Skeeter spoke first.
‘Bloody stupid place to kill someone, on top of the mound. One side of this rough pyramid has a gentler slope otherwise it would be difficult to climb even for the more fleet of foot. Whatever the route chosen you’re going to leave more prints here than you would if you were walking on the surface of the moon. The attempt at erasing them is as clear as a bell.’
‘Maybe there’s your answer. The body wouldn’t be easily found up here and after a day or two of wind and rain, the prints would be gone. There’s no wind on the moon, Skeeter!’
Skeeter nodded. ‘True.’ She crouched looking at the soles of the dead man’s shoes. ‘Laces are undone on the left one. He could have had a nasty fall if he’d not been careful!’ She looked at April but perceived only a slight shake of the head. Her attempt at humour was either ignored or lost. She knew which. The doctor climbed back up the slope and briefly presented his findings.
‘Dead a few hours. Slice to the neck and the right side of the throat. The blade wasn’t deep but it dragged, destroying a key artery. From my experience the blade used was curved and exceptionally sharp in both the driving tip and the blade’s edge. Pathology will reveal more. Bled profusely where he fell on the top of this pile here. The body wasn’t moved post death. According to these guys, the killer has tried to mask the lower area by moving the sand and also covered the track in and out as I’m sure you’ve seen.’ The doctor wiped his brow. ‘Strange place to kill someone and he was killed here I can assure you of that simple fact. We know there were two from the drone footage, even considering the poor quality. The CSM believes they might be able to enhance the footage back at the lab. Unfortunately comes with buying a cheap drone, he tells me. Both walked in but only one walked out and what’s truly strange is there’s no evidence of a fight nor a struggle. A bit like an accepted execution.’
The senior CSI approached and caught the final sentence as the doctor was collecting his belongings. He moved back down the slope.
‘Not a pleasant thought, execution, but it certainly looks that way.’
The words put a chill down Skeeter’s neck. It was a chilling announcement considering where they stood. It brought back images of the Aztec sacrifices but this was not Tenochtitlan and she could not see the stone table on which the person was sacrificed. She could, however, see a similarity considering the mound on which they stood and the body before them. April seemed to just move on. Maybe she was right.
‘I don’t suppose the poor drone pilot expected to be involved in something like this. What do we have from the parking area to the front? I’m sure they didn’t walk here from Southport,’ April mused whilst pointing in the direction of the two gates.
‘It’s been checked. There are a number of tyre tread patterns visible along the periphery of those gate areas and they’ve been photographed. We can 3-D image them later and give you the feedback. The man’s wallet was checked and his identity confirmed from the image on his driver’s licence. You obviously hold those details. If you’re happy we need to get the body away. We’re nearly done here.’ He looked at both police officers optimistically.
‘Did you find his phone?’ April asked, already anticipating the response.
‘Nothing other than the wallet and a set of keys, clearly for his car and home – sorry, one other thing, his cap.’ He pointed to the base of the hill seaward. ‘Probably tumbled there when he fell. We’ll confirm that it’s his within our report.’
‘Thanks very much. There’s nothing else.’ April moved back along the step plates and watched as the ambulance moved onto the site.
They pulled off their gloves and stuffed them into a yellow clinical waste bag near the rear of one of the CSI vans.
‘We’ve been expecting to find Carla Sharpe’s body for the last couple of days and now we have Cameron Jennings. So, where the hell is our Carla? You don’t think, Skeeter, she could be the other person who was seen here, do you?’
‘Promise of sex on the beach, a quick shag and then …’ Skeeter responded with little conviction.
‘It’s happened before. We need to get the footage analysed and then we can say for definite.’
Skeeter asked the CSI if she could cross the area and stand on the highest part of the bunding. He consented. She left April to study the plan and make the necessary mental adjustments to ensure its accuracy. She then shot a short video of the area marking her position with an indentation on the map’s laminate cover.
The majority of the higher levels comprised rough sand and broken shells, the discarded material from the sand extraction; a sieving and washing process. Along the length, rain water had weathered cracks and formed deep ravines that followed no particular pattern. From this vantage point she could see the screen and the off-white coated figures milling around the mound. The bagged corpse was being lowered down the banking secured to a stretcher. It was when photographing the area that she spotted the one piece of natural colour growing within the whole desolate area. A solitary poppy swayed
