Page 109 of Silent Scream

The whiteboard was much easier on her eye now her girls had names. The board had been divided into three columns:

Victim 1 - Melanie Harris

Age - 15

Taller than average, undernourished, tooth defect, butterfly sock

Decapitated

Victim 2 - Tracy Morgan

Age - 15

Pregnant, Pyjama bottoms missing

Buried alive

Victim 3 - Louise Dunston - ?

Age - 15

Denture for top three teeth

‘Those three girls lost their lives to a monster. Between them they were raped, beaten, suffocated and buried. This was not a story in a newspaper to them. It was their lives; their reality. We get out of bed every day to find the person who thought they could get away with this crime.

‘A few days ago these kids were anonymous, forgotten and silent. But not anymore. Melanie, Tracy and Louise will now have a voice because of us. And make no mistake, wewillcatch the bastard that did this.’ Kim paused and looked around the room. ‘And if you need any more motivation than that, then you're in the wrong job.’

‘Thanks, Guv,’ Bryant said, with a nod.

‘On board,’ Stacey added with a smile.

‘Oh yeah,’ Dawson chimed.

She took her usual position on the edge of the spare desk. ‘Okay, Kev, site progress?’

‘Doctor Dan removed the body about two this morning. Cerys did an initial inspection of the grave but they’re gonna do the sieving this morning.’

‘Did the Doc say anything about a denture?’

‘Didn’t say much about anything. He’s a very strange character, Guv.’

‘Mention it to Cerys. Might still be in the grave.’

‘Stace, anything?’

‘I’ve now got the mobile phone of Tom Curtis. He ‘ad more than fifty missed calls in the two hours before ‘is death.’

Kim leaned forward. ‘Go on.’

‘All came from Croft's mobile.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Kim seethed. ‘Anything else.’

‘The tape from the old folks’ home is useless so we ain’t got nothing incriminating on the death of Mary Andrews.’

‘Anything from SOCO on Arthur Connop?’

‘Paint chip analysis says it came from an Audi TT on a five nine plate.’