Page 35 of Silent Scream

‘This is a potential crime scene,’ Matthews argued.

‘Which could have been dug by any old metal-detecting enthusiast by now, in which case no protocols would have been followed at all.’

That was her logic and she was sticking to it.

Matthews’ mouth tensed when he realised that she was not going to be dissuaded.

His eyes travelled the circle of people and then came back to her. ‘Your impetuousness is going to jeopardise the careers of all these people.’

Kim nodded her understanding. She turned to Bill and Ben. ‘Pass me the shovel.’

‘Guv ...’

Bill and Ben looked to the professor, who was looking at her.

‘Jesus Christ,’ she growled, grabbing a shovel. ‘Doctor Matthews, please feel free to return to the car until authorisation comes through. The rest of you, do whatever the hell you like.’

She lifted her arm and dropped the spade to the ground. Her right foot pushed the blade down as far as it would go. She removed the lump of earth and placed it to her left. She wielded the shovel again.

Doctor Matthews humphed and turned away. ‘I cannot be a party to this. Come on, Cerys.’

‘In a minute, Doctor,’ she said, without looking at him. She caught Kim’s eye. ‘I’d just like to observe for a while.’

The doctor hesitated before shaking his head. He walked back towards the car.

Kim smiled her thanks to the forensic technician. Her presence offered some protection and she knew it.

She threw down the shovel and repeated the process. The ground was hard and this would be a long process but it was better than standing around doing nothing.

‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ Bryant said, reaching for the second shovel.

He stood opposite her, about six feet away and dropped the shovel into the ground.

The professor looked pained. He shook his head. ‘No, no, no. Look if you’re going to do this, at least do it properly.’

For the next two hours she and Bryant formed a tag team with Bill and Ben taking turns at digging the feature as directed by both Cerys and Professor Milton.

Cerys had continually circled the area, consulting the data from the magnetometer. She had advised where to dig next and how deep they should go.

Cerys leaned down close to where Kim was digging. ‘Detectives, I think you should step out now. Professor, can you pass me your bag of hand tools?’

Kim stepped out of the pit that was now six feet wide by eight feet long and a foot and a half deep.

Kim tried to dust herself down but spatters of damp mud and clay had dried into her trousers up to the knee.

Cerys and Professor Milton consulted over the data and pointed to areas in the pit. The boys entered the pit with gardening hand tools and took direction from Cerys.

Bryant stood beside her. ‘There’s never a dull day with you, is there?’

‘At least you’ve burned off that bacon bap from earlier.’

‘And then some.’

Her own stomach was beginning to rumble. The half slice of toast she’d eaten at six thirty was long gone.

‘It’s almost two. Not much daylight left,’ Bryant observed.

Bill or Ben motioned for Cerys to enter the pit. She knelt down and used something which looked like an oversized blusher brush to dust at a particular area. Kim noted that she cared nothing about the dirt and mud that was now caked to her light blue jeans.