawers. It was a little girl in a pink princess party dress complete with tiara, magic wand, and a pair of fairy wings. Big grin. Two missing teeth. Bright ginger hair swept up in a sort of bun. She was holding a turnip lantern, a candle glowing inside its jagged mouth. When I was eight Aunty Jan made me this all-in-one suit for Halloween: black, with a white tummy and paws, a swishy tail, and a three-foot-tall stripy red-and-white hat. All my friends wanted to be Disney princesses.

Rebecca was a zombie. Katie went as Hannibal Lecter. We got her an orange jumpsuit and Michelle made this little straitjacket from an old blanket. A smile broke free. I got her a restraint mask, and we pushed her about on one of those two-wheeled trolley things, Rebecca shambling along behind us, growling Brainssssss at everyone Tell you, they ate so many Sherbet Fountains and little Mars Bars they were sick for days. I ran a hand through the unicorn s soft pink fur. Was the best Halloween we ever had. And the last. Before the bastard took Rebecca and everything went to shit. I put the fuzzy unicorn back on the bed and arranged the Multicoloured Bear Gang around it, then dug my hands into my pockets. Shrugged.

Anyway

Dr McDonald put the photo frame back on the chest of drawers.

Silence.

I cleared my throat. We d better get going.

The windscreen wipers sounded like someone rubbing a balloon along a window, back and forth, leaving one greasy arc across the glass where the rain refused to shift. Squeak, squeal, squeak, squeal.

Dr McDonald wriggled in her seat. Of course it was never his fault you know what some pathologists are like, kings of their own little kingdom and anyone who shows the slightest backbone, or contradicts them in any way, has to get this huge lecture about how things are done in the real world, and I mean how can they even say that

On and on, all the way from Dundee the rain, and the squealing wipers, and the roar of tyres on the road, and the grumbling engine, building up into a headache that must have registered on seismographs on the other side of the bloody world.

A green road sign loomed out of the rain: Oldcastle 5.

Thank Christ. so when I turned around and showed him the injection site hidden in the bite marks on her breast I thought he was actually going to explode, boom, right then and there

A huge Asda eighteen-wheeler roared past in the outside lane, and the crappy little Renault rocked on its springs, caught in the backdraught. The windscreen disappeared under a wall of spray.

I mean psychologically it was the obvious place to look, given the indicators, but try telling him that

On and on.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel: imagine it s her neck and squeeze

Ash?

Keep squeezing.

Silence nothing but the engine and the road and the radio and the rain.

She coughed. You don t really like me, do you? Every time you look at me, there s this little pause, like you re trying not to beat me to death. Do I threaten you, or am I just really annoying? I bet it s annoying, I annoy people when I m nervous and new people make me nervous, especially when they re all covered in bruises.

Maybe Maybe we could listen to the radio for a little bit.

More silence, then a little, OK. She reached out and turned the volume up. A song by one of those emo bands Katie liked crackled out of the speakers, all guitars and angsty vocals.

I glanced over at the passenger seat. Dr McDonald was staring out of the side window, both arms wrapped around herself, as if she might split down the middle and this was the only way to hold both halves together. Probably sulking.

As long as she did it quietly it was OK with me.

The road climbed up Pearl Hill, past the huge Costco, then down again. The valley opened out in front of the car as the dual carriageway dipped towards Oldcastle. Amber streetlights mapped out the city, even though it had only just gone twelve. Up on Castle Hill, floodlights caught a squall of rain as it hammered the crumbling ramparts. On the other side of the river, warning lights blinked red on top of the Blackwall transmitter. The high-rise blocks and grimy council houses of Kingsmeath loomed up the side of the hill, as if a tidal wave of concrete was about to crash down and sweep everything away. The sky looked like a battered wife.

Welcome home.

I pulled the crumbling Renault into the kerb and killed the engine. McDermid Avenue was a dirty-beige terrace of four-storey buildings with railings to keep the pavement at bay and steps up to the front door. Satellite dishes pimpled the sandstone walls like blackheads on a teenager. Bay windows, fanlights, gnarled oak and beech trees lined the road, their naked branches dripping in the rain.

