Chapters (156)
- A DATE WITH DEATH
- Also by Mark Roberts
- A Date With Death
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- The Past
- 1977
- Day OneWednesday, 1st December 2021CatoptrophobiaFear of mirrors
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- The Past
- 1979
- Day TwoThursday, 2nd December 2021OneirophobiaFear of dreams
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- The Past
- 1980
- Day ThreeFriday, 3rd December 2021MonophobiaFear of being alone
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- The Past
- 1982
- Day FourSaturday, 4th December 2021ThanatophobiaFear of Death
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- 115
- 116
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- 122
- 123
- 124
- 125
- 126
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
- 132
- 133
- 134
- 135
- 136
- 137
- About the Author
- An Invitation from the Publisher
‘I decided we needed to use our headlights to look into the river. The tide was out. That was good. Tom saw something in the mud.’
‘Tom?’ said Clay.
‘We had the headlights full on to the riverbed. From the corner of my eye, I saw something light-coloured against the darkness. I thought it was, like, maybe, an animal, a washed-up animal. The caller got it wrong maybe. I said to Wendy, we need to check this out, there’s something in the mud. We got as close as we could to the railings and hit the lights fully on in the direction of… the thing. I got out and walked up to the railings. I saw flesh tones and the shape of a body. It was a naked human body. I called but there was no reply. The victim looked stone dead. There was no way he or she was alive.’
‘I asked Tom to climb over the railings and down the concrete steps so he could get a look from ground level,’ said White.
Clay saw the rising emotion in the young constable’s eyes.
‘I still feel emotional when I see a murder victim,’ said Clay.
Surprise tripped into his eyes. ‘You do?’
‘Whatever you’ve got inside right now, bottle it. Never lose sympathy for the victim. Go on, Tom.’
‘I took a torch from the boot of the car and got down to the mud by the steps. I managed to get closer via the rocks in the mud. Wendy called to me not to get any closer. There was something wrong with the head. I could see from the shape of the body that the victim was female.’ He looked at his colleague. ‘There was no chance of saving her. And Wendy said we didn’t want to contaminate any evidence if there was any.’
‘That’s when we called in for help,’ concluded White.
‘Have either of you got anything to add?’ asked Clay.
‘No,’ said White as Ruddock shook his head.
‘Thank you for this, you’ve done very well, both of you.’ She looked directly at PC Ruddock. ‘The tide’s due back in within the hour. She could have been lost to us for ever.’
‘Yes, Tom,’ said White. ‘Well done. Deals don’t come much bigger than this.’
Clay could feel the glow of PC Ruddock’s pride and the maternal affection just beneath PC White’s tough exterior.
‘You didn’t see any sign of anyone else in the vicinity?’ checked Clay.
‘No,’ said White. ‘We stayed in place to protect the body.’
Clay got out of the car and opened the back door on PC White’s side. As the constables got out, she asked, ‘You’re based at Admiral Street, right?’
‘Right.’
‘I’ll be in touch with Chief Superintendent Frankins. Great work.’