Page 28 of One Left Alive
‘Why?’
‘I’m married to him.’ She winked at Ben, who laughed.
They drove up to the house where another PCSO was standing outside the front door, holding the pale green crime scene booklet for them to sign in.
Ben opened the boot of his car. A box containing every piece of protective clothing they needed was filled to the brim. Carrying a small box of blue nitrile gloves, Morgan got out of the car, a reluctant but determined expression on her face. But he decided she didn’t need to go back in: he wasn’t that mean.
‘Do you want to sign us in, Morgan? Then you can go and make a start on the CCTV enquiries at the houses nearest.’
He wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard her release the breath she must have been holding in.
She took the booklet from the PCSO and wrote their names, asking for Claire and Abigail’s surnames as they filed into the property one by one. Ben led the way.
Reaching the closed door to the cellar, he turned and announced, ‘It’s bad.’
Claire nodded. ‘They usually are, at least the ones we attend. They are much worse than a fight that’s gone horribly wrong.’
He knew that, of course, but he felt it was his duty to warn them. He would have said it to a seasoned detective with thirty years’ experience. Opening the door, he began to make the descent into the now floodlit cellar, which smelt distinctly worse than it had a couple of hours ago.
At the bottom of the steps, Ben stood to one side, letting Claire and Abigail take in the scene for themselves. They stared at the masses of dark red blood spatters covering the walls and ceiling.
Claire stepped towards the bodies. She pointed to the ceiling.
‘Impact spatter is significant, along with the cast-off spatter. Every time the assailant swung the weapon back it flung blood onto the nearby surfaces. I think the victims were already lying down when they were attacked.’
Wendy came down the cellar steps. ‘I think so, too; the bloodstains are circular, which suggests a ninety-degree angle of impact.’
Standing behind Saul, she motioned swinging her arms backwards then forwards.
Claire bent down to look at the bodies then turned to Ben.
‘Do we know where the cloths are from which covered the faces? Did they match any of the towels or bedding in the rest of the house, cleaning cloths, that kind of thing?’
Wendy nodded. ‘I found some white rags in a bucket under the sink and think they may be a match. Forensics will tell us for definite.’
Ben spoke. ‘Whoever did this had intimate knowledge of the house if they knew where to find the cloths without disturbing anything.’
Abigail began to look around the shelving and boxes in the cellar. ‘The weapon hasn’t been located yet?’
‘No, once the bodies have been moved the search team are going to do a full sweep of the house and grounds.’
Claire snapped photos on her phone of the bodies in situ, and then the surroundings. ‘Please can you show me where the body was found yesterday? I’m happy for these two to be moved if you’re finished processing them.’
‘Yes, of course.’ He led them back upstairs and out into the garden, where a late September sun was shining.
Abigail sighed. ‘Such a beautiful house and gardens. On first impressions you’d think they had everything made. What a terrible ending for a lovely family.’
Claire shook her head. ‘Yes, tragic. However we can’t assume they were a lovely family. You know that, Abi. For all we know they were up to their necks in debt and beat their children. Until the financial checks and witness statements have been taken from friends and colleagues, we actually know nothing about them.’
Abi turned to Ben and shrugged. ‘Sorry, I know. It seems on the surface they were.’
Morgan was walking back up the drive.
Ben waved her over. ‘How did you get on?’
‘The house nearest was empty. I caught the cleaner from the house a little further along just before she left. She said that they do have CCTV, but she has no access to the system. The owners will be home after seven. She also said that the Potters were a lovely family. Olivia wasn’t working. She told her employer that she’d sold her hair and beauty business in Manchester for a nice profit so they could move down here. Saul had sold his construction company as well, so they were financially stable. Saul was in the process of starting another company, but there had been a few complications.’
Ben smiled. ‘Brilliant, I love it. You can always rely on hired help to have the low-down on everyone. I take it she didn’t see anything yesterday?’
