Missing (The Cass Lehman Series Book 3) (11 page)

‘All right?’ Ed asked.

I sniffed. Bill passed me a tissue and took the bucket. He strode over to a large stainless steel sink and dumped the contents, following it with a stream of water and rinsing the bucket a few times with a hose-like extension from the tap.

‘Thanks,’ I said, blushing furiously.

‘Don’t worry, even some of the most seasoned coppers have that kind of reaction to this sort of thing,’ Bill reassured me.

I blew my nose, then gave him an approximation of a smile.

‘Are you ready to leave?’ Ed asked.

‘Leave? No, I’m not going anywhere.’ I replaced my mask and turned back to the table. ‘I’ve got a job to do.’ I stepped up to the remains and stretched out my hand. With shaking fingers, I gingerly laid a hand on top of the skull. The flesh covering the bone was soft and felt a bit like firm jelly. I closed my eyes. Long moments passed as I waited for it to hit me. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes and shifted my touch to the severed hand. Again I closed my eyes and waited for the vision to take over. It didn’t. After what felt like an eternity, I opened my eyes and stepped back from the table. I turned towards Ed and Bill, standing a few steps behind me.

‘I’m not getting anything.’

‘Really?’ Ed asked. ‘Not a thing?’

‘How does it normally work?’ Bill asked.

‘I’ve touched two bodies before and instantly flashed back to the last few minutes of their lives.’

‘Maybe it’s because this body’s not whole?’ Ed said.

‘I don’t know, maybe.’

‘How did it happen the other times?’ Bill asked.

‘The first time was by accident. The body slipped off a stretcher. The second time was just after the person had died. I reached out and touched his arm.’

‘So you weren’t wearing gloves?’

‘No … I wasn’t …’ My voice trailed away and I stared at him, then looked back at the decomposing remains on the table and swallowed. I felt like there was a golf ball lodged somewhere in the vicinity of my larynx.

‘Cass, don’t do it,’ Ed said. ‘Not even Crackers would expect that.’

I peeled the glove off my right hand and flexed my fingers a few times.

‘Cass …’ Ed let my name hang in the air.

I ignored him and stepped back to the table. I closed my eyes, reached out and touched the hand. Laying down my fingers as lightly as I could, I tried not to think about the source of the slimy wetness beneath my fingertips.

Something was wrong, my vision was blurry and I couldn’t focus on anything. All I wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep but a voice was telling me I couldn’t sleep where I was. I could smell food. I tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come out right. They sounded slurred and indistinct.

‘Sorry, not feeling very well …’ I mumbled. Everything went black.

The vision receded and I opened my eyes. I looked at what I was touching and yanked my hand away. My stomach heaved again.

‘Bucket!’ I gasped.

Bill thrust it under my chin. I grabbed it with my clean hand and stood, dry retching, while Bill walked around to my other hand, which I was holding horizontal to my body and at arm’s length. He grasped my wrist and began to rub at my fingers with a damp cloth that reeked of disinfectant.

After a couple of minutes my stomach and I reached an uneasy truce. Bill and I went through the nose-blowing and bucket-washing routine again.

‘Did you get something?’ Ed asked.

‘I did, but it wasn’t much,’ I said. ‘DCI Arnott will be disappointed.’

‘Tell me anyway,’ Ed said.

I looked over at Bill. He was studying me like I was some kind of new and unique specimen.

‘It’s OK. Bill can listen in,’ Ed said.

I closed my eyes and recounted the brief vision. ‘I couldn’t see properly, my vision was all blurry. I don’t know where I was, but there must have been someone else there because I was trying to talk to them and apologise for being sleepy. I was worried about going to sleep where I was.’

‘That’s it?’

‘I said it wasn’t much.’

‘Were you inside or out?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Was it light or dark?’

‘Light I think.’

‘And you didn’t see the other person?’

‘No, I didn’t. My vision was so blurred I couldn’t make out anything much.’

‘Was the other person male or female?’

‘I don’t know! They didn’t speak.’

‘Huh.’

‘There was one other thing. I could smell food. Something savoury, meat of some kind I think.’

We stepped out into the pale sunshine of the cool autumn day. The leaves on the trees lining the main road were glowing like fire. Flashes of the sparkling blue peeked through an army of fluffy white clouds that marched across the sky. I’d been so tense on the drive in, I hadn’t even realised it was a nice day.

I gulped deep lungfuls of air. Even the city air smelled sweet after the combination of antiseptic and decomposition.

‘Come on, you look like you could use a coffee. There’s a good place a couple of blocks north of here, if you don’t mind a short walk?’ Ed suggested.

I studied his face. Ed was wearing an expression I didn’t immediately recognise. Then it struck me. He was feeling smug.
My inability to give him anything that might help with the case pleased him. He didn’t want Crackers to think I was useful and keep me on the team. It was my turn to clench my teeth. The temptation to unleash a stream of vitriol in his direction was almost more than I could resist, but I managed to smother it. It wasn’t his fault my talent hadn’t worked. Truth be told, I was probably more annoyed about my own failure than I was about his enjoyment of it.

He led the way. We left the car where it was and walked back down the laneway and onto the main drag. We trekked the short distance to Pirie Street and Ed pointed to a coffee shop. Its signage was pink and black, and very girly.

‘BTS?’ I asked.

‘Better than sex,’ he translated.

‘Huh.’ I cocked an eyebrow at him.

‘They do coffee and really good cupcakes … if you’re interested.’

