Darkness Falls (Kate Marshall, #3)(59)

“I’ve had some luck with those names you gave me,” said Alan. Kate hurried over to the caravan next to the road, and she knocked on the window where Tristan was changing the beds. He put his head through the window, still holding a duvet.

It’s Alan Hexham, she mouthed. “I’m just putting you on speakerphone, Alan. I’m here with Tristan.”

“Hi, Alan,” said Tristan, putting down the duvet and kneeling on the bed.

“Hello, Tristan,” said Alan, his voice booming through the speakerphone. “As we discussed a few days ago, I asked one of my research assistants to look at postmortem examinations conducted on unidentified bodies of young men aged eighteen to twenty-five, over six foot tall, with muscular, athletic builds and dark or blond hair, where hair color could still be determined. We also investigated the type of death recorded during postmortem, concentrating on signs of sexual assault, if the wrists or ankles were bound, and if their cause of death was asphyxiation. We identified four postmortems with these traits.”

“Four?” said Kate, looking up at Tristan.

“Yes. If I may explain,” said Alan. “The first case we found was of a body washed up off the west coast close to Bideford on April twenty-first, 2002. The body was never identified because it was badly decayed. The unidentified male was over six feet tall, and there were lacerations to the wrists. The body was found tangled in a net, and it had been washed up during a storm, so much of the skin and soft tissue were decayed by the water. After a postmortem, and after all stages of trying to identify the body were exhausted, the poor chap was cremated. However, dental imprints were taken from the body. I was able to request dental imprints for David Lamb and Gabe Kemp. The decayed body found washed up on the beach in late April 2002 was Gabe Kemp.”

“Jesus,” said Kate, leaning against the side of the caravan. Tristan took the phone and put it on the windowsill. “Gabe Kemp was reported missing in the first week of April 2002.”

“Yes, and that would account for the decay—the body could have been in the water for two weeks . . . I have more,” said Alan. “We matched a second body from your suggested criteria. It was found on Dartmoor, on Mercer Tor, and it was found by a dog walker in the early spring of 2000, wedged between two rocks. Much of the face had been eaten away. There had been heavy snowfall over the winter, but looking at the rate of decay, the body had been dumped five or six months before it froze . . .”

“Which would make it April or May 1999,” finished Kate.

“Yes. This young chap was found wearing full walking gear with a backpack . . . So this, coupled with the decay, meant that the police couldn’t rule foul play. At the time, dental impressions were taken, but they were only compared with the records of two other walkers who’d been reported missing on Dartmoor, and they didn’t match. On comparison with David Lamb’s dental records, it was a match.”

“David Lamb wasn’t a hiker,” said Tristan.

“Yes. The police were confused as to why the body was found wearing all this brand-new walking gear, but no money, no identification,” said Alan.

“You said there were two more victims?” asked Kate, who was already reeling from the news that the bodies of Gabe Kemp and David Lamb had been found.

“Yes, the bodies of two other unidentified men matched your criteria. The first was found next to the M5 near Taunton Deane, in November 1998, in a storm drain. Postmortem results showed that the body had been dumped within the previous twenty-four hours. The body had all the same hallmarks as the death of Hayden Oakley last week. He’d been tied up, sexually assaulted, and asphyxiated. The second young man’s body was found in a landfill site in Bristol in a black plastic bag in November 2000. The body was decayed—it had been there for a week to ten days—but the postmortem showed he’d been tied up and asphyxiated.”

“Why didn’t the police link these murders?” asked Kate.

“I don’t have the answer for that.”

They were silent for a moment.

“From 1998 to 2002, four bodies were found,” said Tristan. “This is a serial killer.”

“Are you able to open out the search? I only specified from 1998 to 2002. There could be other unidentified bodies,” said Kate.

“Thanks to your information, the police are now looking at these four murders in connection with the death of Hayden Oakley, and they’ll be opening up the investigation to look at unidentified deaths before 1998,” said Alan. “I’m afraid, though, that these are no longer cold cases, and I can’t share any of the case files with you. They are now active police investigations. I was given permission to call you by the police officer who will be taking charge of this, a DCI Faye Stubbs. She asked me for your details, and she’ll be in touch. Well done, you two.”

“That’s incredible,” said Tristan when they came off the phone call. “We’ve helped find David and Gabe; Jorge is alive . . . We weren’t imagining things. Joanna Duncan wrote down their names for a reason. Do you think she knew that there was a multiple murderer doing this?”

“I wish we could find out. We don’t have her computer or any of her notes from work,” said Kate.

“This means we’re going in the right direction,” said Tristan.

“But now the results of our hard work are being handed over to the police.”