‘I’ll get some checks done and see if similar incidents have been recorded anywhere.’
‘Yes, that’s a good first step. And you’ll be talking to the family again, I suppose?’
‘Of course.’
Hitchens swivelled his chair away from Cooper, a sign that something was worrying him.
‘And then there’s the question of when and where the theft
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of the body took place. You said that Audrey Steele was in hospital when she died?’
‘Yes.’
‘Identified by the family, and all that?’
‘I think so, but I’ll get a statement from her mother, or whoever saw her in hospital last.’
‘Right. Then the obvious places where the opportunity might have arisen would be the funeral director’s premises, and the crematorium itself.’
‘I’d have thought those were the only places,’ said Cooper. ‘The family didn’t take her body home for a wake. The funeral director’s preparation room and chapel of rest seem most likely, as regards an opportunity for interfering with the body.’
‘And the funeral directors in this case are …?’
‘Hudson and Slack.’
The DI nodded. ‘Tread carefully, Ben. Be discreet. We don’t want a scare on our hands, with bereaved relatives panicking about the fate of their dearly departed. Nor do we want to wreck the good name of a reputable company without cause.’
‘I’ll be careful, sir. In fact, I thought I might start with the crematorium and work backwards.’
‘From the point of departure, so to speak? OK, that sounds like a plan.’
‘Meanwhile, I wondered … well, what about a new search at Litton Foot?’
‘In case we missed something the first time?’
‘For one thing, there are some bones missing from Audrey Steele’s remains,’ said Cooper. ‘There might be other evidence lying around the scene, too. Now that we have an angle on how she got there, I think we ought to take a fresh look, perhaps extend the area of the search.’
‘It would only be on a limited scale, Ben.’
‘I understand that, sir.’
Hitchens made a note. ‘I’ll get something set up.’
‘Thank you.’
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The DI turned back towards the window, as if he believed the meeting was over. ‘At least Mrs Steele died of natural causes,’ he said. ‘So we’re not looking at a murder enquiry here.’
Cooper thought of Vivien Gill at home on the Devonshire Estate, sitting in her smelly kitchen with her Doidy Cup and Bickiepegs.
‘Well…’ he said.
Hitchens spun round on his chair to face him. ‘What? What?’
‘It’s just…’ Cooper hesitated a moment under the DI’s gaze. ‘Well, sir, there is another question to be answered. If Audrey Steele’s remains ended up in the woods in Ravensdale, then who was cremated in her place?’
Cooper sat down at his desk and ran a check on the Criminal Intelligence System, but without result. Apparently, unauthorized interference with corpses wasn’t a common offence in Derbyshire. Who’d have guessed it? He requested a flag on any reports of similar incidents collated by intelligence officers on other forces, though he knew it would take time before there was any response.
Then he wondered what law the offence came under, and tried the legislation index. The Anatomy Act and the Human Tissues Act covered the anatomical examination of dead bodies and the removal of a dead person’s organs respectively. Not really applicable. In any case, the maximum penalty under either act was three months’ imprisonment, and hardly worth bothering about. He did locate a definition of a ‘person lawfully in possession of the body’, but even that wasn’t very clear or helpful. And the only other reference he found was in Section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act - sexual penetration of a corpse. Best not to think about it.
Besides, if it turned out that Audrey Steele had been evicted from her coffin to make way for a body that hadn’t died of
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natural causes, the minor charge might become irrelevant. The case would escalate instantly into a murder enquiry.
Cooper felt a surge of excitement when he thought of it. Everything depended on what he did in the next few days. He’d have to trawl through missing persons again, dating back eighteen months at least. If he could narrow down the list and start making some connections, he’d be getting somewhere. First, he phoned Eden Valley Crematorium to make an appointment with the manager. It was a private sector operation, built by a company in East Anglia to meet the increasing demand for cremations. The manager’s name was Lloyd, and he was available in his office all morning. Cooper picked up his car keys and notebook.
‘Where are you going, Ben?’ said Fry.
‘The crem.’
She stopped what she was doing and stared after him as he went through the door.
‘Why?’ she said.
Cooper heard her, but kept going. As he closed the door behind him and set off down the corridor, he thought he could still hear her voice somewhere behind him. He’d explain to her later. She’d have to make do with partial information for a while.
Fry didn’t really have time to worry about Ben Cooper. When her phone rang, it was Gavin Murfin suggesting that she come over to the CCTV control room.
