Pulse (A Kate Redman Mystery Read online

  She sat down on the rumpled bed to put on her shoes. What else had Theo said? There’s a few weird things about it apparently… What did that mean? Kate did up the last buckle, her mind straying into the fantastical. Weird things – the body had been found in a graveyard. Black magic? Was that what Theo meant? Grave robbing? Kate grimaced and then decided that Theo would have mentioned something that outlandish outright.

  She did a quick check of the bedroom, making sure she’d picked up everything essential. Handbag, phone, jacket… Should she make the bed? She instinctively wanted to – Kate liked things to be neat and tidy – but would Anderton consider it an imposition? Or would he appreciate it? Kate compromised after a moment by pulling the sheets back to air the mattress and plumping up the flattened pillows. Would this be her bedroom as well, one day? Don’t worry about that now, woman. She gave herself a mental shake and marched from the bedroom, determined now to only think about the crime scene – potential crime scene – that she was about to investigate.

  Chapter Two

  The graveyard was an old one. Kate could see that, even at first glance, as she came in through the lych gate at the front and followed the gently winding path up a slope, past the church itself. She let the path take her deep into the rows of gravestones. She could hear the activity before she saw it, as a thick hedge of hazel screened whatever was happening from view. There was a gap in the hedge and Kate moved through it to another part of the graveyard, a newer section where the headstones were noticeably less aged, and the dates reflected the late twentieth and early twenty-first century rather than any earlier.

  The Scene of Crime Officers were already well established, a white tent hiding the body from public view. Just as well, thought Kate, as a helicopter batted its blades overhead. There hadn’t been any press at the main entrance to the church but it surely couldn’t be long before they arrived.

  As Kate walked towards the tent, the entrance flap moved to allow the sight of Anderton ducking out into the open air, closely followed by Theo. Kate, unable to help smiling, thought that she really must learn to perfect more of a poker face if she and her boss were going to keep their liaison secret for a while. As it was, Theo looked rather startled at the delight on her face.

  “Nice to see you too, Kate,” said Theo, grinning. “It’s been a while. A whole twelve hours, at least.”

  Quickly, Kate adjusted her face. “I’m always happy to see your handsome face, Theo, you know that.” She didn’t dare look at Anderton.

  “Aren’t they all, mate? Aren’t they all?” Anderton cleared his throat and Theo quickly dropped his bantering tone. “Anyway, you coming in?”

  They all moved back into the tent, one by one. It was already quite stuffy under the plastic, although the grass under their feet was still wet with dew. Kate braced herself for the sight of the body. She knew, for some officers, the sight of a dead body became unremarkable, commonplace, even, but for her it was still a moment of awe and – to be honest – dread. She took a deep breath and looked.

  She knew immediately what Theo had meant by ‘weird things’. The young man’s body was milk-pale – what skin she could see, as he was still fully clothed – so pale as to almost reflect the colour of the white forensic tent that hung above him. His eyes were closed, his face slack and without expression. He lay on his back, his arms folded across his chest.

  “He was found like that?” she asked the two men, for some reason almost whispering.

  “Yeah.” Theo’s tone was almost as quiet. “The church warden found him like that. Didn’t touch him, apparently, said he could see he was dead straight away. Well, you would, wouldn’t you? Look at him, you can almost see through him.”

  Uncharacteristically, Kate had to repress a shiver. There was something unearthly about the body; its pallor, the way it was lying. Kate had the fanciful thought that it wasn’t actually a person at all but a marble statue, fallen from a gravestone and for some reason dressed in human clothes.

  Anderton had come closer. “There’s no sign of violence that I can see. The doc will have a better idea. No obvious drug paraphernalia. No suicide note that we’ve found.”

  Kate had already swept the area around the body with her gaze, looking for syringes, tourniquets, plastic bags. There was nothing. “Do we know who he is, yet?”

  Anderton shook his head. “Once the pathologist gets here we can have a look in his pockets.”

  Kate looked again at the body. The man looked young – well, youngish, thirty-something, she guessed, but it was difficult to tell sometimes after death as the muscles of the face relaxed and softened. His head had fallen a little to one side. His dark hair was stiffened into spikes by sweat, or perhaps the drying dew, and his lips were bluish.

  “Have we started a house-to-house yet?” she asked Theo.

  “Yeah, the uniforms are beginning that now. They’ve already told us there were complaints last night about a party, in a house back there.” Theo gestured at the back wall of the tent. “Apparently, there’ve been a few over the past few months, and the neighbours are getting a bit pissed off with it.”

  “Right.” Kate was about to ask another question when she heard the swish of the tent entrance flap behind them and turned to see the pathologist, Doctor Gatkiss, walk through, closely followed by another white-suited figure she didn’t recognise.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Ivor Gatkiss said in his usual rather shy manner. The young man with him didn’t speak but smiled a little uncertainly. Doctor Gatkiss gestured towards him. “I must introduce Joshua Garton, who’s with us for the next month on a training placement.”

