Play Dead (D.I. Kim Stone, #4)(47)

The male positively beamed from the compliment.

‘Doctor A, good to see you again,’ Keats said, offering his hand.

She accepted it and smiled. ‘You too, Keatings,’ she said, before turning and instructing a second assistant on the equipment she required.

Kim noted the cheek muscle that jumped along the jaw of the pathologist.

Doctor A looked around at her audience as she took possession of a shovel. ‘Stepping away from the area please,’ she said.

Keats moved forwards. ‘Doctor A, it is sunset in two hours’ time. You will not have time to recover the—’

‘Thank you, Keatings, for the reminder that, surprisingly, it will eventually go dark.’

Keats shook his head and walked away.

Kim leaned in and whispered, ‘Doctor A, his name is Keats.’

Doctor A turned to face her. A smile tugged at the woman’s lips.

‘Yes, of course, I know this.’

Kim coughed and turned away.

‘Doctor A,’ Keats insisted. ‘You will not be able to complete in normal daylight.’

She tipped her head and nodded. ‘Then get me the generatings to power the lighting. Chip chip. If there is a lady down here she will be leaving the ground this night.’

And that was why Kim liked her.





Thirty-Nine





Kim leaned into the back of the car and unclicked Barney from his seatbelt. He remained seated while she attached the lead to his collar. Only when she said ‘out’ did he bounce past her legs.

He turned, sat and waited for her to close the car door.

Bryant had questioned whether Keats and Doctor A could be left alone. But Kim had every faith in their professionalism. And if that failed, Dawson was there and would soon let her know if anything began to brew.

Right now what she needed was a little space to think, the opportunity to get a little clarity. Very little about the Westerley case was making sense to her. She couldn’t help being torn between wishing for the forensic team to uncover something or someone who would help her solve the case and praying that no one else had suffered the same fate as Jemima Lowe. If she received word that there was a body in the ground she would be right back and would not leave until it had been removed.

And then there was Bob. By making a deal with the devil she had removed her own freedom of choice to investigate his murder. Both mysteries were swimming around her head.

The Clent Hills were the perfect place to help her clear her mind. Referred to as Klinter in the Domesday book, the hills rose over a thousand feet and offered 360-degree views.

Their nightly walk was a little earlier than normal. The sun was in the process of setting and they normally walked once it was dark.

Barney wasn’t keen on other people and certainly not on other dogs.

Kim often wondered what had happened in his early years to make him such a complex little character. She supposed he wondered the same thing about her.

She’d recently discovered a small wooded area at the southern base of this hill. Most people walking their dogs were heading for the summit to catch a glimpse as the sun set and plunged the Black Country into a hot, sticky night.

She headed towards an overgrown path that had once been a ramblers’ route but had been cut off by new fencing to prevent access to a hazardous area. It was perfect for just the two of them.

‘Well… fancy seeing you here,’ said a deep and slightly amused voice behind her.

Kim groaned inwardly as she turned to see Daniel Bate smiling at her.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked.

‘Building a sandcastle,’ he offered sarcastically as he looked down towards Lola.

Barney had tensed his front shoulders and was staring Lola down. The brief power play ended as Lola looked away.

Instinctively Kim’s hand reached out towards the submissive dog. Lola’s nose nuzzled into her palm and her tail wagged.

Daniel reached towards Barney.

‘Don’t,’ she advised. ‘He doesn’t like it.’

Barney hated being approached by strangers and expressed his disgust in a growl. Normally.

Although he didn’t nuzzle like Lola, he tolerated the hand on his head and Kim could swear in better light his tail might have moved slightly.

‘Hmmm… sounds like a case of owner projection there, Kim.’

She resented that she could not maintain that barrier of ‘Detective Inspector’ between them, but she had no jurisdiction over him outside of a crime scene. And even then it was tenuous at best.

‘So you got yourself a dog since we last met?’ he asked.

She should have known the goldfish ruse wouldn’t last for ever.

‘Yeah, apparently they help you socialise,’ she said, raising one eyebrow.

He laughed out loud and his green eyes sparkled. ‘I can see that’s working out well for you,’ he said.

Yeah, she remembered that he was one of the rare people who had actually been able to tell when she was joking.

Silence fell between them. It was charged, and Kim had no choice but to break it.

‘What are you doing here, Daniel?’ she asked.

‘Walking my dog,’ he said, meeting her gaze. Unlike his dog, he did not look away.

‘Why here?’ she asked.

He looked around. ‘Local beauty spot. Thought the dog might enjoy it.’