v ^ 1 .
went by without being investigated, let alone cleared up. The paperwork was everywhere to prove it cases that had been allocated crime numbers for insurance claims, and then filed. Hveryonc was crying out for more police time to be spent on solving crime, as if the world depended on it.
But here, at the foot of the Snake Pass, Fry felt as though she were standing on the edge of the world. On either side of
n
the A57 there was a white wall a couple oi feet deep where the snow lay untouched and unnaturally smooth, so that the edges of the road merged seamlessly into the surrounding moorland. The tarmacked surface of the A57 was normally the only sign of civili/ation this far out of Edendale, and Fry found its disappearance unsettling. It seemed to he telling her she might never get out.
Mrs Van Doon turned tor a second to stare at the police officers standing in the road. Their voices carried loud and clear to where she was working. She shook her head and concentrated again on her job.
‘You’d think if someone had been cut almost in hall by a snowplough. they would bleed a bit.’ said Hitchens.
I o ‘ ‘
‘Yes, you’d think so,’ said Murfm. ‘A bit.’
‘If only out of a desire to be artistically satisfying in their final moments.’
Hitchens caught Fry’s eve and nodded at her, as if she had said something intelligent. She knew he sensed her antipathy to Murfin and her irritation at the way the DI was encouraging him. But Hitchens smiled, like a man who had all the time in the world at his disposal and had chosen to spend part of it right here, in this isolated, snowcovered spot, with a handful of fellow police officers, two distraught council workmen, and a body with no blood.
‘Mind you, it’s probably a clue,’ he said.
Fry watched the pathologist taking a temperature and examining the corpse’s skin for lividity. The dead man was dressed in a dark suit that bore the marks of the snowplough blade where it had gouged into him and tossed him on to the roadside verge like a sack of rubbish. The blue overnight bag that had been
o o
found with him stood a few feet awav. He could almost have been a passenger stranded at a snowbound airport, sleeping uncomfortably on the floor of the terminal as he waited for a flight that would never leave.
Murfin surreptitiously chewed something and swallowed. When he opened his mouth, Fry imagined she could see tiny particles of chocolate hanging in the cloud of his breath, perhaps a sweet-flavoured mist that drifted and dissipated in the sharp air. ‘I think I’ve got it, sir,’ he said.
38
‘Yes, Gavin?’
‘The snowplough driver is a vampire. He sucked all the blood out of the body, and he never left a drop/
Fry turned away so that they wouldn’t see her expression. She felt the irritation turning to exasperation, and she had to take a few deep breaths of the ice-cold air to control it. She anted to slap DC Murtin round the head a few times, but she couldn’t do it with the DI present. Worst of all, she knew that Murfin would be hers for the duration of the enquiry.
‘Well, well,’ said Hitchens. ‘Our first vampire killer in E Division. That’s going to be a tricky one to do the paperwork on, Gavin. I don t think we’ve even got a form (or it.’
‘ c*
Murfin grinned. His lips began to move, and he patted his pockets, seeking something else to eat — a Snickers bar, a packet of sweets, there would be something there. Fry could see that he was thinking. His brain was occupied with a difficult challenge, and it wasn’t the detection of a crime.
‘Evcryhodv has their cross to bear, sir, he said.
Mrs Van Doon turned, distracted by the chatter. ‘If you reallv
want to know, this man’s heart had long since stopped,’ she said. ‘No heart pumping means no blood. Your corpse was already quite dead when the snowplough hit him.’
The pathologist began packing her bag. Fry wanted to help her. In fact, she wanted to go with her, to get out of the atmosphere here and into a nice warm mortuary, among peaceful company that didn’t crack stupid jokes or leave prawn crackers trampled into the carpet of her car. Mrs Van Doon looked tired. Like all of them, she was overworked at the moment.
Fry did one more stretch, inhaled and exhaled deeply, and felt her bodv tingle with the extra oxvgcn.
v o v O
‘I dunno about that,’ said Murfin. ‘I still like the vampire theorv mvself.’
v v
‘Excuse me,’ said the pathologist. ‘I think I’m finished here for now.’
Frv had to stand back out of the way to allow her past. She wanted to exchange a look, to share a little sympathy. Rut the woman’s head was down, and she didn’t look up. There were tired lines around her eyes and blue patches under them. Fry
39
recalled that, according to the gossip at divisional headquarters, their old DC1, Stewart Tailby, had once had a personal interest in Juliana Van Doon, but nothing had come of it. 1 ailbv was soon to make the move to an admin job in Ripley. Now Mrs Van Doon looked as though she had seen too many dead bodies.
‘You see, 1 reckon I know that bloke who was driving the snowplough,’ said Murfin. ‘And I’ve never seen him out in the sunlight.’
The pathologist walked back to her car and began stripping off her suit. Fry picked up Mrs Van Doon’s case and held on to it for a moment as the woman reached out to take it from her. Their eyes met, but neither of them spoke.