The twin chimneys of Castle Hill Infirmary s incinerator poked up in the background, trailing plumes of white steam into the bruised sky.

Dr McDonald peered out through the windscreen. Oh dear

A pair of outside broadcast vans, the battered BBC Scotland Volvo, and a collection of crappy hatchbacks were parked in front of a patrol car blocking the road about a third of the way down. Most of the journos were still in their cars, staying out of the rain, but the TV crews had set up on the pavement with the barricade in the background, doing serious-faced pieces for the next news bulletin, clutching umbrellas and microphones, trying not to look as if they were creaming themselves with excitement.

Bastards.

I opened the door and climbed out. Icy rain stinging my ears and forehead. Just keep your head down, and your mouth shut.

She clambered out after me, pulling on her leather satchel the strap diagonally across her chest, like her own private seatbelt following as I marched towards the line of blue-and-white Police tape. With any luck we d get through into the scene before anyone noticed us.

PC Duguid stood on the other side of the cordon, in front of the patrol car; glaring out from beneath the peak of an oversized cap. His fluorescent-yellow high-vis jacket was all slick and shiny. Like his face. Only not as ugly.

Duguid jerked his chin up and tapped two fingers against his nose. A car door clunked shut behind me. Then another one. Then an English accent, all marbles and plums, at my shoulder: Officer Henderson? Hello?

I kept walking.

A duffle-coated woman waddled alongside, thrusting a microphone under my nose. Is it true you ve uncovered a second set of remains?

Someone else: Have you identified the first body?

Any comment on the new Dundee victim, Helen McMillan? Will Douglas Kelly be speaking to her parents?

Your own daughter went missing, does that give you special insight into how the victims families are feeling?

I kept going: just three more feet till the safety of the police tape. We re pursuing several avenues of enquiry. Never give the bastards anything they can quote.

A squat man barged in front, ears like knots of gristle, broken nose, little digital recorder in hand. How do you respond to criticism that your botched investigation into Hannah Kelly s abduction eight years ago left the Birthday Boy free to kill Hey!

I shoved him to one side and ducked under the cordon, holding it up so Dr McDonald could follow. PC Duguid leaned back against the bonnet of the patrol car, grinning. Gave a wee salute. Morning, Guv. Like the bruises: very fashionable.

You tipped the bastards off, didn t you?

The grin grew wider, pulling his chubby cheeks with it. Bottle of Macallan, Guv. What s a boy to do?

I marched past, didn t give him the satisfaction. Or a knee in the balls.

Dr McDonald trotted up beside me. Did he really tip off those reporters for a bottle of whisky, what kind of police officer takes bribes like that, I mean it s not right, is it, we should report him

Yeah, see how much good that d do.

A dirt track led away from the road, grass growing down the middle, disappearing into the gap between two sandstone buildings.

Cameron Park must have been impressive once back when this was an exclusive neighbourhood. A manicured landscape of oak, elder and ash; rhododendron bushes with their gleaming leaves; beds of flowers and shrubs; a duck pond; and a bandstand with a paved area around it for dancing Now it was a rest home for weeds and litter. A shopping trolley stuck out of the long grass, nose up, one wheel missing, empty crisp packets caught in its metal grille. The rhododendrons were huge sprawling masses, their leaves trembling in the rain, the ground beneath them thick with shadow.

Three blue plastic marquees had been erected in the undergrowth, one the largest next to a dirty-yellow digger and a long trench gouged through a barbwire patch of brambles. The second was beside the crumbling bandstand, the third just visible behind one of those massive rhododendrons.

Flickering light came from inside two of the tents crime scene photography casting the silhouettes of kneeling figures against the plastic walls.

A voice boomed through the rain: I don t care get it bloody sorted!

Dr McDonald flinched.

A prick in a grey Markie s suit with matching overcoat marched out of the tent by the bandstand, carrying a brolly and a stack of forms. High forehead, close-cropped hair like a Kiwi fruit, long nose, not much going on in the chin department. Amateurs

A uniformed PC scurried out after him.

The prick slapped the wodge of paper against the PC s chest, then turned his back on the poor sod, leaving her in the rain while he pulled out a phone and made a call.

