Page 73 of The Man Made of Smoke

Hunter, 45, was last seen drinking with colleagues in the Red Lion pub, Gildersome Lane, on the 9th June, before leaving alone at approximately 10 p.m. Examination of CCTV footage has suggested he may have taken a shortcut home along the Bridgewater towpath, a route he is known to have used frequently, but searches of the water and surrounding fields have yet to shed light on his disappearance.

DCI Callum Griffiths told a press conference, “Our inquiries are ongoing, and we continue to keep an open mind as to what might have happened to Oliver, and where he might be. We ask anyone with information that might help the investigation to come forward. We also encourage Oliver to make contact with us to let us know he’s okay. In the meantime, we continue to offer support to his wife, and his three children, who all very much want their husband and their daddy home safe.”

Griffiths sought to downplay any connection with Adam Carlton, 22, who drowned in the canal last year and whose inquest returned an open verdict.

“I stress that, as of right now, this remains a missing persons inquiry,” he said. “There is presently no evidence to indicate either criminal involvement or any wider risk to the public.”

I looked up at Sarah.

“Oliver Hunter?” I said.

“He was working behind the food counter at the rest area that day.”

I looked back down.

“And … Adam Carlton?”

She shook her head. “No connection that I can see. I’m guessing that was just an accident the locals had started making a link to. ButAdam Carlton’s body ended up exactly where you’d expect it to be. That guy definitely drowned. But the police never found Oliver Hunter. The search was called off two weeks later. He’s still missing.”

I read the news report again.

“Fuck,” I said.

“Yep. And then there’s this.”

Sarah handed me a second sheet of paper. Another printout.

POLICE NAME MURDERED MAN

A man found dead in the woodland two weeks ago has been named by police today as Graham Lloyd. The body was discovered in an isolated corner of Carnegie Park by a couple walking on 3 July, but the condition of the remains had frustrated attempts to establish the victim’s identity.

Lloyd was last seen drinking in the town center eight days before the discovery, and was known to police.

DI Benjamin Joyce said, “This was a violent and sustained attack on an especially vulnerable member of the community. Our officers are committed to finding the people responsible for this crime and bringing them to justice.”

An autopsy established that Lloyd, 74 years old and of no fixed abode, died as the result of multiple blunt force trauma injuries. DI Joyce reported that several lines of inquiry were being followed, but made a special appeal for members of the town’s homeless population to come forward with information.

“We would like to speak to anyone who can shed light on the events leading up to this tragic attack,” he said. “Any information we receive will be treated in the strictest confidence.”

CAN YOU HELP? [Quote CRGS452 in contact]

“Graham Lloyd was there that day too,” Sarah said

I thought back.

“The man in charge of the amusement arcade?”

“That’s right.” She gestured at the piece of paper I was holding. “I found a few other articles about his murder, but all of them were from before this. All just small, local stuff, then nothing afterward. Either the investigation stalled or—and I’m justthrowing out a vague idea here—maybe he wasn’t the kind of victim the police were going to put a huge amount of resources or effort into.”

I nodded.

Even with an article as short as this, it was easy to read between the lines. Known to the police; no fixed abode and drinking in the town center; the appeal to the homeless community. All the quotes from Joyce suggested that Graham Lloyd was not the kind of victim likely to end up on the front pages of the national newspapers, and who probably wouldn’t grace the pages of the local ones for long either.

“But there’s no way of knowing if anything happened to either of them,” I said. “If they were forced to watch someone else being killed, or if they reported it to the police.”

“Would the police have believed them if they did?”

“Maybe not Graham Lloyd,” I conceded. “Oliver Hunter, though.”

---