Missing pieces, p.11
Missing Pieces, page 11
Later that same day, there had been a few minutes of excitement. Clive Betts discovered that within three years of the Wissingham case, the bodies of two other women had been discovered on the Drovers Way track. Both were further south, one in Norfolk and one just over the border into Suffolk. Three deaths associated with the same ancient route looked superficially interesting but it was quickly established that the Norfolk case had been without a doubt a suicide, and the Suffolk one was a domestic killing in which a husband had attempted to suggest his wife had not died in the family home. There was no reason to connect either incident with their own cold case, but Denise Sterling suggested that any members of the squad who fancied a walk at the weekend should probably avoid Drovers Way, just to be on the safe side.
Late on the Wednesday, Tom Greene managed to speak to Steve Kelly, a detective constable on the original investigation – it was Kelly’s name by the side of the note about the possibility of a ritual killing. Kelly was still a serving officer but he had transferred to the Cambridgeshire force. Initially he was reluctant to say much about his involvement in the case, according to Greene, and then he, Greene, had realised why. The suggestion did not originate with Kelly but with a girlfriend with whom he had discussed details of the investigation – something he should not have done. Greene assured him there would be no comebacks after so much time had elapsed; then Kelly explained that this girlfriend was into all sorts of esoterica. This was Greene’s word – Kelly had used a phrase that the detective inspector would not in mixed company. It caused a minor diversion when Sterling had to explain to Clive Betts that ‘esoterica’ was not the same thing as ‘erotica’.
Kelly’s girlfriend had told him that the injuries he had described and the cause of death matched with what she knew about Druid sacrifice. Greene asked whether the girlfriend was any sort of expert and Kelly said he didn’t think so – she’d worked in an estate agent’s office. She just happened to know some of this stuff.
Waters had typed it in and pressed search before Greene had completed his story. He scanned pages while they waited, finding nothing at first, and he was about to alter the search when he saw it.
‘OK. There is something here. It says Druids were the priests and scholars of Celtic tribes… Debate continues but if the Celts conducted human sacrifice then it would have been the Druids who were carrying it out. There’s more. The Romans, including Julius Caesar, gave them a really bad press but some researchers think this was politically motivated to justify the expense of the invasions…’
Murray said, ‘Some things never change, do they?’
Waters read on, though he noticed that Freeman had returned to the room and was listening – ‘The best archaeological evidence is the Lindow Man bog body.’
Betts said, ‘The what?’
Waters repeated that and then Freeman asked where Lindow was; she sounded suspicious, as if wary that more expensive forensics work might be involved in this latest line of inquiry.
He said, ‘It’s in Cheshire, ma’am,’ and Freeman said that was definitely someone else’s patch and someone else’s problem. Waters couldn’t make out whether she was joking or had genuinely thought the discovery of a body in Cheshire might be connected to their own case. He decided to proceed with caution and explained that Lindow Man had been buried in the first or second century BC. The remains were exceptionally well-preserved and archaeologists concluded that he had been sacrificed. Then Waters read out – “He was strangled, hit on the head, and had his throat cut in quick order, then surrendered to the bog. This pattern fits the “three-fold death” referred to in medieval Irish tales”.
The mood in the room altered somewhat – it became a little less light-hearted. Freeman looked at Tom Greene and said, ‘I’m surprised that didn’t get a mention in either of the SIOs’ summaries. What did Kelly have to say about that?’
Greene said, ‘He never met DI Hallam, ma’am. He told me DI Hardwick acknowledged it but, as we know, it never became an active line of inquiry.’
Freeman had twisted her mouth a little to one side in that characteristic way she had when thinking. Then she turned back to Waters and said, ‘Anything else?’
She had guessed correctly that he would have been reading ahead. ‘Yes, ma’am. The body of Tollund Man in Denmark. It dates from the fourth century. Archaeologists have actually done some work on the bones similar to what we are doing in the current case. But the cause of death was hanging or strangulation with a rope. Experts seem to agree it was some sort of ritual killing. And there’s a photo.’
Freeman heard the significant note in his last words. She came around behind him and looked at the laptop screen but she didn’t see it straight away. When she shrugged, Waters said, ‘The body was buried in that position.’
‘Oh, right.’
He said, ‘So was the Lindow Man, ma’am.’
Freeman straightened up and said to the group, ‘On its side, legs bent up. The foetal position.’
No one needed reminding – they had all seen the photographs of the body Jim Goodrum found in Spring Covert. Freeman pulled out a chair from the table and sat down. She said, ‘There is no way I’m taking this to DCS Allen or Harry Alexander as it stands. Neither am I being responsible for it getting mentioned in an appeal to the general public. Can you imagine the response? So let’s sort it out now. Chris, tell us everything you’ve found out about the Age of Aquarius.’
The puzzling thing was, how did Freeman know he’d been looking into this? He had the bizarre thought that when she was away in her own private office she had some means of monitoring all their screens, but that was ridiculous. The main server did retain that information, obviously, but she would not have been looking on there, would she?
