DS Jessica Daniel series: Think of the Children / Playing with Fire / Thicker Than Water – Books 4–6 (3 page)

She couldn’t help but smile as she followed a trail of water to find him towelling his own hair as he hunched over a desk.

‘You look as if you’ve been dragged from the bottom of a lake,’ she laughed.

‘You look as if you’ve been swimming with your clothes on.’

Jessica grinned. ‘How was Laura when you left her?’

‘Shaken, but she’ll be okay. When she got wind that the other guy was dead, she kept saying it was her fault. I don’t know what she could have done about it.’

‘Do you want to come back out? We found a map in the car with the bodies. No idea what it leads to but we don’t know who the driver is yet and the body from the boot hasn’t
been identified formally so we don’t have anything else for now. There was a spade in the boot so it might be where he was going to bury the body but I don’t know why you’d need a
map for that. Something doesn’t add up.’

Rowlands rubbed the top of his head with his hand. ‘Do you think there’s a point you reach where you can’t get any wetter?’

Jessica was confused. ‘What?’

‘When you’re out in the rain, absolutely soaked, do you think there’s a point where you’re so wet, it doesn’t matter if you stay out in it because you’re
already as wet as you can possibly be?’

Jessica screwed up her eyes, arching an eyebrow. ‘When most people settle down with a girlfriend or boyfriend, it does absolute wonders for their personality. With you, it’s just
bloody weird. I preferred it when you spent half the day looking at those shite lads’ mags, now you’re offering philosophical opinions about rain.’

‘I was just . . .’

‘Whatever. Are you coming?’

Rowlands gave a small smile. ‘Yeah, but I’m getting one of those big coats from storage that uniform use before we head out.’

Jessica shared a car with DI Reynolds and Dave Rowlands while two other vehicles carried teams of officers to the location marked on the map. The digital photographs were
decent quality and someone in the administration department had made copies for the team to take with them. As Reynolds drove, Jessica looked intently at the printouts in her lap. She had never
been great with directions but the images appeared to come from an Ordnance Survey map. A red cross marked an area just outside the M60 ring road not too far from the main road that would take them
to Altrincham.

Jessica didn’t know the district too well but the map showed some woods and a few large fields which backed onto an area that one of the other officers told them was an industrial park.
The cross itself seemed to have been marked very deliberately, slightly into the woods in red pen. The photographs were a little out of focus but offered an accurate idea of what the original map
would look like.

The entire team were now in heavy waterproof jackets and their bulging coats made the vehicle feel much more fuller than usual. At least the heater was working a lot better than the one in
Jessica’s car did.

Rain lashed the roof as DI Reynolds drove carefully towards their destination. There was little small talk as Jessica focused on the map and the inspector concentrated on the road. Only one of
the officers knew the area to which they were headed and he drove in front, the other cars following. Jessica watched as the leading vehicle turned off the main road and began to follow a tight
one-track lane with high hedges on either side. Luckily there was no other traffic as it would have been awkward to squeeze more than one car through.

Eventually the front car pulled onto a verge next to a wide metal gate which opened into a field. The three vehicles just about squeezed onto the same patch, allowing access to through
traffic.

Jessica slid the printout of the map into a plastic wallet to shield it from the weather and stepped out of the car. The sound of the rain bouncing from the vehicle was almost deafening. Jessica
and the team of officers started walking along a thin track that ran alongside the field, their heavy boots splashing through the pools of water that had built up on the muddied ground.

No one knew what to expect, with some of the officers carrying shovels, while another had a metal battering ram. The initial visit to the location was more to get a feel of the surroundings and
see if there was anything obvious. If need be, excavation experts could be brought in to dig up entire areas.

Jessica was wearing an old pair of leather shoes and could feel water squelching through her socks. She tried not to show her discomfort as the group continued to follow the two men at the
front. They soon reached a stile, which the men climbed over. Jessica took her time as the coat she had borrowed was far too big and, though she was usually quite fit, she was struggling to lift
her legs because of it. Dave climbed the fence after her and though she expected a joke at her expense, he was also struggling in the sodden conditions.