I gave him a look. ‘I don’t think I’ll want to eat ever again. And since when did you eat cupcakes?’

‘You don’t know everything about me.’

‘Clearly not.’

We walked in and found a tiny table in the corner. The place was packed. I noticed there were a lot more women than men clustered around the tables, all with delicious-looking cupcakes and coffees in front of them.

‘You sure you don’t want one?’ he asked.

‘Just a coffee — but can we get a cupcake to takeaway?’

He ordered and we settled into a comfortable silence. The tension between us had evaporated, for the moment.

Ed studied my face when we were sitting. ‘Cass, they’ll find him. They’ll find Jenson.’

I nodded, but dark thoughts continued to creep into my mind. ‘I’ll have to ring Mum and Gran and tell them.’ I paused. ‘He wouldn’t come after us would he?’

‘I doubt he’d be so stupid but you need to be careful until they catch him. Lock the doors and don’t go places by yourself.’

I felt sick again but for completely different reasons.

We were halfway through our coffees when Ed’s phone rang.

‘Sorry, it’s Dave, I’d better answer.’

I watched his face as he took the call. He listened impassively, then his eyes widened with surprise.

‘Already?’ Ed said.

He nodded into the phone a few times. I could hear the reedy tones of Dave’s animated voice on the other end.

‘All right, I’m on my way.’

He ended the call and looked at me. ‘The dog found more remains.’

‘That was quick.’

‘He’d only been there for ten minutes before he got a hit.’

‘Wow. Is it more of the same body?’

‘Not unless the guy had two heads.’

With the roof of my mouth still smarting from downing a near-boiling cup of coffee, I trotted along two steps behind Ed as we headed back to our car. The routine was familiar, he always strode ahead when he was annoyed or stressed, but that didn’t make it any less annoying. Feeling like a serf following my master was guaranteed to put me back in a bad mood. The moment of harmony in the café had been so fleeting I wondered if I’d imagined it.

We climbed into the car and Ed zoomed off before I’d even had a chance to buckle my seatbelt, making my irritation climb another notch.

‘Sorry you had to rush. I’m just keen to get down to the site, and it’s a forty-five minute drive as it is. Bloody Crackers and his stupid ideas. If it weren’t for him I would’ve been down there already,’ Ed said.

I’d been staring out the window watching the city buildings zoom past and trying not to be annoyed, but the mention of Crackers and stupid ideas in the same sentence made my head snap around.

‘Using me is a stupid idea, is it?’

‘Oh come on! Don’t pick a fight again. Are you trying to tell me that touching decomposing remains was a good idea? Surely you realise now that the whole idea of you working this case is crazy.’

‘Would you be saying that if I’d had a more useful vision?’

‘But you didn’t.’

‘That’s not my fault.’

‘I never said it was, but I assumed that what you’ve just been through would be enough to convince you to tell Crackers to shove his job offer.’

‘I’m not convinced of anything.’

I watched him out of the corner of my eye. His neck was turning red.

‘I’ll drop you off on the way,’ he said.

‘It’s not
on
the way, it’s in the opposite direction. Will you go to Fairfield this afternoon after you’ve been to the dump?’

‘More than likely.’

‘I think I’d like to go home for a few days. I can tell Mum and Gran about Jenson and I’d feel safer than being alone during the day while you’re working. Can you drop me at Jewel Bay on the way through?’

He didn’t say anything for so long that the silence began to feel like a lead weight pressing down on me. But I didn’t break it. We were driving through the southern parklands, so I concentrated on the open fields and trees that formed part of the green belt surrounding the CBD, determined not to look at him.

‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to take you to the crime scene,’ Ed finally said.

‘I can stay in the car.’

‘I’ve heard that before.’

I knew he was referring to the last case we’d worked together. He’d taken me to a crime scene in a cemetery, and I’d got out of the car for some fresh air. It wouldn’t normally have been an issue. Cemeteries are good places for someone like me. No one
dies in cemeteries, and the bodies are usually six feet under — well out of reach.

It was just bad luck that two crime-scene techs transporting a body on a stretcher had tripped as they walked past me. I’d reacted without thinking, reaching out to stop the body from falling. The series of events was almost farcical, but the vision I’d had was both unexpected and shocking. It was the first time I’d realised I could have a vision from touching a body. It was also the day Ed and I had slept together for the first time. Ah, memories.

‘I don’t see what the problem is. Doesn’t Crackers want me to use my talent? Taking me to the scene isn’t exactly breaking the rules when I’m part of the team.’

‘No, I’ll take you to Jewel Bay first. I don’t think he was imagining you traipsing all over his crime scenes.’

‘Traipsing? Is that what I do?’ I leant my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. I was tired and cross and needed to block him out for a while. The argument was making me so frustrated I wanted to scream or kick something, or both. I heard him sigh again but chose to ignore it. He could stew in his own juices for a while. I was done.

CHAPTER
11

‘Cass? We’re here.’

Ed’s voice dragged me out of sleep. I’d been dreaming of stars again. Better than gooey body parts. I yawned and stretched.

‘Are you coming in?’ I asked.

‘No, I need to get to the scene.’

Silence descended. I didn’t want to be the first to speak. It felt like a battle of wills.

‘How long are you planning on staying?’ Ed finally gave in and confronted the elephant in the car.

‘A couple of days.’ I looked at him. ‘I think it’d be good for us to have a bit of space. We’ve been at each other’s throats and you’ve got a lot going on with work. Maybe when I get back we’ll have a chance to talk properly.’