Play Dead (D.I. Kim Stone, #4)(46)

A man dressed in dark blue coveralls stepped forwards, holding out his hand.

‘Harry Atkins, I’m the archaeologist from Aston University.’

‘Nice to meet you, Harry,’ Kim said, offering a quick smile. ‘What can you tell me?’

If he was surprised by her brusqueness, he didn’t show it.

‘If you look here,’ he said, moving back to the machine. She’d seen ground-penetrating radar equipment before, but this one looked like a lawnmower.

‘What the machine does—’

‘Harry, I’m fine with the explanation.’

Realising how churlish that sounded, and with Woody’s warning ringing in her ears, she offered a smile. ‘But thanks anyway.’

She knew that the machine employed radio waves to emit a pulse to the ground and then recorded echoes.

The picture he wanted to show her was an image built from those echoes.

‘The apex of the hyperbolas indicates that there is a mass right there,’ he said, pointing at Professor Wright’s feet. ‘And it’s between two to four foot down.’

Kim had the sudden urge to tell the professor to move but stopped herself. If there was anyone down there they wouldn’t be hurting now.

She waited for more but Harry shrugged. She’d asked for the condensed version and that’s what she’d got.

She took two steps towards the professor. ‘Eventually there will be reporters and news crews. Now we will set up a cordon at the end of the lane to keep the vans and vehicles away from the entrance but the quarter-mile walk isn’t going to deter them.’

She made a quick appraisal of the people milling around and frowned.

‘Security consultant still here?’ she asked.

‘Needs to update his risk assessment for Darren. A body and an almost-dead body tends to change things for your staff members,’ Bryant said.

‘Okay, but he doesn’t need to be down here. In fact…’ She took a couple of steps away. ‘Folks, may I have your attention,’ she shouted out. ‘We need to clear this area and restrict it to necessary personnel only. That means police officers… and Harry. Can you remain with the equipment?’

He nodded.

‘Can everyone else please make their way back up to the office…’

‘Am I necessary, Inspector?’ Daniel Bate asked.

She thought for a moment. ‘I’d go as far as potentially useful… Daniel,’ she responded. ‘Kev, go and find something to place around Cher. I don’t want anyone falling in that hole.’

‘Got it, boss,’ he answered, heading off.

A soft chuckle sounded from Bryant to her left. ‘Jesus, guv, it’s a good job you sent people away ’cos this field ain’t big enough for everyone.’

She turned and followed the direction of his gaze.

Oh yeah, she could certainly see what he meant.





Thirty-Eight





The first group was led by a woman whose five-foot-four height did nothing to diminish her authority. The four taller males behind struggled to keep pace as she barrelled in Kim’s direction.

‘Oh hell no,’ Bryant said from behind her.

‘Hell, yes,’ Kim said, walking towards the forensic archaeologist.

The woman was clad in grey jeans, plain black T-shirt and Doc Marten boots.

‘Doctor A, good to see you,’ Kim said. Everyone referred to the woman as Doctor A. Originally from Macedonia, her first name was long and complicated. She had termed the name herself.

‘Dobra vecher, Inspector.’

The curt nod and brief smile told Kim that was a greeting of some kind.

‘What are we having here?’ she asked, looking around the group.

Harry stepped forwards to explain his findings as Doctor A took an elastic band from her pocket and tied her ombré hair into a tight ponytail.

‘Guv, permission to be moved to another case,’ Bryant said from beside her. ‘Few of us mortals can deal with both you and her together.’

‘Denied,’ Kim said in response.

Many people had an issue with the direct approach of the forensic specialist. Kim did not.

She had met Doctor A once outside of a crime scene and had found her to be both charming and effervescent with a wicked sense of humour.

Doctor A nodded knowingly at the screen Harry was showing her.

The second group arrived, headed by Keats. She recognised two of the techies who had been removed from site earlier in the week and transferred to Digbeth. She’d heard that their findings had led to the apprehension of two suspects, and they had gathered intelligence on a third.

Nods and acknowledgements travelled between the two groups and within a few minutes Kim no longer knew who belonged with whom. Her own team she could account for.

Dawson had found some yellow ‘wet floor’ signs that he was placing around Cher and Bryant was sharing a joke with Daniel Bate.

‘No, not like that,’ Doctor A cried as one of her team began to spray white paint onto the grass. She stepped towards him. ‘I shall show you.’

She spoke to him in hushed tones and began to spray in a gentle motion to and fro, lengthening the line with each stroke. She handed back the can. He followed her example.

‘Perfect,’ she said, patting him on the back.