She stared at the back of his head for a moment, stuck up two fingers, then stomped off down the path towards us. Muttering all the way.

I nodded at her. Julie.

Guv. PC Wilson jerked her chin in my direction. Rain drummed on the rim of her bowler, a blonde ponytail drooping and damp at the back. Her eyes were two tiny slits, mouth working on something nasty. She didn t stop. I swear to God, I m going to swing for that sheep-shagging bastard.

The boss about?

She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, in the direction of the bandstand, as she passed us. Comes down here acting like we all fell off the fucking Thick Wagon.

Thanks.

Swing for him!

Dr McDonald peered at me through her rain-speckled glasses.

Is it always like this, I mean I enjoy a bit of team-based horseplay as much as the next psychologist, but it does feel as if Ash?

I set off again, making for the bandstand. It looked ancient: the woodwork crumbling and saggy boards missing in the cladding, half the roof gone. Swirly bits of cast iron formed decorative flourishes between the bloated pillars, the metal pitted and stained with rust.

Ash? She was back again, doing a weird hop-skip thing until her feet were in step with mine. Left, right, left, right.

Is there anything I should know about before we interact with your team, I mean I ve never met any of them and it s going to be in an enclosed space and you know I m not good under social pressure and you re the only one here I know, so

Why don t you let me do the talking, then? Just until you feel more comfortable joining in. Which would have the added bonus of shutting her up for a bit.

The blue plastic marquee next to the bandstand was about the size of a double garage, with PROPERTY OF SPSA SCENES EXAMINATION BRANCH OLDCASTLE TENT C stencilled in white along the side.

The prick was still on the phone, wandering up and down, kicking at tufts of yellowed grass. But as we got within spitting distance he looked up, narrowed his eyes. Hold on He stuck the mobile against his chest. Where the hell have you been? Shift started three hours ago.

Yeah, because God forbid he went for more than thirty seconds without making sure everyone knew what a cock he was.

I left it a couple of beats, letting the silence get nice and uncomfortable. Then flared my nostrils, as if I could smell something shitty. Dr McDonald, this is Sergeant Smith. He s new.

I asked you a question, Constable.

Hmmm A pair of Transit vans were parked beside the tent, a police minibus complete with riot shielding sitting behind them. A couple of liveried Land Rovers. No sign of a big black Porsche Cayenne. Fiscal been?

A finger jabbed into my chest.

I don t care how you used to do things before I got here, Constable, but right here, right now, you answer your superior officer when he asks you a question.

Dr McDonald cleared her throat, but kept her mouth shut. For a change.

I stared at the finger, then up at the prick. You ve got till I count to three.

Smith flinched back a couple of steps. Are you threatening me? Then he squared his shoulders, brought his chin up. Are you that desperate to get hauled up on a charge, Constable?

I smiled. Why not? It d be five, maybe six minutes before someone bothered to pull us apart. Probably all stand around placing bets. Fight! Fight! Fight! Five minutes: plenty of time to batter the living shite out of the stuck-up little bastard. I clenched my fists. The knuckles groaned in protest. But it d be worth it.

He stepped forwards

A voice behind me: Guv? An Oldcastle accent that sounded as if it was being squeezed down a blocked nose: Rhona. She shuffled round, into view.

The bags under her eyes were the only colour on her face. She had her jacket draped over one shoulder, even though it was pouring down and cold enough to make her breath steam. Ancient sweat stains had bleached her navy shirt light blue around the armpits. Straw-blonde hair pulled back in a frizzy ponytail. She curled her top lip in a sort of twitchy grimace, exposing a set of beige teeth in an expanse of pale gum. Sorry to interrupt, Guv. You got a minute?

DS Smith hung his head, one hand massaging his temples. What?

But Rhona wasn t looking at him, she was looking at me.

The boss needs you.

Smith squared his shoulders. I ll be there in

Oh, sorry, Sergeant Smith, didn t see you there. Rhona flashed her pale gums again, then pointed at me.

I was talking to

Smith s chin came up, grinding the words out between his teeth. In a professional police force we do not refer to detective constables as Guv, do I make myself clear?

Rhona just smiled at him for a minute. Then back to me. Anyway, Guv, if you can pop inside, that d be great.