Their Lost Daughters (DI Jackman & DS Evans #2)(3)
‘It’s still magical,’ said Marie softly. ‘And let’s consider it a blessing that we have her back from the deep, whoever she is.’
Jackman took one last glance back to the beach and was glad to see that the girl was no longer visible. A group of police and scene-of-crime officers were working around her now. Soon she would be lifted up from the cold, wet sand and taken back to Rory’s mortuary, where hopefully she would see fit to give up her secrets to the one man who was able to hear.
CHAPTER TWO
Jackman was up to his neck in reports when Marie got back from seeing Jack Archer. ‘Waste of time?’ he queried, noting her unusually serious expression.
‘No, far from it. He’s a great old guy. Really helpful.’ Marie placed two coffees on his desk, and pushed the office door closed.
‘So why the mardy face?’
‘Oh nothing, sir. It’s just the thought of that lovely young girl dying in that manner.’
Jackman closed the file that he was working on and pointed to a chair. ‘Sit.’ He helped himself to one of the coffees and a handful of sugar sachets. As he tore open the tiny packets and shook them into his drink, he looked at her thoughtfully. Marie was a handsome woman. She was tall with long, rich brunette hair and an upright stance that still turned heads at forty-six years old. She had an Amazonian quality that she used to full advantage with both villains and coppers alike. The consensus of opinion in the mess room was “Don’t mess with Super Mario!” Jackman knew a different side of Marie, compassionate and gentle, but very, very astute. He trusted her opinions and her judgements. Their upbringing and backgrounds could not be more different, but they shared a deep love for their chosen career, and although they reached their conclusions by different paths, they usually agreed in the end.
‘Why has this one hit you so hard, my friend? You’ve seen more than your fair share of deaths.’
Marie shrugged. ‘My very first case was a drowning. Another youngster, not much different to the lass this morning. We never managed to identify her.’ She pushed her hair back over her shoulder and reached for her coffee. ‘I always felt we let her and her family down. We never traced them and no one came forward, but she must have a family somewhere. It seemed so awful that she was never taken home to rest.’
‘We can’t help them all, Marie. We do our best, but sometimes the odds are stacked against us.’
‘Do you think that girl was Shauna Kelly?’
‘My gut feeling says yes. But I don’t want to go down that route until we get those dental records back.’
Marie nodded and sipped her coffee. ‘No matter who she is, we have to find out exactly what happened to her, and if it was no accident . . .’ She left the sentence unfinished.
‘Oh yes. But tell me what your ancient local had to say about those tides.’
Marie placed a dog-eared map of the coastline on his desk and smoothed it out. ‘Jack Archer thinks that the girl went into the water around this area here.’ She tapped the map. ‘Allenby Creek. The tides, the currents and the recent light winds all make this the most likely spot, unless she fell from a boat. We just have to hope that isn’t the case.’
‘Allenby Creek? That’s a remote spot, isn’t it?’
Marie stared at the map. ‘It’s on the borders of our patch and Harlan Marsh. And yes, that area is all farmland and wild salt-marsh.’
‘Come to think of it, I remember it from when I was a kid. There used to be one accessible beach there. It was close to the old seal sanctuary at Hurn Point.’
‘Mmm . . .’ Marie’s slender finger moved slowly along the coast. ‘Ah yes, I see where you mean. Shall I ask uniform to go check it out for us?’
‘I’d rather we went ourselves.’ Jackman gnawed on his bottom lip. ‘But no, you’re right. I need to get these reports sorted before the end of the day and uniform are more than capable of dealing with it.’ He lifted his desk phone. ‘I’ll see if the duty sergeant could get a crew over there to take a look around, maybe ask some questions of the locals.’ A few moments later he replaced the receiver. ‘Sorted.’
‘Sir?’ The door opened and the tousled head of DC Charlie Button, the youngest member of their team, pushed through the gap. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but Superintendent Crooke would like to see both of you in her office.’
Jackman thanked the young detective and swallowed the rest of his coffee. ‘Oh dear, both of us. That sounds ominous.’
Marie stood up. ‘Let’s get it over with, and pray that it has nothing to do with budgets, spending cuts, performance or targets.’
‘Or all four at once.’ Jackman smiled ruefully. ‘It has been known.’
*
Superintendent Ruth Crooke was a narrow-lipped woman who looked permanently pissed off, probably because she usually was. It took a lot to stir any emotion other than a negative one in the super, and when she summoned you, it was advisable to jump to it.
Marie took the stairs two at a time to keep up with Jackman. She didn’t look forward to entering the “Lioness’s Den,” but she had worked with the superintendent for long enough to know that if you could get past the hard, controlling exterior and the acerbic tongue, there was a damned good policewoman underneath, and that was what really counted.