But there was nothing, just the rain and the morbid light.
Fleet made to head back towards the access path, meaning to catch up with Nicky. But as he turned, it happened again: a flutter at the edge of his vision, accompanied this time by a sound, as well as a distinct, unshakeable sensation that someone was watching him.
He spun sharply … and almost leapt from his Gore-Tex hiking boots when a hand fell on his shoulder.
He clutched his heart.
‘Jesus Christ, Nicky.’
Nicky gave a start herself, half amused, half surprised by Fleet’s reaction. ‘Sorry, boss. I thought you’d noticed me coming.’
‘No, I …’ Fleet glanced again towards the trees. A shrug of air disturbed the leaves on the branches, and then once again all was still.
Keeping one eye on the tree line, Fleet said, ‘I thought you went looking for a signal?’
‘I did. I didn’t find one. I had a bar for a moment, but then it was gone. I was trying to get hold of Forensics, to ask them to get a wriggle on.’
Fleet shook his head. ‘It wouldn’t make any difference.’
‘Burton?’ said Nicky.
‘You guessed it.’
‘But if they find the blood, and it comes back as a match for Sadie’s, or her prints are on the …’ Nicky trailed off when she noted Fleet’s grimace.
‘“The search teams have uncovered all they’re going to”,’ he quoted. ‘Apparently. We’re to rely on a bunch of mushroom pickers instead.’
‘Mushroom pickers?’
Another head shake. ‘Never mind,’ said Fleet. ‘Bottom line is, if Sadie’s out here, we need some other way of finding her.’ He looked out once again into the trees.
‘We could ramp up the pressure on Mason,’ said Nicky. ‘Charge him, slam the door, then offer him a ray of light if he points us the way to Sadie’s body.’
‘Careful, DS Collins. You’re beginning to sound like the superintendent,’ said Fleet. Then, turning from the tree line, ‘Sorry. That was uncalled for. I’d take it as a mortal insult if someone said that to me.’ He gave her a conspiratorial smile, and Nicky returned it.
‘So, what’s the deal with Mason, anyway?’ she said, glancing out into the woods herself. ‘Have we officially gone off him? What’s made you change your mind?’
‘I’m not sure I have changed my mind,’ Fleet answered. ‘In fact, right now, I’d still say Mason is our most likely suspect. On paper, anyway.’ He angled his head and took a step closer to the trees. He could see nothing, no one, but Fleet couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was looking back at him. And unless some poor PC had been left behind and was hiding until Fleet left, to cover his embarrassment, there was only one other person it was likely to be …
‘Boss?’ said Nicky, frowning. She’d clearly realised something was distracting him. ‘What are you staring at?’
‘I … nothing,’ said Fleet, in all honesty. ‘But humour me, will you? Let’s take a look around.’
‘But … why?’ said Nicky. ‘This whole area, the buildings included, would already have been swept from top to bottom.’
‘It would,’ Fleet agreed. He led the way towards the tree line.
‘Boss? Seriously. What are you hoping to find?’
‘That’s something else I’m not sure of,’ said Fleet. ‘But answer me this: if you were trying to hide from someone, where would you go?’
Nicky shrugged. ‘As far away from them as possible.’
‘And if that wasn’t an option?’
‘Well, I suppose …’ Nicky turned her gaze towards the woods. Her expression when she looked back at Fleet told him she’d finally caught on. ‘Right under their noses,’ she said.
The rain continued to fall, and its relentless percussion grew louder as they slipped between the trees. There was marginally more shelter underneath the canopy, but the drops that found them were thicker, heavier, as indeed was the atmosphere more generally in the woods. Amid the undergrowth it was even harder to see than it had been in the clearing, and there was a sense of the gloom pressing in.
Fleet shivered, suddenly feeling the cold. His boots and his jacket may have been waterproof, but his trousers weren’t, and the wool clung wetly to his skin.
‘What’s the point of this place, anyway?’ said Nicky, as they wove their way between the trees. ‘The clearing, I mean. The buildings. Is it a farm or what? Or did it used to be, rather.’
‘I’m not sure I ever knew it was here,’ said Fleet, ducking to avoid a branch. ‘There were barley fields on the other side of the main road back in the day, and the access path would probably have been wide enough then for that tractor. So it was probably a farmer’s store or something, if not a farm exactly. Unless it was just somebody’s idea of a country retreat.’ He glanced Nicky’s way. ‘It’s probably up for grabs if you’re interested,’ he added.
Nicky shuddered in response.
‘What? Not a fan of country living?’ said Fleet.
‘I don’t mind the country. So long as it’s paved. With street lighting. And there’s somewhere I can get a decent latte. Oh, and there are no cows.’ Nicky checked across her shoulder, as though on the off chance something bovine might have crept up behind her.
Fleet felt the glitch in his step. ‘Cows,’ he echoed. ‘You’re afraid of cows?’
‘Not afraid, exactly. Just … wary. It’s the way they look at you. Like they’re planning something.’
Fleet laughed. ‘What is it that a cow might be planning?’
‘Exactly,’ said Nicky, deadpan. ‘That’s the part I don’t like.’
About ten metres in, they paused. Fleet cast around, and was astonished to see how utterly the clearing was already lost to view. If you leaned to catch the right sightline, you could just about make out the buildings, like icebergs spotted through a fog. But otherwise it was as though they’d stepped through a wardrobe and into a completely different world. The search teams out here must have
