Читать книгу Saving Sophie: A compulsively twisty psychological thriller that will keep you gripped to the very last page - Sam Carrington, Sam Carrington - Страница 17

The brisk wind had whipped debris up, swirled it around and scattered the remains over a wide area. Even without the inclusion of the body, the scene looked as though a frenzied attack had taken place. DI Lindsay Wade surveyed the marshy land from behind the crime scene tape. The rash abandonment of burger boxes, paper, plastic bottles, leftover food; people’s rubbish, discarded without a care. An ideal place to dump a body, and first appearances suggested the young woman, too, had been discarded without a second thought. She’d been left for someone else to clear up like the remnants of a meal enjoyed, but ultimately not worthy to be taken home – not even worthy of being disposed of with consideration.

When Lindsay had left for work nine hours ago, a murder wasn’t on her list of possible cases. In a professional capacity it could be a good opportunity to show the DCI what she was capable of. And on a personal level it would mean she could divert all her time and effort into something other than her miserable home life. She stood still, hands in trouser pockets, biting the inside of her cheek. She wanted to take in the wider area before donning the white paper suit and going in. SOCO were busying themselves with securing the scene, protecting it and the evidence which lay there. Evidence that had the power to tell the story, and lead them to her killer.

The reports from those first on the scene, though, and the initial statement from the man who’d found her when his dog had strayed from the path, made it clear that this was the secondary crime scene. Lindsay knew the primary scene probably held the best clues – they needed to find it soon. With the vastness of this wasteland, which ran alongside the industrial park, and given the weather conditions, she had little confidence of the evidence here yielding much. As it stood, all hopes lay with the body itself.

The day was ending, the cloudy sky darkening rapidly.

There was at least hope of identifying the victim quickly. The description fit the missing person reported moments before she’d left for the scene. A family was soon to receive the worst news possible. When Lindsay joined the police service ten years ago she’d considered herself tough; not easily shaken – but she’d come to find that relaying news of a death was the hardest part of her job. Her stomach twisted.

She was going to hand this girl’s family a life sentence.