Page 26 of Star Witch
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any more but I’d promised Winter. ‘So you kept on going?’ I asked.
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I wish to God I hadn’t. I really do. It wasn’t much further before there was more blood. A lot more blood. When I saw the hand, I knew for sure that this wasn’t about the sheep.’
I swallowed. ‘It was … dismembered?’
‘And chewed. At least three of the fingers had definite bite marks.’ He looked at me. ‘They didn’t look like they’d been caused by an animal.’
‘You think they were human?’
He was so quiet I had to strain to hear him. ‘I do.’ His voice cracked. ‘Just beyond the hand there was a head. The eyes…’ He shook his head, the horror too great to put into words. ‘And the smell was horrific. I’ve dealt with dead animals before, it comes as part of my job. But this was something different. It feels like the reek of it is still caught in my nostrils. Decaying and sickly sweet.’ He stared at me. ‘I don’t know if it will ever go away.’
That was interesting. I knew from the files that Benjamin Alberts had been missing for less than five hours before his body was discovered. Even with the little I knew about forensic pathology, it didn’t seem possible that he could have already smelled that badly. Unless Gareth had magnified it in his mind because of the trauma of what he’d seen.
‘For a second, I couldn’t move,’ he told me. ‘It felt like an hour but it was probably only a minute or two. Then I turned and ran back down to the farm and called the police. They did the rest.’
‘I’m so sorry it was you who found him,’ I said softly.
He avoided my gaze. ‘I keep thinking I shouldn’t be feeling like this. After all, I’m fine. I didn’t get hurt. I didn’t know the guy who was killed.’ He pressed the base of his palms against his temples as if he could drive out the images of what he’d seen by sheer physical force. ‘But I can’t get it out of my head. It’s always there. I don’t know what to do. Can’t you help me? If you’re a witch, maybe you can make me forget. There must be some potion or herbs you can give me which will make all this go away.’
There were certainly herbs that could dull the sensation of memory. They were a weak salve at best, however; once they wore off, the returning trauma was often worse than before. And runes wouldn’t help. Not here.
‘There’s no magic spell,’ I told him honestly. ‘But I do know someone who might be able to help. Just give me a few moments.’
I slid my phone out of my pocket and stepped away from him. There was a heaving grunt from a man straining to lift a set of weights so I moved further towards the door.
‘Hey Iqbal,’ I said, once he answered.
‘Ivy, baby! How’s it hanging?’
‘Not too bad. How’s that thesis?’
He sounded smug. ‘I’ve managed to get an extension. I told my supervisor that my grandmother had died.’
‘Didn’t she pass away a few years ago?’
‘You’re thinking of the time I skipped lectures for a fortnight and told everyone she’d been attacked by a shark while surfing in Australia. She’s still very much alive. More’s the pity. She keeps trying to throw girls my way. She can’t wait for me to settle down and have a gazillion kids. And she makes me wear these horrid knitted jumpers all year round. I swear she must think I’m ten-stone heavier than I am. They’re always massive. And I reckon she makes a special effort to buy wool that is specially itchy.’
‘How terrible for you.’
‘I know, right?’ I could almost hear him grinning. ‘Anyway, I’m going to assume because of the late hour that this is not a social call. You want my help again, right?’
‘I do. Not for myself this time, though, so no karaoke requests.’
‘But the last one went so well! If it hadn’t been for that night, you and sexy Raphael Winter would never have got it together. How is he doing? Have you set a date yet?’
I snorted. ‘Hardly. Listen, do you still have the number for that counsellor woman?’
‘Julia? The pneumatic kisser?’
‘That’s the one.’ Iqbal might have found her a bit overly energetic but she was damned good at her job. And I was sure I’d heard she had moved up to Scotland. ‘I could do with getting in touch with her.’
Iqbal dropped all his joking. ‘Why? Is everything alright?’
‘Like I said, it’s not for me.’
‘Hang on a minute.’ I waited a few beats before he came back on the line and reeled off a phone number.
‘Thanks.’
