Page 120 of Silent Scream

Keats had turned his attention back to the worktop and was flicking through pages in a hardware supplies catalogue.

‘There is no denture,’ Daniel stated.

‘Damn.’

‘But there should be. She has three missing front teeth.’

Kim sighed heavily. She now had the names of all three girls. This was incontrovertibly Louise’s body.

‘Have you checked with Cerys?’ He asked.

‘It’s not there.’

‘I’ve got it,’ Keats said, quietly.

Daniel moved along the work area and looked at where Keats had laid his index finger.

Daniel nodded slowly.

‘What?’ Kim asked.

Keats turned to her, unable to speak. Kim was instantly unnerved. This man had seen bodies in the worst state of decay. He had taken in his stride horrendous crime scenes, decomposition and its subsequent life forms. She had watched him carry out a preliminary examination on a corpse while referring to a community of maggots as ‘little fellas’. What the hell could instil such horror in him now?

‘Look here,’ Daniel instructed, pointing to the pubic bone.

Kim could see there was a crack that ran through the centre of the bone.

She raised her head. ‘The pelvis is broken?’

‘Look closer.’

Kim leaned down as far as she could and saw the nicks in the edge of the bone. She counted seven in total. The one at the centre was deeper than the others. A zig-zag pattern was evident on both sides of the parted bone. Kim saw that the serration travelled for almost an inch before it met the longer crack in the bone.

Kim stepped back in horror as she looked from Daniel to Keats and back again unable to comprehend what was right in front of her eyes.

‘Yes, Detective,’ Keats offered hoarsely. ‘The bastard tried to saw her in half.’

Silence settled between them as they all stared down at the skeleton that had once been a young girl. Not an angel and not without fault, but a young girl nonetheless.

Kim stepped to the side and almost fell into Daniel.

His arms steadied her. ‘You okay?’

She nodded as she moved away from his touch. She didn’t trust herself to speak until the nausea had passed.

The sound of her mobile ringing startled them all. It galvanised the room into action as though the pause button had been depressed. It was Bryant and he was calling from somewhere in the building.

Her mouth was dry as she answered the call.

‘Guv, I’m wasting my time here.’

‘Is he still in surgery?’ she asked, looking at her watch. If that was the case it wasn’t looking good for Richard Croft.

‘No, he was wheeled back to the ward an hour ago. The knife is out and I have that bagged. He’s in and out of consciousness but Mrs Croft won’t let me anywhere near him.’

‘On my way,’ she said, ending the call.

‘Where are you going now?’ Keats asked.