Page 18 of The Girls in the Lake
She ended the call, turned off the bath taps and poured the wine down the sink, leaving the glass on the shelf above it. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she sighed. She looked tired. Splashing cold water on her face, she blotted it dry and wondered what she might find. Bodies found on the shoreline had usually sunk first and then resurfaced once the gases from putrefaction had caused the body to float and rise up, usually minus a lot of soft tissue thanks to the marine life that liked to feast on the ripe flesh. This one was going to be messy. She was more than a little concerned that two bodies had been pulled from the lake in the space of twenty-four hours. Not unheard of, but it was certainly unsettling.
Twenty
Josh parked behind the ambulance, and as he climbed out of the car another pulled up beside him. But there were no other cars around, which was good. He smiled at Sam, who mouthed ‘suits and boots?’ He nodded. Until he was sure it was accidental death, he wasn’t taking any chances. It wasn’t unheard of to have two drowning cases so close together, but it was unusual. They would take all the precautions they needed.
Sam joined him at the boot of the car as he ripped open the plastic packaging for his paper suit.
‘This is a bit strange, don’t you think?’
‘Yes, it is. It’s not the first time we’ve had a spate of drowning in the lake though; it does happen. Apparently this one isn’t so nice. Wonder how the lad is who found it?’
Sam was already dressed and fastening the shoe covers around her legs, and he did the same. Lastly, they tugged on the powder blue nitrile gloves that were standard issue throughout the constabulary.
‘I was ready to go home, have a glass of wine, put my feet up and watch a couple of episodes ofKilling Eve. Have you seen it?’
‘No, I don’t tend to watch thrillers. Not in front of Beth anyway.’
‘God, no. I can see why, but if you ever did want to, I think you’d enjoy it.’ They walked towards the wooden gate which led onto the public footpath and he pushed it open, holding it for her to walk through.
‘What a gentleman.’
‘Yeah, most of the time.’
Turning on torches to illuminate the slippery path, which was littered with fallen leaves, they walked the short distance to the shore at a brisk pace, the thundering sound of a nearby waterfall rushing down Wynlass Beck towards Lake Windermere getting louder as they approached.
‘It’s beautiful.’ Sam nodded at the view. ‘I always forget about this part of the lake. I used to bring the kids when they were younger to go canoeing and windsurfing.’
‘Don’t they canoe any more?’
She laughed. ‘No, sinking shots of vodka is the current sport of choice.’
Josh smiled, remembering how easy his life had been as an eighteen-year-old. They rounded the bend and saw the assortment of officers, paramedics and a pale-faced teenager with a silver foil blanket wrapped around his shoulders. A sense of déjà vu washed over Josh, so overpowering that he blinked hard as an officer approached him.
‘Sarge, the body has just been recovered by the lake wardens.’ He looked towards the shore where a dishevelled, sodden black mass lay. ‘The poor kid’s pretty shook up.’
‘Cheers, I’ll go speak with them now.’
The smell of decomposition filled the air as he got nearer to the body, but the two wardens didn’t look phased at all. Spotting his approach, they walked towards him, introducing themselves as they met in the middle.
The woman held out her hand. ‘I’m Melanie, this is Fraser, we were on our final lap of the lake when we heard the screams. Poor kid looks traumatised.’
‘Thanks, both of you. It’s very much appreciated. It can’t have been easy. If I could ask you to give your details to the officer standing over there we’ll be in touch for a statement.’
‘No problem. We weren’t aware there were any missing persons alerts for the lake. This is a bit of a shock to be honest.’
Josh glanced over at the teenager, who was staring at the body in front of them. He whispered to Sam, ‘Get one of those officers to put him in the back of a car and away from the corpse.’ He then turned back to Melanie. ‘Thanks again, good shout.’
They followed Sam towards the officer and the paramedics.
Alone now, Josh took a deep breath and prepared himself to face whoever it was that had been released from their watery grave.
Twenty-One
Beth arrived at Miller Ground, parking on the grass verge as there was no room in the small lay-by. As she carried her heavy case down towards the shore, she couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the area. It was dark and an officer had met her at the gate, leading the way and shining a dragon light to illuminate the steep path in front of them. She was thankful to have some company – it stopped her heart from racing too fast – and even more thankful she’d had the foresight to wear her walking boots. The ground underfoot was soft, slippery from the low mist which had settled over the area as the sun had set. The cool autumn air blew away the overwhelming exhaustion she had felt back at home; she was wide awake and in full professional mode now. It always amazed her how she could slip from one persona to the other in the blink of an eye: exhausted, anxious Beth left at home, while cool, confident, professional Beth attended the scene of a sudden death.
She wasn’t usually called out to drownings – paramedics were more than capable of certifying that life was extinct – but she understood Josh’s unease; everyone was still on high alert since they’d caught a serial killer burying his victims in other people’s graves just over a month ago. They rounded the bend where the path opened up onto a small cottage; a bit further around and there was the lakeside. There were a couple of stone jetties jutting out into the water; steeped in darkness they looked as if they disappeared into the lake. A few police officers, two paramedics and a teenage boy wrapped up in a foil blanket were sitting on a low wall. She recognised Sam sitting next to him, her head bent near to his as she chatted to him.
She looked around for the body and her heart skipped a little beat when she saw Josh standing over it. Even though she couldn’t make out his handsome features in the shadows, just knowing he was there was enough to make her pulse quicken. As if he sensed her staring at him, he looked up, lifting his hand to wave. She waved back and began to walk towards him. He came to meet her, shining his torch along the uneven shoreline so she didn’t stumble.
