They saw it as a shame they could not use the open fireplaces in the house. At least they would be open to view once a local handyman had removed the cheap panelling that covered them.
‘Always costly, home renovations,’ Ted Hunter, the local handyman said. ‘Everyone’s the same; thinks it’s easy, and it will come under budget. Mark my words, they never do.’ In his fifties, Ted was as fit as any man could be after thirty-five years with the tools of his trade. He had done it all: bricklaying, painting, fitting new ceilings, patching up old ones.
‘It’s more than we budgeted for,’ Trevor, the now more financially-encumbered mortgagor, said.
‘I’m sorry, but that’s how it is. You can get another quote, but they will hit you afterwards,’ Ted said. He had seen it all before: enthusiastic homeowners embarking on the great challenge, assuming a couple of coats of paint, a little bit of tender love and care would transform a pig’s ear into a silk purse.
Ted knew the costs would escalate once they attempted to deal with what could not be seen: dry rot, rising damp, even the foundations if the house had been built on swampy ground.
The first task in the house was to remove the encumbrance that covered the fireplace in the main room. Ted Hunter knew the house had been rented out in the past, each room converted into a depressing bedsit, with a toilet and a bathroom on the first floor, and money in a meter for hot water.
Sue Baxter had made a special effort to be present for the great unveiling of the centrepiece of the room, the fireplace. Ted had warned her that it would not be pleasant: twenty years of pigeons trapped inside the chimney as well as accumulated dust and decay. She could not be dissuaded and even wore a mask for the occasion. She was compiling a photographic history of the renovation, and she had a camera ready in her hand.
‘Just ease it over to your side,’ Ted said to Kyle Sanders, a thickset twenty-something of limited words and intelligence. A good worker, even if he was likely to get stroppy of a night time down the pub. He was known at the police station for putting a few smart-arses in hospital. Still, to Ted, he was trustworthy, always turned up to work on time: the ideal employee in his estimation.
‘It’s heavy,’ Kyle said.
Jimmy Pickett stood to one side. A sullen man of forty-two, he had neither the love of work nor the strength of Kyle. Ted had only taken him on as a standby, and then only as a favour as he was married to his wife’s sister. Jimmy’s function, according to Sue Baxter, was to stand to one side and offer verbal encouragement liberally peppered with expletives. Not that Sue would have minded, but April, the eldest child, was upstairs after taking a day off from school, and she did not want her exposed to the foul language.
‘It’s coming free,’ Kyle said. He was down on his knees with a lever inserted between the wall and the covering. Ted, standing up on the other side of the fireplace, was attempting a similar exercise. Both were blanketed with copious amounts of coal dust mixed with the occasional feather as they progressively freed the structure.
‘Jimmy, secure the top, stop it falling over,’ Ted shouted.
‘I’ve got it,’ Jimmy said. He had reluctantly been pressed into service and was coughing. Sue Baxter was unimpressed. She had spent too many years as a teacher not to know a faker when she saw one.
‘It’s an open fireplace,’ Ted said. ‘Looks to be in good condition.’
Excited, Sue pressed forward, camera in hand. Ted warned her to stand back. She could not be dissuaded.
‘What’s that at the bottom?’ Sue asked.
‘No idea,’ Ted said. ‘Wait till we get it free.’
Jimmy had relocated some distance away due to the coal dust exacerbating his asthma. Two minutes later, the old wooden structure was placed to one side, resting on the far wall.
April had come down to see what was happening, and Sue was taking photos. Ted had seen plenty of old fireplaces in his time, and this one, even though it was bigger than most, would need to be removed and renovated.
Down on his knees again, Kyle prodded at what appeared to be blankets in the bottom of the fireplace. There were some ropes wrapped around it.
Ted warned him to be careful on account of the dust. Jimmy had left the room. April and Sue were hovering close to Kyle.
Ted told them all to stand back. It did not look right to him. He slowly cut one of the ropes. A bone fell out.
‘You’d better call the police,’ he said to Sue.
Chapter 2
As the Senior Investigating Officer of the Murder Investigation Team, Isaac Cook could see that the chance of a few days off looked unlikely. There had been a couple of cases lately which had taxed his people, a well-crafted team of professionals. Everyone, not only Isaac, was looking for time off, or at least the chance to go home to the family at a reasonable hour, instead of close to midnight, as had been the case for weeks. They had just wrapped up the murder of a child, a crime that always depressed everyone in the office. It had proved hard to pinpoint the murderer until the elder brother, only eleven, admitted he was angry after the younger brother took his
