Play Dead (D.I. Kim Stone, #4)(30)

As the torch moved down her body Kim saw she was wearing a floral halter-neck dress made of cotton and the smell of soap drifted up from the bare skin. The dress was not raised above the knee and Kim could see no sign of trauma.

Except for the back of her head being caved in.

The torches and voices were coming closer. The torchlight rested on the woman’s bare feet.

‘Shine it around,’ Kim instructed the professor.

He plunged her body into darkness as he raised the torch to light the area.

There was no evidence of her footwear.

She could hear words now passing between Bryant and the paramedics and the grass being trodden underfoot. She quickly leaned back down to the woman as another soft moan sounded.

Kim gently reached for her hand and rubbed her thumb across the nail. As with Jemima, it was coarse to the touch. Both women had chosen to strip their nails right before going out. It was a coincidence that didn’t sit comfortably in her mind.

‘Step aside, please,’ said the first paramedic as he knelt at the victim’s head. ‘Name?’ he said, looking to her. Kim shook her head. The dress had no pockets and there was no handbag.

‘Unknown,’ Kim answered. ‘There’s dirt in the mouth and she’s probably been drugged.’

The head injury they could see for themselves.

‘All right, love,’ he said to the victim as he reached into his bag. The second paramedic took the place of the professor.

Kim took a few steps back and drew level with Bryant.

The work of the paramedics was far more important than hers. For now.

‘Darren’s in a bit of a state,’ Bryant said. ‘But his log is in order. He swears on his daughter’s life he did a patrol at eleven and the next at twelve. He happened on to the victim at around twelve fifteen.’

Kim nodded and turned her attention back to the medics.

The first medic took a dressing from the bag while the second raised the woman’s head slightly.

‘Worst of the bleeding is over but we’ll dress it anyway, Jeff,’ he said.

Another soft moan sounded from the victim.

‘It’s all right, love, you’re okay now,’ said Jeff without taking his eyes from the bandage being looped around her head. Once the task was complete, the first medic spoke again.

‘Okay, Jeff, place the stretcher.’

Kim took one step forwards. ‘How is she?’

Jeff shrugged. ‘Need to get her in. She’s breathing, so best to get her to hospital quickly for the head injury.’

The two paramedics managed her carefully onto the stretcher and lifted her on three.

The professor offered to carry the rest of the equipment and headed off across the field behind them.

By Bryant’s torchlight she could see three crime-scene techs heading in their direction.

‘What do you reckon he used?’ Bryant asked.

Kim took the torch from him and shone it around the area just away from where the woman had been found. No weapon had been found at the crime scene of Jemima and she suspected this time would be no different.

‘Well, Darren might be feeling shitty right now, but he needs to know he saved this woman’s life.’

Kim was in no doubt that Darren’s torchlight as he had patrolled the grounds had scared the killer off before he’d had a chance to complete the task. Because of Darren, their second victim still had a pulse and still had a face.

‘It’s not just about the death,’ she said. ‘It’s all about what he’s doing with them first.’

‘Jemima showed no evidence of sexual assault,’ Bryant reminded her.

The techies arrived and took control of the scene.

Kim moved and stood beside her colleague with a slight shake of the head. There was one thing that had been puzzling her since finding Jemima and was even more disturbing to her now.

‘Bryant, why the hell is he leaving them here?’





Twenty-Two





Kim took a swig of coffee before resting her behind on the edge of the spare desk.

The mug had appeared on her desk on her last birthday, a day she never celebrated.

Originally the caption above the picture had read ‘World’s Best Driver’, but some bright spark had inserted the word ‘Slave’ into the sentence with permanent ink. And not one of her team was brave enough to own up to it. But she had her suspicions.

‘Okay, you all know about our second victim, who remains both unidentified and alive. The priority with victim two right now is keeping her alive and we will speak with her as soon as we can. So right now we continue the focus on Jemima. Bryant, have you got the toxicology report?’

‘Circulated, guv.’

Everyone nodded.

‘So what do we think?’ she asked.

‘Obviously drugged,’ Dawson offered.

The level of Rohypnol in the bloodstream had been enough to subdue a medium-sized horse. The drug was used as a hypnotic, sedative and skeletal muscle relaxant. It was often referred to as the ‘date-rape drug’ due to its high potency and ability to cause amnesia.

‘Why?’ she asked. ‘There was no sexual assault.’

‘To make her easier to handle?’ Dawson asked.

‘Oi, Dawson, I had my hand up for that one,’ Bryant moaned.