He summarised what he’d learned, explaining that from its beginnings in the 1970s, the movement had developed in a number of ways – there was no agreed definition of what the term “New Age” meant. It was an amorphous set of ideas and beliefs with no single, central authority and a highly eclectic structure. Waters paused and looked up. There were some blank expressions, notably from Serena and Clive Betts; he needed to pitch this differently.
‘In the 1960s, every form of authority had been challenged by a new youth culture. Lots of people think that was a sort of delayed reaction to the Second World War, when the grown-ups had almost destroyed the world for the second time. The New Age ideas are sometimes seen as the spiritual side of the same rebellion. There was lots of emphasis on individual freedom and choice. No more rules. No more being ordered by your government to go and fight strangers. Make love not war…’
He’d got them back – they were listening, and for a moment he felt the thrill a teacher feels when they realise that learning is taking place in front of their very eyes.
‘Anyway, from the little I’ve read, it took off all around the western world in the 1970s and 80s. It was a time of huge changes to things that hadn’t changed for a century. People brought their own agendas to it, so there was plenty of drug-taking, especially the hallucinogenics like LSD. The women’s liberation movement joined in, and it produced new music and literature.’
Tom Greene said, ‘I should point out that some of us are almost old enough to remember it… Chris – have you found any connection between what you’re describing and Celtic priests?’
Waters said, ‘Sort of. As lots of academics point out, the irony is that much of what they engaged in wasn’t new at all. It-’
Serena interrupted him – ‘The Reverend Gray said that himself, when we spoke to him on Monday.’
Waters nodded. ‘The New Age actually resurrected some old beliefs and traditions. Astrology, for example, is where the whole Aquarius idea came from. Forming circles, nature worship, the power of crystals. I haven’t found anything about Druid sacrifice in the New Age pages but there was definitely a lot of interest in Celtic symbols and mythology.’
Cara Freeman took a look around the table. She said, ‘So it’s quite possible that among those people at Wissingham there was someone interested in all this. We know they were there because it was the summer solstice.’ Then she looked at Waters and said, ‘I mean, that’s significant, isn’t it? In paganism? That’s when they might do something as weird as strangling each other?’
He shrugged and said, ‘Honestly, I don’t know enough about it, ma’am. It sounds at least possible.’
Freeman looked at Greene and said, ‘Is it too late to choose another cold case, Tom?’
‘I’m afraid so, ma’am. We’re heavily invested now.’
‘What about your new chum, the professor? She’s at Cambridge. They must have a dozen experts on this.’
Greene said, ‘I could ask.’
‘Yes. Do it. Meanwhile, back in the twenty-first century…’
As she brought things back to more mundane matters, Waters watched Greene. The DI made a note of what he had just been asked to do, of course, and then opened his screen and clicked on his emails. Something caught his attention and he opened it. There were attachments and Greene opened the first of those as well. Waters could not make out the image, but the detective inspector took off his spectacles and peered at it. There was then an unmistakable look of surprise on his face –Waters had rarely seen that before. Greene turned back to the group, waiting for an appropriate moment but he noticed Waters watching and raised his eyebrows. This was something.
Chapter Twelve
Greene said, ‘Ma’am? We’ve just received something that might be of interest.’
Freeman was on her feet, about to leave the group; Waters had the feeling she was preparing herself to break the exciting news about a human sacrifice to her senior officers after all. She asked who had sent this thing that might be of interest. Greene said, ‘Sally Lonsdale. She’s the new head of the SOCO teams in the county. We’ve gone through them with the re-examination of the Wissingham material.’
Waters had first met her during the investigation into the murder of Jimmy Bell; she had found the proof he had been attacked in his own bathroom before his body had been dumped out at sea. Smith had rated her highly.
Freeman said, ‘OK. What’s she got for us?’
Greene said there were some images. He pressed keys and the interactive whiteboard came to life. The first picture appeared to be simply a pale blue background, slightly out of focus – there was some sort of texture in it. There was a fold or a line across it near the upper edge of the screen, and a black circle had been superimposed on it. As Greene began to explain, Waters remembered where he had seen that colour before – this was the T shirt Rose had been wearing.
Greene got up and walked across to the large screen. He said, ‘About an hour ago someone in the lab was re-examining the clothing.’ Pointing now, ‘This line is the seam along the inside lower edge of the T shirt. The black circle indicates where they believe they’ve found something not noticed in the original investigation.’
He returned to his desk and pressed another key. The image changed – now there was an enlargement of the area within the black circle. Something was visible inside it; a fine, curved dark line which could only be a few millimetres long. The room was in complete silence, waiting for the next press of the key. In the next shot, two silver bars had appeared – the pointed ends of a pair of tweezers taking hold of whatever this was. The final screen showed the thing itself, enlarged and sharply in focus at last against a white background; included was a scale showing that the item was thirty-two millimetres from end to end in its curled state.
Freeman announced to no one in particular, ‘That’s a pubic hair,’ and sat back down at the table. Greene said the lab had come to the same conclusion. There was next a most obvious question and Freeman duly asked it.
