BooksBarbecue
Back A Change of Circumstance
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. One
  3. Two
  4. Three
  5. Four
  6. Five
  7. Six
  8. Seven
  9. Eight
  10. Nine
  11. Ten
  12. Eleven
  13. Twelve
  14. Thirteen
  15. Fourteen
  16. Fifteen
  17. Sixteen
  18. Seventeen
  19. Eighteen
  20. Nineteen
  21. Twenty
  22. Twenty-One
  23. Twenty-Two
  24. Twenty-Three
  25. Twenty-Four
  26. Twenty-Five
  27. Twenty-Six
  28. Twenty-Seven
  29. Twenty-Eight
  30. Twenty-Nine
  31. Thirty
  32. Thirty-One
  33. Thirty-Two
  34. Thirty-Three
  35. Thirty-Four
  36. Thirty-Five
  37. Thirty-Six
  38. Thirty-Seven
  39. Thirty-Eight
  40. Thirty-Nine
  41. Forty
  42. Forty-One
  43. Forty-Two
  44. Forty-Three
  45. Forty-Four
  46. Forty-Five
  47. Forty-Six
  48. Forty-Seven
  49. Forty-Eight
  50. Forty-Nine
  51. Fifty
  52. Fifty-One
  53. Fifty-Two
  54. Fifty-Three
  55. Fifty-Four
  56. Fifty-Five
  57. Fifty-Six
  58. Fifty-Seven
  59. Fifty-Eight
  60. Fifty-Nine
  61. Sixty
  62. Sixty-One
  63. Sixty-Two
  64. Sixty-Three
  65. Sixty-Four
  66. Sixty-Five
  67. Sixty-Six

‘Pathologist says around twenty. He was somebody’s son, somebody’s mate, boyfriend, maybe even some kid’s dad. Whose? We have no idea. Common blood group, no surgical scars, teeth were rotten and many were missing. The impressions are still doing the rounds but I don’t hold out much hope. We have fingerprints, there’s no criminal record, he doesn’t fit the description of any local misper. We’ve widened the search and my hunch is that we’ll get an ID from within fifty miles or so. OK, continue to look hard at him, and go on looking, until his image is burned onto your mind. Then try and see him before he started to resemble a butcher’s carcass. Do a sort of mental identikit. Have you ever encountered him, whatever the context? Could he have done the MOT on your car, sold you a pair of boxers from a market stall, served you a pint or a coffee? If you get a shadow of a nudge to your memory, stop. Go back over it. Anywhere, any time. His family are out there, maybe just across town. He probably won’t have been living with them for a while but there’ll be someone he belongs to and they will be anxious. Even if they know he’d turned into a junkie, they will want to know where he is.’

‘Seasonal worker?’

‘Unlikely, wrong season, people don’t come here to get casual jobs in winter. No, he’s local. Maybe he’s even from where he was found.’

‘Sustainable Starly.’

‘Whatever. The biggest problem we have with a body in this sort of state is that we can’t go round showing his photograph to all and sundry to try and get an ID.’

‘GP surgeries?’

‘Maybe. Bevham General records haven’t come up with anything but they don’t have photographs of patients, only staff. This isn’t easy, I know. Still, follow the slightest lead, eyes and ears open. You know the drill. All right, let’s get out there and find out who he was. Thanks.’

He was away and down the corridor fast. Fern Monroe had been sitting near the door hoping to catch his eye but he’d shot past her, closing the door behind him, and vanished.

‘Fern . . .’ Donna Merriman’s voice was low.

As Fern moved, Denzil Aberra jumped forward to open the door. He was the sort of man who did that and somehow never caused offence, he was so delightful and friendly, warm. Fun.

‘Hey, how are things? You settling in?’