Neal Rylatt the CSI supervisor caught Charley’s questioning gaze. He shook his head. ‘There’s nothing. Not a scrap of evidence to suggest who he is.’
‘This lack of evidence, does it suggest to you that this was not done by accident?’ Charley asked.
‘Killed, dumped in a tunnel, left to rot? It suggests to me that whoever killed him didn’t want him to be found, or identified, wouldn’t you agree?’
Charley considered that with both murders, there were resources available to aid them in determining identification and in dating the evidence. Several burial artefacts found upon and around the skeleton of the female in the cellar were significant finds. However, this information was also confusing, as it appeared to the SIO that every pagan burial symbol known to man had been buried with the unidentified corpse.
Perhaps they were put there in the hope it would aid the woman in her passage to the hereafter. Which suggested to Charley that, when she was buried, there may have been some confusion, as if the person who buried her didn’t know enough about her chosen pagan religion. However, what this act of kindness did seem to endorse was that the person, whoever she may be, had been well loved, and that she had been buried with whatever was thought necessary to take her safely to the next life. Putting coins over the eyes, Charley did know, was thought to pay the ferryman who was believed to take her there. ‘She must have links to Crownest to be buried here,’ Charley reasoned, holding on to the thought that the well-documented history of the house, genealogists, and forensic archaeologists would all serve to help her in the mysteries surrounding the investigation.
Unfortunately, in the case of the male, there were no similar signs to suggest he was thought well of, but what Charley did have at her disposal were experts who could, with the DNA evidence available, use modern-day technology to try and trace the man through dental and hospital records and other national Force databases.
Joe Greenwood approached Charley as she watched the team work. He was searching for his handkerchief inside his pocket. When he found it, he took it out and blew his nose, glowing red from the cold. ‘I hope you’ll have something for me soon. I’m gonna catch my death if I have to hang around here much longer without doing proper work,’ he said.
Charley nodded towards the team. ‘Once their work is done, I’ll be able to hand the site back over to you for the demolition to continue.’
‘Really?’ Joe’s surprise was genuine.
His joyful expression raised a smile. ‘Really. I’ve got everything I need now.’
Neal Rylatt raised his hand to catch her attention. ‘I’ll be off now to take footage of the church,’ he said.
‘Photograph the graveyard, Seth Alderman’s gravestone and the altar tomb which is adjacent to it, please.’ The SIO nodded her head in Annie’s direction. ‘Take her with you, it’ll be quicker in the dark, if she shows you,where to go.’ Annie turned and Charley spoke directly to her. ‘I’ll wait for you outside in the car and take you back to the office. Quick as you like,’ Charley called after the pair.
Joe waited patiently at Charley’s side, his relief apparent. ‘No more human remains then?’
Charley shook her head, as a brief smile crossed her lips. ‘No, thank the Lord.’
Charley sat waiting for Annie, the car heater blowing hot air in her face. She had learnt long ago that time at a crime scene was time well spent, and the use of any expert was essential to understand something that is not commonly known. She began to recall the most bizarre details from her days at training school. South East Texas Forensic Science Laboratory that she had visited, had buried partially decayed human bodies in different soil types, so that they could study every stage of the natural decomposition process. Such was her interest, and the impact it had made on her, that she could recall their findings and recite them verbatim. A body buried six feet in the ground, without a coffin, takes between eight to ten years to decompose. Also, fingerprints were one of the last things to disappear from a human body.
Warmed up now from her time outside, Charley switched the car engine off, lowered her window and rested her elbow on the driver’s door, idly stroking the top of her pinned-back blonde hair. Eyes drooping, she watched Annie walk around the front of the car before she opened the door, and slipped into the passenger seat next to her boss. It was obvious she had been running by her shortness of breath. The younger detective fastened her seatbelt. Charley started the engine, looked in her rearview mirror and pulled away.
‘What’s next?’ said Annie, when they had left the unlit, country roads behind them and had pulled up at a red light in the town centre.
‘Full briefing with the team to ensure that enquiries into each of the human remains are not duplicated, but instead complement each other – that’s the most important thing to remind everyone right now. But first I must go and see the Divisional Commander to let him know what’s happening.’
Back at the station Charley took the stairs two at a time to the management suite. Flora, Ruth’s guide dog was the first to greet her, in her owner’s office. Ruth indicated that the Divisional Commander, Bobbie Stokes, was in.
Charley knocked on the office door, opened it slightly, and put her head inside. ‘Come on in, Charley Mann,’ he said warmly.
‘I know it’s a little late to update you on the discoveries, but I wanted to be sure of what we were dealing with before I spoke to you.’
‘Forget the bullshit. I know how busy you’ve been, and appreciate the good work you’ve done. Mike Blake speaks very highly of you.’
‘Yeah, but he lies a lot,’ Charley joked.
‘I
