Page 37 of The Girl in the Grave
‘Not a lot. I guess I’m just fascinated. I’m sorry. When I conducted the post-mortem there was nothing to suggest that Florence Wright had died of anything other than natural causes. Obviously, she’d been buried for eight weeks, so things had started to decompose. I thought it might be useful to speak to you and see if you had any concerns since you dealt with her immediately after her death.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I didn’t notice anything, which was why I thought it was strange she was being exhumed. If I had, at the time of receiving her body, I’d have contacted the coroner’s officer to raise my concerns.’
Beth smiled at him; he was good. ‘I thought as much. You know I deal with the bodies just after death, but I’ve never really thought about what happens to them once I’ve finished the post-mortem. I just move onto the next case. Sometimes they stay with me and, thankfully, sometimes they don’t. I guess it must be the same for you.’
‘Yes, I suppose it is. The kids are the hardest. I don’t like dealing with them. But I do because it’s part of the job. So, is there anything else I can help you with?’
Beth pulled a copy of the photograph of Chantel Price that Josh had taken in the mortuary out of her bag, even though she knew this was unprofessional and Josh would probably kill her for it. Standing up, she handed it to James, who took it from her.
‘This is a bit of a wild shot, but you don’t know this girl, do you? Have you ever seen her around? I was hoping she might look familiar.’
A voice inside her head whispered,you have just well and truly crossed the line, Beth Adams.She ignored it and watched James to see if there was any reaction. He stared down at the picture of the girl and his head shook.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t recognise her. She isn’t one of our clients. It’s Harry who deals with the actual funerals. You could ask him, or do you want me to take a copy and show it to him when he gets back?’
‘No, it’s fine. I’ll call back another time to ask Harry. Thank you, I really appreciate your time, Mr Dean.’
He stood up, handing the photograph back to her. ‘Anything to help. Are you okay to see yourself out? I was in the middle of preparing a body.’
‘Of course, thanks again.’
She turned and walked out into the corridor. He was close behind her. Shutting the office door, he walked off in the opposite direction to where the reception area was, and Beth headed towards it. Alex was typing on the computer. She looked up and smiled as Beth walked towards her.
‘Thank you so much for all your help, Alex.’
‘Was he okay with you, or was he his usual cocky self?’
Beth sensed there were some real issues between them. ‘He was very polite, but unfortunately he couldn’t help or answer my questions. I guess it was just a stab in the dark. That coffee was really very good, thanks.’
Alex laughed. ‘It is, isn’t it? That coffee machine is probably the best thing about this job. If you’re ever passing feel free to pop in for one. It gets a bit lonely sitting here all day. I must be the only person who gets excited to see a Royal Mail van pull up outside.’
Beth chuckled. ‘Thank you, I might just take you up on that offer.’ She turned to walk out of the door and then hesitated, wondering if she should… She pulled the photograph out of her bag once more. ‘I know this is probably pointless, and I don’t think she would have had any reason to come here.’ She passed the picture towards Alex, who took it from her and looked at it. ‘But I wondered if you recognised this girl.’
‘She’s dead?’
‘Yes.’ Beth realised her mistake. Alex might not actually have much to do with the bodies if she was running the reception and suddenly regretted showing it to her.
Alex hesitated for a moment too long.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t know her.’
Something about the horrified expression on Alex’s face told Beth that she might not be telling the whole truth. Beth could feel in her gut that Alex recognised her.
‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have bothered you.’ She took the photograph from Alex. ‘If you ever get that lonely you need a chat, I don’t live that far away. I’ll see if I can pop round for one of your lovely coffees.’
Alex grinned at her.
‘Yes, do that. It would be great. Bye, Beth.’
‘Bye, Alex.’
Beth stepped outside, not sure what she’d done. The fleet of limousines had left, leaving only her car, sitting on its own. She crossed towards it wondering if she should ring Josh and admit poking around outside of her remit. Driving away, she didn’t look back.
Fifty-Two
Josh wondered what time it was and reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. It was then he found it wasn’t there. Checking his desk, he realised he hadn’t had it since he left the house. There was no way he could survive all day without it. No one would be able to get hold of him, so he had no choice but to go home and get it. He hadn’t managed more than two bites of toast this morning and it still felt lodged like cardboard in the back of his throat. He hadn’t even managed a mug of coffee to get his brain going because he felt as if he was wired enough and running on his nerves and wasn’t sure what a shot of pure caffeine would do to him. It was far too early in the day to be making mistakes: he needed a clear head.
As he turned into his street, he noticed one of the CSI vans parked a few houses up. He wasn’t aware of any jobs that had come in; normally someone would have mentioned it. There was nowhere to park, so he drove around to the next street and got out. Walking around the corner he scanned the street, wondering which house the CSIs were at. Not that it mattered, as long as it didn’t come in as a job for him or the team it was fine. They had enough to do. They were no closer to finding Annie Potts than they had been as soon as the call had come in.