  All the police officers murmured a variety of polite greetings. Joshua Garton still didn’t say anything but nodded and smiled. He was very young, or seemed so to Kate – perhaps mid-twenties? As a medical student, he could have been even younger. Good looking, thought Kate, noting his dark brown eyes, high cheekbones and black hair. Then she stood back to let the young man and Dr. Gatkiss pass through to begin their work.

  The officers moved outside to free up some space inside the tent. Kate raised her face gratefully to the sky. The rain and grey clouds of the early morning had blown away and the sun was beginning to make its presence felt. The gradually strengthening rays felt especially good after the muggy, fetid air of the forensic tent.

  “Where the hell is Mark?” said Anderton, checking his phone once more. “It’s not like him to be late.”

  “Got snarled up in traffic,” said Theo. “Those roadworks on the Bristol road are a right bastard.”

  “Maybe.” Anderton didn’t look convinced. “Has he texted you, Kate?”

  Kate checked her own phone. “No.”

  “Oh well, we’ll just have to—”Anderton began, and then they all saw DI Mark Olbeck making his way towards them through the gravestones, looking rather flushed and annoyed.

  “Sorry, sorry, got caught up,” he said as he got closer.

  “Told you,” commented Theo.

  “Never mind, you’re here now. Kate, would you take him through and show him what’s what?” Anderton gestured towards the tent. “Now, Theo, you and I will make a start on the statements—”

  Kate pulled her gaze from his back as Anderton and Theo retreated, their voices receding as they walked further away. She realised Olbeck was already striding towards the tent and hurried to catch him up.

  “You all right?” she asked, as they ducked through the entrance. Olbeck had a tightly-wound air about him that, knowing him as she had done for so long, meant that he’d recently gone through a rather stressful experience. “Was the traffic that bad?”

  Olbeck shook his head impatiently. “Doesn’t matter,” he said shortly. “Now, where’s this body?”

  “Over here.” They squeezed between milling SOCOs over to where the figures of Gatkiss and his young assistant were crouched down. “Now, what—”

>   As she spoke, Doctor Gatkiss moved aside, giving both Kate and Olbeck a view of the young man’s face. Whatever Kate had been going to say was lost in the audible gasp that escaped Olbeck, and he stopped walking so abruptly that Kate cannoned into the back of him.

  “Oh my god.” Olbeck’s hand covered his mouth, and he stared intently at the body. “Oh, my god.”

  “Mark, what—”

  Before Kate could say another word, Olbeck wheeled around and began walking very fast towards the entrance to the tent, blundering heedlessly through the crowd. Kate stared after him for a moment, open-mouthed. She turned back to look at the body again, wondering if there had been something she’d not spotted that could have caused Olbeck’s reaction. But it was the same as it had been, that drained, unearthly face, the two doctors slowly working their way around it. It didn’t look as though either of them had noticed Olbeck’s abrupt departure. Biting her lip, Kate made her own way to the tent entrance and ducked outside.

  She couldn’t see Olbeck for a moment and then spotted him. He was some twenty yards away, by a large monument topped by a crumbling stone angel. Olbeck leant against the side of the tomb, his head in his hands. By now thoroughly alarmed, Kate hastened over to him.

  “Mark, what’s wrong? What’s the matter?”

  Olbeck raised his head from his hands. Kate was shocked to see how pale he was.

  “It’s—” for a moment, his voice cracked and he cleared his throat and tried again. “It’s – it’s Joe.”

  “Joe?” Kate thought for a second he’d gone mad. Who the hell was Joe? Then she remembered – of course she did. Joe was an old boyfriend of Olbeck’s, the one he’d had when she first arrived at Abbeyford. The breakdown of their relationship had been a painful one, despite the fact that Olbeck had instigated it. Kate remembered his behaviour after they’d split up, all through that Elodie Duncan case. Hadn’t it been then, after the case was finished, that Olbeck had met Jeff? It was a long time ago now, years gone by. But still, she could see why Olbeck was upset.

  “Oh – oh, Mark. God, I’m sorry.” She gave him a hug, and he clutched at her, shivering. “My god, what a shock. Are you sure it’s him?”

  “Of course I’m sure!”

  She knew it was shock and grief that made him lash out in that tone but she still flinched. “Okay, sorry. I’m really sorry, Mark.”

  He put her arms away from him, gently. “I know. Sorry I snapped.”

  “That’s okay—”

  “I was just – I can’t believe it. I haven’t seen him for years, but I recognised him straight away. What could have happened?” He didn’t wait for an answer but raised his hands to his face, scrubbing at it as if he were washing himself. “Oh, God, I can’t believe it. Joe, of all people.”

  Kate stood back a little, letting him collect himself. “Do you think you should go home?”

  “No.” Olbeck shook his head emphatically. “I’m just getting myself together, I’ll be fine. It was just the shock.”

  “All right.” Try as she might, Kate couldn’t keep the anxiety from her tone. She had a sudden, brilliant flash of memory – the Elodie Duncan case again, how Kate had recognised the body of the girl as someone she knew, if only marginally. She could still recall the shock of it, the almost hallucinatory quality of finding the body at the scene. How much worse would it be to see the body of someone you had once loved and lived with?

