Page 138 of Three for a Girl

Chad checked one last time before crouching to sort out his shoe coverings. The long grass covered him, and peering through it to the officers in the distance, he felt like prey, prey that had to be quick to get away.

Chad tugged up the suit and his pant leg to retrieve the evidence bag hidden in his sock. He worked quickly, undoing the bag, and reaching for the sunglasses inside with his gloved hands. He checked no one was approaching from behind, before slotting the shades into the grass.

Chad got to his feet, and carried on up the road. One officer in white was leaning against the building, arms crossed, attention fixed on him. He approached, biting his tongue but relaxed when he recognized Ally’s purple glasses.

“I came as quickly as I could.”

“Which took far too long.”

“What have we got?” Chad asked.

“What have we got? The mother of all cases that’s what we’ve got. Numerous bodies in the woods.”

She came towards him, and pointed at the marker on the ground. “Tire marks. There’s two sets, two different cars.”

Chad nodded. “I see them.”

She side-stepped into the road and gestured at the other mark, right down the center. It had another numbered marker beside it. “Another tire mark, but this is from a bike not a car.”

“A bike and cars.”

Ally hummed. “Come on, let’s go for a stroll through the woods.”

She led, and he followed.

“You won’t want to go inside the building, near enough burned my eyes out, and I couldn’t stop crying for hours.”

“That explains the mascara that’s run down your cheeks.”

“What?” She scrubbed at her face. “Blasted stuff.”

“I thought the scene had got to you.”

She balked. “Hard as stone me. Faye on the other hand…”

Chad spotted her against a tree, staring off into the distance. Chad walked right up to her before she noticed he was there. She jumped, and he gripped her shoulder.

“You all right?”

“Yeah, sorry.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “I’ve not had a case like this before.”

“The gold mine of cases.” Ally said.

Faye frowned at her before looking back to Chad. “How’s your throat?”

“Much better.”

“Good, that’s good. I really think you should contact the company—”

“Christ,” Ally muttered.

“Maybe they could make the contents a little clearer.” Chad said.

The lines on Faye’s brow relaxed before tightening worse than before. “There’s so many. The DI counted the dips in the ground, at least twenty-five.”

“Twenty-five victims.” Ally said. “This killer’s got talent.”

Faye grimaced, shifting away from Ally. “The radar images … some of the graves are so small. They think there’s children down there.”

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