Greene replied, ‘They’ve done a visual comparison with the samples they hold. They’re as sure as they can be before attempting DNA analysis that it does not belong to the body.’
Freeman was staring at the screen. She said, ‘How the hell was something like that missed?’
Greene said, ‘Sally Lonsdale has written a note about that, ma’am. She says that due to their structure and physical properties, pubic hairs can lodge in places other hair types do not. They can also, as she puts it, “travel” and turn up in unexpected places.’
Clive Betts said, ‘That’s true. I’ve noticed that…’
Denise Sterling was shaking her head but Freeman, if she heard him, ignored him. She said, ‘Anything else about that from Ms Lonsdale? Who, by the way, has just been added to my Christmas card list.’
‘Yes, ma’am. It was found lodged in the seam of the T shirt. It might have been completely concealed during the original examinations and then worked its way out when the garment was being handled recently.’
Freeman said, ‘Hmm. Sounds like forensics covering forensics’ backside. Still, it could be a break.’
She turned to the group and said, ‘I’m only saying “could be”. If she’d owned that T shirt for a while, the hair could have come from almost anywhere, if not anyone. I didn’t know pubic hair is inclined to wander about of its own accord, but if that’s the case, she could have brought it with her to Wissingham and from God knows where. I suppose it’s even possible to acquire one from someone without the obvious sort of close contact. I mean, if Clive accidentally brushed up against Serena in the office, could he transfer one from his clothing?’
The two parties involved in this bizarre speculation regarded each other with mutual horror – no one suggested an experiment to establish the possibility. Freeman continued thinking aloud – ‘Still, the balance of probabilities must be that she acquired this in the usual way. Make love, not war, Chris said. Pop festival, lots of liberated young people. This could conceivably find us a witness who knew ‘Rose’ rather well.’
They waited, knowing by now that the DCI wasn’t done yet.
‘Tom, I’m concerned by something you said just now. You said “before attempting the DNA”. I don’t like the sound of that. What’s the problem? No follicle?’
Waters understood – our hair is biologically dead and contains no DNA. American agencies are field-testing protein analysis of hair samples but that was hardly going to be of any use here, and so he kept quiet.
Greene said, ‘The follicle is present, ma’am, but we’re talking a minute piece of material. As Sally Lonsdale puts it in the email, we’ll only get one shot.’
Freeman stood up again as she said, ‘Fair enough. Tell her to make it their best one.’
‘And, ma’am, we’ve only given them a budget for the re-examination. She points out that the testing will cost extra. She’ll need your OK.’
The OK was given with expletives attached. Once upon a time all police work was just paid for as necessary from a global budget that a very senior officer would quietly adjust once a year, and then management accountancy was born. Running an investigation these days can feel more like shopping for a family meal with three pounds fifty in your purse.
Freeman said, ‘When?’ and Greene said he thought it would be a week or so before the results of the tests were returned to them. Waters saw her look at the screen again and do that thing with her mouth; she wasn’t giving much away but she liked this. Then she turned to Serena and said, ‘You’d take one for the team, I know you would. Get to together with Clive and see whether it’s possible to-’
The refusal was given, also with expletives attached.
Later that same afternoon, Tom Greene reported on his phone conversation with Professor Lindsay. He must have had his second surprise of the day – when he mentioned that they were considering the possibility of some sort of ritual element in the killing of the young woman, she told him yes, that was something her own team had been speculating about. When he did the obvious thing and asked why, she said that most of their work was still genuinely archaeological rather than forensic; in other words, she and her PhD students were already very familiar with discoveries like those at Lindow and Tollund.
She said to him that it was all speculation, however – academically there was no agreement on how widespread such practices were. No one could say for certain that there was a cult of human sacrifice in Celtic societies but certain authors had popularised the idea and sold plenty of books in the process. She sounded a little dismissive, Greene thought, as though she knew some of them personally and disapproved of the fact. Lindsay offered to put him in touch with people at the university but she doubted whether he would learn anything of much use to Lake Central’s investigations. Greene told the team he was, on balance, inclined to agree with her on that.
However, she then updated him on the work they had already done in their own lab. There was some news. They were certainly dealing with the skeleton of a young female – the professor was as definite as she could be that the individual was aged between sixteen and twenty five when she died. She would have been 162cm in height – Greene had to work that back into imperial, making her five feet and four inches tall. The bones suggested she might have been more lightly built than average for her height but developmentally there were no abnormalities – no evidence of a poor diet when young, for example. But there was evidence of a significant injury before the age of ten.
As a detective, you are not interested in typical, average and ordinary – the search is always for the different, the distinctive and, preferably, the unique. Every member of the team was listening now.
Greene said, ‘At some point she broke her arm. Professor Lindsay found evidence of a healed greenstick fracture of the radius. In layman’s terms, as a girl she broke a bone but it did not snap into two pieces because children’s bones are more flexible. It’s a common injury, she says. It would not have required surgery – she almost certainly had the arm in a cast for a few weeks. The break healed properly.’
