Page 33 of Deadly Cry

Both she and Mitch looked towards the offending driver of the Astra Estate.

‘Keeping it legal, folks,’ he said without remorse.

Kim headed towards the activity at the far end of the playing fields as Mitch began to get suited up.

As she walked the width of the park, she couldn’t help but think how big the space had seemed when she was a child. Keith and Erica, her foster parents from the age of ten to thirteen, had brought her to both a bonfire and the travelling fairground before both events had been stopped. Back then it had felt as though the glowing fire had been miles away from the refreshment kiosks and side stalls. Now, with her long stride she could traverse the whole area in minutes.

As she neared the far edge of the park, she saw the park ranger sitting on the grass. A constable was by his side.

‘On it, guv,’ Bryant said, following her gaze.

She continued towards Keats and the figure she could see on the ground.

She nodded in Keats’s direction, took a closer look and immediately saw from the angle of her head, like an owl caught mid-turn, that she’d been killed in the same way as Katrina.

She guessed the woman to be late twenties, early thirties. She wore bootleg jeans, black boots and a thick cardigan buttoned up to the breastbone. Her dark hair was held up in a single ponytail and she wore little make-up. Her dark brown eyes stared unseeing up to the sky. A white gold wedding ring was the only jewellery she could see. Another wife. Possibly another family robbed of a young, vital woman.

‘Same as yesterday?’ she asked, completing her journey around the body. Again, there seemed to be no signs of sexual interference.

Mitch appeared just in time to hear the answer.

‘Definitely looks that way,’ Keats said as Mitch nodded to his colleague to begin taking photos. More vehicles had arrived on the car park and additional forensic techies were headed their way.

‘Clearly the neck has been broken and I can see no other injuries.’

Exactly like Katrina Nock, then, she thought, remembering the letter that had been on the spare desk. This was a murder he hadn’t wanted to commit but had done so anyway. And so soon after the first.

‘No more than an hour,’ Keats said, nodding towards the man beside Bryant. ‘Park ranger doing his final check of the park before closing it.’

The body was about as far away from the entrance as it could be.

Kim walked a few paces to the edge of the park. The area was bordered by trees that had been allowed to grow together and form a dense hedge, but recent pruning had left gaps between brittle bare branches. Kim could easily see through to the housing estate on the other side.

‘Mitch, I think he went this way,’ she said, stepping away to ensure she destroyed no potential evidence.

There would be far less risk in parking outside the grounds and would explain the location of the body so close to the perimeter edge for a fast getaway after the deed was done.

‘Anything obvious missing?’ Kim asked, nodding towards the handbag on the ground to her left.

Keats shook his head. ‘Phone, purse, a few receipts and a half-empty juice bottle.’

Nothing taken. Same as Katrina. Robbery was not the motive; but the phone puzzled her, unless the killer knew there was no link at all back to them through her call logs or contacts. Maybe this murder was not about the victim at all.

‘Ranger found her after the game finished. Always does a full perimeter once the kids are gone,’ Bryant said, coming to stand beside her.

‘Game?’

‘After school football, guv. Two local kiddy teams.’

‘Ah, anything else?’

‘Nothing, except he’s been looking after this park for thirteen years but he ain’t coming back tomorrow.’

‘Mitch,’ she said, nodding towards the handbag.

He knelt on the floor with the evidence bags to his right.

He opened the purse and took out the driving licence as Bryant took out his notebook.