Slowly they crossed a line of trees into a wooded area that was nowhere near as overgrown as Jessica might have guessed if she had looked at it from a distance. The tree trunks were thin but
evenly spaced, the branches overhead stopping at least some of the rain from coming through. As her shoes slid along the ground, Jessica quickly realised the soil was still soft despite the cover.
She hoped someone had thought to bring torches. Although it was daytime, the skies were grey and murky, the trees blocking out much of the natural light. Her eyes took a few moments to adjust and,
although she could still see, visibility was far from good.

Reynolds waved everyone into a circle and took his copy of the map out of a pocket, shouting over the surrounding noise so that everyone could hear him.

‘My colleague here assures me this is the right place,’ he said. ‘From what I can tell, we’re looking at an area maybe a hundred yards square. Let’s skim around and
see if there’s anything obvious. If not, we’ll come back when it’s stopped pissing down.’

Jessica had the urge to point out that could well mean they never returned but she held her tongue. The group spread out and began to mooch through the trees. It was clear no one really knew
what they were doing and Jessica was beginning to feel her earlier enthusiasm about coming to the site was misplaced. She exchanged a glance with Rowlands as if to say ‘sorry’, and then
looked back at her feet as she moved in as straight a line as she could manage without walking into any trees.

Aside from mounds of dirt and roots she did her best not to trip over, Jessica couldn’t see anything of note. The only observation that seemed slightly out of the ordinary was that the
entire area appeared untouched. Most woodland like this would either be overgrown and unkempt, or surrounded by signs letting people know where they could and couldn’t walk.

As she continued, Jessica tried to keep her mind focused, looking for anything unusual. She edged further into the trees, which were becoming more densely packed, blocking even more of the
light. Just as she was beginning to think they would have to come back another time, Jessica heard a shout from the far end of the line, turning to see the silhouettes of two people in thick
jackets converging on a spot around thirty metres away. Her first instinct was to run but, after two steps, she realised that attempting to do so would leave her sliding along the ground.

Jessica moved as fast as she could without losing her footing and immediately saw why the officer had called them over. While most of the soil was damp on the surface, he had stopped by a patch
of land that looked as if it had been dug up recently. It had been covered by stray branches which, if anything, drew more attention because the rest of the ground was clear of clutter.

Jason was the last person to reach the scene and looked straight at Jessica, not saying anything but asking the question with his eyes instead: ‘What do you want to do?’ Even though
he was her supervisor and it was his call, Jessica knew he was deferring to her. She assumed it was because of her earlier insistence on being involved, or perhaps he was simply asking if she
wanted to get out of the rain. Either way she reached out to take a spade from an officer standing next to her.

‘Let’s dig.’

Instead of handing over the shovel, the officer stepped past Jessica and slammed the spade into the ground himself. He was quickly followed by four others as another placed the metal battering
ram on the floor and sat on it. Jessica stood silently next to Reynolds. The steel tips of the spades thudded into the ground as the rain continued falling around them. Gradually piles of mud began
to build up before, finally, everyone saw what they had come for.

The five men stopped digging in unison, glancing towards the two detectives. Jessica stepped forward first, crouching next to the hole which was around a foot deep. She picked up a large
see-through plastic bag that reminded her of the freezer bags with the white zips which her mum used for leftovers. She wiped away some soil with her bare hands, surprised at how neat the object
was. Jessica didn’t open the plastic; she didn’t need to. Inside she could clearly see a tidily folded light blue football shirt and a pair of jeans.

Given the size there was no doubt they belonged to a child.

Jessica held the bag up for Reynolds to see but it was Dave who spoke. ‘Is that a Man City shirt?’

Reynolds shook his head to say he didn’t know but one of the other officers stepped forward, nodding. ‘Yeah, it’s a City shirt. Few years old though, they’ve not had that
sponsor in years.’

