Chapter 7
‘Okay, one body only,’ said Shannon Wood. The forensic pathologist had come straight from the plane to the scene, then on to the hospital. It had taken nearly twenty-four hours from the first phone call to the mine, fire and rescue team to bring the body to the surface. Shannon had arrived just as the all clear had been given for her to descend into the mine and look for evidence. Two days later and Dave was keen for news on what she knew. ‘Male. That’s nearly all I know right now.’
The photos both Shannon and Dave were staring at were graphic against the glare of the whiteboard in the detectives’ office at Barrabine Police Station.
Dave recalled how a man from the mine, fire and rescue team suited up and was winched down the hole. It had been his job to get the remains into a body bag, secure it and get it to the surface. Once the body was retrieved, Shannon had been given the all clear to be lowered down to examine the site, complete with high-powered torches and camera. The inspection had been time-consuming and tedious work under trying conditions.
To Dave, who wasn’t an expert like Shannon was, it didn’t look like they would be able to get any information from the body. The decomposition was advanced, despite the coolness of the underground grave. The facial features were unrecognisable from bloat and skin slip, and the body was coloured a bruised red and green. Of course, even though it looked unidentifiable, with modern methods he knew Shannon would be able to get a lot of info from the body.
‘I’ll take the body back to Perth and finish the rest of the examination there. I just don’t have the facilities here to run the types of tests I need and do a full exam. He’s possibly between the ages of thirty and sixty,’ Shannon said, breaking into Dave’s thoughts.
‘Male, then. Anything worth mentioning with the body? I guess you’ve gone through his pockets? Or did you pick up anything down the mine shaft?’ Dave asked. The office was stifling, with the afternoon sun on the west-facing windows, and the air-conditioner wasn’t keeping up. He could feel the sweat running down his spine and he wanted to wipe it away, but he focused on the details Shannon was giving him.
‘Over here.’ She indicated for him to follow her. ‘There are a few things—watch, pen, set of keys, they look like house keys or something similar.’ She poked at them through the bag.
‘We should be able to work out when we’ve got the right person, then,’ Dave joked. ‘We’ll be able to get into his house.’
‘But look at this.’ Shannon took out another bag from underneath the top one. It held three small pieces of gold.
Dave gave a low whistle. ‘Would you look at that,’ he said softly, leaning closer to inspect the nuggets.
‘Pity we don’t know where he got them from,’ she said.
‘Yeah. Spencer said to me once that gold doesn’t come with an address or GPS coordinates. Would make life a lot easier if it did!’ He continued to look at them for a few moments longer before turning back to the keys. ‘I’ll talk to Spencer but I think we can analyse gold and find out what general area it came from. Whether or not it can be narrowed down to sections of the goldfields, I don’t know, but if we can, I’ll get it done. Where did you find them?’
‘Left-hand pocket. Strange really. They were loose in there. I would have thought someone in possession of gold would have had it in a plastic bag, or wrapped up somehow. Loose in a pocket, anything could happen to them—fall out, get lost right in the corner, you know what pockets can be like.’
‘That is weird. Spencer has said a lot of the prospectors carry film canisters—you know, the sort that hold camera film?’
‘Yeah, I know the ones you mean.’ Shannon bent over and put her face close to the plastic bag. ‘It’s a lot darker than I thought gold would be, dull is a better word.’
‘The jewellers haven’t got hold of it and given it a good polish yet.’ He leaned forward too. ‘And it’s still got dirt ingrained in it. See here?’ He pointed with the end of a pen.
Her hair brushed against his arm and he moved a little to the side.
‘Yeah, yeah. Interesting thing, with all the holes and gouges. Some of it looks like there’ve been bubbles inside and burst!’ She straightened. ‘Anyway, how are you liking it out in the sticks?’ she asked.
‘I’m loving it,’ Dave said honestly. ‘Don’t miss the city one bit.’
‘The morgue is so much quieter without you around,’ she elbowed him gently. ‘Always knew when you were coming because your boots clicked loudly on the floor and your laugh was really loud. You’ve got a lovely laugh.’
Dave straightened up and grinned. ‘Don’t mind being known by my laugh. Laughing is much better than frowning.’ As he said it a flash of Melinda’s face from the night before hit him. She’d been standing at the window in the lounge, scowling as some kids walked up and down the street. They didn’t have shoes and were yelling loudly, one was bouncing a football. Two of them had come to the front gate and tried to open it until Ernie had called out over the fence and scared them off. When he’d turned back her face had been contorted into an ugly grimace.
Shannon stood up too and patted his arm. ‘Anyway, we miss you.’
‘You know I have to ask,’ Dave said, changing the subject.
‘Ask what?’
‘Is there a cause of death?’
‘Nothing obvious,’ she said, moving away. ‘No gunshot wound, stab marks, ligature marks. I’ll need to run toxicology and do a proper autopsy. Should have the prelim results to you in two days. Depending, of course, what’s backed up when I get there. I had a phone call yesterday saying