  Olbeck dropped his hands to his sides and drew a deep shaky breath. “Okay. I’m okay, now.”

  “Sure?” Kate wasn’t convinced.

  “I’m fine.” Olbeck looked around him. “Where are the others?”

  Kate glanced around. Theo and Anderton had disappeared. She sighed. “Come on, we’d best go and find them. You’ll have to tell Anderton what you’ve just told me.”

  “I know.”

  They began walking back towards the entrance to the churchyard. As they came through the gap in the hazel hedge, the growing crowd of journalists and photographers could be seen at the lych gate, being held back by a couple of uniformed officers.

  Olbeck stopped walking. “Kate—”

  Kate looked quickly at him, alarmed by his tone. She was not reassured by the sight of her friend. He looked almost greenish.

  “Here, come over here.” She drew him back along the path so they were out of sight of the lych gate. “Here, sit down here.” She pressed him down onto a convenient bench and forced his head downwards. “Come on, head down for a moment. Deep breaths.”

  “I’m fine,” Olbeck mumbled from his downward position but he stayed where he was. Kate sat down beside him, rubbing his shoulder. With a leap of gladness, she saw Anderton and Theo coming towards them from another path that clearly led from the back of the church.

  “Mark, at last—”Anderton began but stopped short. “What the hell’s the matter?”

  Kate opened her mouth to tell him and shut it again. This was Olbeck’s issue.

  Olbeck raised his face and explained in several short, halting sentences. Theo and Kate exchanged silent, agonised glances but didn’t say anything.

  “Right,” Anderton said, when Olbeck had finished speaking. “I’m very sorry to hear that, Mark. It must have been a hell of a shock.” Olbeck nodded painfully. “Well, the best thing you can do is head off, I think. No—” His tone changed into something almost of a warning as Olbeck went to protest. “You’ll be more help to me back at the station. Or go home, if you like. Just for the day. You’ve had a shock.”

  “I’m not going home,” Olbeck said, and there was something in his tone that made Kate look at him sharply. “I’m fine, honestly.”

  “That’s as may be. But until we find out more about what’s actually happened, I’d be happier with you off the case. Just for now.”

  Olbeck went to protest again and obviously thought better of it. He stood up, a little hesitantly. “All right. I’ll go back to the office.”

  “Good man.” Anderton stood back to let him past. Olbeck walked off with a muttered goodbye.

  Kate stood looking after her friend. She was shaken by his reaction. Not once had she ever seen him so affected by a crime scene, but then it was a pretty unusual set of circumstances, wasn’t it? She repressed the impulse to run after him. She had her work to do, after all.

  “God almighty.” Once Olbeck was out of earshot, Anderton turned back to the two remaining officers with his eyebrows up. “What a cluster f—”

  “Did you and Theo get anything from the preliminary interviews?” Kate asked hastily. She hated hearing her boss and her lover swear, although God knew she wasn’t averse to the odd four letter word herself. At the same time, she was pleased to hear how she herself sounded – professional but matey, same as usual. Not a hint of the fact that they were romantically involved escaping. Keep it up, Kate.

  “Not much, but we can debrief fully back at the station. Come on, let’s head back and see if the docs have anything concrete for us yet.”

  They all began to walk back towards the forensics tent. The sun was out in full now, and the graveyard looked oddly beautiful in the golden September rays; the mellow old stones crumbling with age, their hard edges and surfaces blurred and softened by lichen and moss. This late in the year, there were only the little white stars of the daisies and the odd exuberant yellow dandelion to add colour to the grass. The first reddening leaves could be seen in the hazel hedge.

  Kate reached the entrance to the tent. Now that she knew who the body was, she felt an odd reluctance to see it again. Get a grip, woman, she told herself and followed Anderton’s broad back into the tent.

  Chapter Three

  Inside the tent was still a bustle of activity, with white-clad figures taking photographs and measurements and samples. Kate moved over to where Anderton and Theo were now talking to the pathologists.

  “So, nothing definite?”
Anderton said as she came up to the group.

  Ivor Gatkiss shook his head, but he was frowning. “There’s one thing that’s immediately significant.” He crouched again and gently tipped the head to one side. Revealed by the movement was a small wound in the side of the throat, up under the jawline. The edges of the cut gaped bloodlessly, like a tiny lipless mouth. “Now, this has been made by a knife, a sharp knife. At first sight, I admit I thought that this was the cause of death, but on reflection, I’m not so sure.”

  “No?” Anderton crouched down, groaning at the creak of his knees. “God, Ivor, I don’t know how you manage to do this all day. At your age.”

  Gatkiss smiled. “Anyway, it’s not a cut to the jugular, as I first thought. That would have been the cause of death, if that were the case. Blood loss would have been extremely rapid. But it’s actually just a shallow cut into the veins of the throat. He wouldn’t have died from it, not as far as I can see.”

  “Hmm.” Anderton looked more closely. “Well, that’s a bit bloody peculiar, isn’t it? A cut to the throat that’s not fatal? Could it have been accidental?”