With the light fading, Reynolds signalled for everyone to return to the cars. Two officers were left to make sure no one interfered with the area. DCI Cole or a superior would decide what they
should do next.

Usually when they found something of note, the officers would be buzzing but it was more or less a silent journey back to the station for Jessica, Reynolds and Rowlands. She figured it was
partly because no one understood the significance of what they had discovered, not to mention the fact that they were all soaking wet. Jessica thought about the body of the child she had found that
morning and how it might be connected to the clothes. She still felt there was something not quite right about the fact the driver was using a map. It seemed obvious you only needed one if you
didn’t know where you were going. If the driver was heading either to bury Isaac Hutchings or, for whatever reason, dig up the clothes, wouldn’t he already know the location?

Back at the station, many of the day-shift officers had already left. DCI Cole had waited for them to get back but, aside from handing the bagged clothes over to an already overworked forensics
team, there wasn’t much else any of them could do.

Jessica spent the whole of the next day feeling as if she was going through the motions. She hadn’t been present but Isaac’s mother had identified his body and
their murder investigation had officially begun. The football shirt had been easily identified by other officers as being somewhere between twelve and fifteen years old because of the
sponsor’s name. Jessica’s gut feeling was that there would be further excavation work required in case there was something they had missed but, aside from the map that had led them
there, its significance was a mystery for now.

Their other lead was the key with the number 61 on the fob. It had been returned by the scientists who had determined there were no fingerprints or anything else of note on it. Jessica left
Rowlands and a small group of officers with the task of trying to find out its use as she went to visit the owner of the stolen black car.

Partly to make up for leaving her at the station the whole of the previous day but also because she liked working with her, Jessica took DC Izzy Diamond with her for the interview. Izzy, who had
long bright-red hair, had become a good friend to Jessica in recent times.

The relentless rain from the previous day had gone, replaced by a light drizzle that seemed to define the area. Jessica drove one of the marked police cars while Izzy gave directions.

‘Have you told anyone yet?’ Jessica asked as they waited at a set of traffic lights.

‘Why? I’m not starting to show yet, am I?’

Jessica giggled gently. ‘You’re paranoid about getting fat. Of course you’re not showing, I’m just terrified of accidentally telling someone you’re pregnant before
it’s officially out.’

The constable didn’t sound too fussed. ‘I’m sure I’ll blab it soon enough. I think Mal’s told his mum anyway. We said we wouldn’t but she dropped some hint
about me not being allowed to drink the other day. Still, I guess I’ve told you so we’re even.’

‘I don’t know what I’m going to do when you go off on maternity. I’m going to be left talking to Dave all the time and he’s so obsessed with Chloe he’ll
probably be spending his lunch breaks writing sonnets in the canteen by then.’

Izzy laughed. ‘I’ve got a few months before I disappear. Anyway, what’s she like?’ DC Diamond had not met the woman, with Jessica the only person other than Dave able to
confirm her existence.

‘Chloe?’ Jessica asked.

‘Yeah, I would’ve put a tenner on either “imaginary” or “blow-up”.’

Jessica put the car in first gear and gently pulled away from the junction. ‘Me too but she’s all too real. She’s sort of normal as well. You know, two arms, two legs, one
head, not mentally impaired. Normal. Christ knows what she sees in Dave.’ The two women exchanged a glance. ‘What does it feel like?’ Jessica added.

‘What?’

‘I don’t know . . . having something inside of you.’

DC Diamond cackled. ‘I didn’t realise you were that shy.’

Jessica snorted, realising what she’d said. ‘Not like that. I mean the baby. What does it feel like?’

Out of the corner of her eye, Jessica saw her colleague put a hand on her stomach.

‘I don’t know. It just feels . . . right. Like it’s meant to be there. Did I show you the first scan photo we got?’

‘Yeah, it sort of looked like a pean . . .’ Jessica tailed off before finishing the sentence.

Izzy sounded part-amused, part-offended. ‘Were you going to say “peanut”?’

‘No.’

‘Penis?’