Page 5 of Their Burning Graves
Her attention was drawn away from Morgan and she turned back to her dad. ‘What’s going on, is Tim okay? Who burned down his house, Sally is going to be furious!’
Luke looked like a rabbit caught in bright headlights his eyes were so wide.
‘I’ll tell you in a minute, let me see the officers out.’
He walked away from his wife and daughter towards the front door, holding it open for them, and as Morgan passed him, he whispered, ‘I can’t do it; I can’t tell them.’
‘You can, but please don’t mention the hands, okay? This is something we need to keep very quiet about.’
He nodded. ‘I wouldn’t, I couldn’t. Thank you.’
Ben shook the man’s hand again. ‘We’ll be in touch; we’re going to need a statement.’
Morgan turned around. ‘Have you noticed anyone strange hanging around? Or someone in the area who you wouldn’t normally expect to be here?’
He closed his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose with two fingers.
‘I couldn’t say, I work at the university with David so I’m not always home through the day. My wife works too, but you could ask Mrs Wilkes at number twelve. She’s retired, walks her dog a lot, knows everything that’s going on.’
He rolled his eyes, giving Morgan the impression that Mrs Wilkes was the resident font of all knowledge and maybe a little irritating to her neighbours, which made her the perfect person to speak to.
They walked towards the fire trucks, where Paul was on his phone. He waved them over, ending his call.
‘Good news, our fire investigation unit is on its way and because the fire started at the front of the house that is where they’ll be focusing. You can take a look at the bodies at the back of the house.’
Ben smiled. ‘I’m not sure it’s good news but thank you. We can at least get a start on the investigation. Is our CSI allowed in to photograph the crime scene and get it documented for our end?’
‘I don’t see why not; obviously we will be investigating the cause of the fire and you the cause of death. There isn’t much structural damage to the house, it’s pretty solid. We’re waiting for a fire investigator to arrive because we don’t have a level two trained one on our team.’ He rolled his eyes, and Morgan knew then that she liked him, he was one of them. Helpful, unobstructive and willing to work as a team. She knew that some partner agencies were an absolute nightmare about sharing crime scenes, how lucky they were that it was Paul’s crew who were on shift. It could have been a different matter altogether with another. He walked away, leaving Morgan and Ben facing each other.
‘Do we wait for Wendy? Or are we going in for a look first?’
Ben paused. ‘Wendy will kill us if we go in, but I don’t see that we have a choice. We’re only looking anyway; Fire will be handling the majority of the investigation and it’s already a complete forensics mess.’
‘Fine by me.’
They suited and booted. Most people carried coats, blankets, carrier bags in the boot of their cars; Ben always kept a fully stocked cardboard box of crime scene protective overalls, nitrile gloves, shoe covers, face masks and an assortment of evidence bags just in case something needed to be retrieved before CSI arrived.
There was no need to worry about preserving the entrance along the driveway to the front of the house because that had been well and truly contaminated by the footfall from the fire officers and water from the hoses. They went through the tall wooden gate at the side of the house, where Morgan found that the garden at the back was a lot bigger than she’d expected and perfectly maintained. There was a row of the most delicate pink roses that she’d ever seen, and their sweet fragrance filled the air as she walked past. There was decking outside of the wall-to-wall bifold doors which opened out onto the garden. The decking outside had a dark grey rattan corner suite, and its own built-in kitchen area with the biggest barbeque ever. Morgan nodded in appreciation. This was a beautiful home, how amazing would it be to sit out here on a warm summer’s evening, cooking your tea and eating it in luxury? She temporarily forgot the reason they were there and could have been mistaken for thinking this was a house viewing and not a crime scene. She turned to tell Ben they needed an outdoor kitchen and was met with such a scene of total horror and destruction that the words died on her lips. Ben had stepped inside the large airy kitchen and was staring at the industrial-style dining table. Morgan followed, her jaw dropping at the sight of the bodies. All of them were slumped at an angle, leaning forwards onto the table. Luke must have been in complete panic mode earlier to not have realised at first glance that they were dead. The air was filled with the sweet, smoky smell of burning mixed with the sharp, coppery tang of blood. It made her stomach churn as it assaulted her senses. It had been terrible seeing this in a photograph, but to witness it first-hand was next level horrific. Her eyes fixed on Sally, the expression on her face burning itself deep into Morgan’s mind where she knew it was going to stay forever. Had that poor woman watched whoever did this to her family knowing it was her turn next? It was incomprehensible to her that someone could do this. She moved her eyes to the smaller figure of the two, Tim. He wasn’t a big lad, in fact, Sally looked taller, unless it was the way he was slumped forward, but she didn’t think so. He was skinny, the kind of skinny teenage boys can be until they suddenly decide to start working out or they naturally fill out and gain weight. His white-blond hair was stuck to his forehead inside the plastic bag. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets, and she felt a deep sorrow that Tim had been made to endure such a brutal death at such a young age. Finally, she looked at David. His face a deep shade of red, the others were red but his was darker, more like puce. Next she looked around the room. The door had been closed, and had stopped the fire from taking hold inside. The edges were blackened with fingers of soot spreading around the wall. It looked like something from the Upside Down – Morgan had just binge-watched all ofStranger Thingsand it was still on her mind.
Ben, she realised, was fixated on Sally; he looked distraught, and she felt bad for him.
‘I can handle this if you need to step outside.’
Her voice had snapped him out of his thoughts, and he turned to her. ‘Sorry, I can’t get my head around it. She is such a lovely person; I don’t get why someone would do this to her and her family. This is some really messed up shit, Morgan, it’s pure evil.’
‘It is and if you ask me, judging by the expression on her face she was the last one to die; whoever did this wanted her to see her family dead before they killed her.’
Ben turned to look at the other bodies. ‘Her son was fourteen last week, she was telling me how much he loves Manchester and wanted to go shopping for the day, but she hadn’t been able to arrange it until this weekend. He’s never going to go there ever again.’ Ben’s voice broke. He turned and went back into the garden leaving Morgan standing there.
The perils of living in a small town, almost everyone knew everyone, there was always some connection. First Des and now this. Ben had been doing so well getting on with his life despite living with the loss of his wife, Cindy, and she was worried this would bring that dreadful night to the forefront of his mind, and with his recently diagnosed heart condition… She stopped that train of thought in its tracks: he had put up with all ofhernear brushes with death the last few years, he was made of tough stuff. Turning back to the bodies she focused on Sally.
I don’t know what happened for you and your family to end up like this, but I promise you I’ll find out who did this and why.Her heart aching for all three of them she turned and followed Ben outside.
FIVE
Ben was sitting on the corner sofa staring into the garden, and Morgan sat down next to him.
‘Penny for your thoughts.’
