‘Well, I waited all of yesterday afternoon and this morning for the agent or some of your lot to turn up, but there was no sign of anyone. The second car was still there, and I couldn’t see no activity inside the house …’

‘So you went over for a little peek inside,’ Frank put in.

‘Too right.’ The old man jigged harder, now twisting his hands together. ‘I took a torch, and my German shepherd, mind, in case things got tasty.’

‘And that’s when you found the second man?’ Hawkins asked.

‘Yeah. Weirdest thing I ever seen. There he was, just lying on the floor in the front room, like he was … having a kip.’ He exhaled. ‘Made me bloody jump when the beam hit him, I can tell you. I was ready to have it on me toes, but the dog starts barking and the geezer doesn’t even flinch, so I know something’s wrong.’ His gaze drifted away. ‘So I waited, watching him close, and he wasn’t breathing … not moving at all.’ He looked back at Hawkins. ‘That’s when I came outside and called your lot again. By that point they were more interested, of course.’

‘I bet.’ She heard a shout go up from somewhere near the house; Smith telling them they could go in. ‘OK, Mr Worthington, that’s it for now, thanks for your time. Why don’t you go home and put the kettle on? I’ll let you know whether we need to talk with you again, after we’ve looked at the scene.’

‘Right.’ He hesitated, clearly sensing his big moment was done. ‘You reckon it’ll make the news?’

‘Maybe.’ She raised a hand to acknowledge another call from Smith. ‘Though I’d ask you not to discuss any of this with the media, should anyone make contact.’

‘Sure, sure.’ He waved at the row of derelict houses. ‘What happens to these properties now?’

She sighed internally, keen to get away. ‘The area will be cordoned off while we investigate and take samples. And it’ll remain off limits till the case is resolved.’

Worthington frowned. ‘How long?’

‘Impossible to say at this stage,’ Frank said. ‘Though it’ll give your power of attorney time to come through.’

‘Exactly.’ The local leaned closer once more. ‘You think it’ll bring the price down a bit?’

32

Hawkins activated the light on her mobile and aimed it through the door-shaped hole in the front of the abandoned house, tearing the darkness. Inside, a poky room held the remains of a kitchen. A lone weed had reached waist height in the gap between sink and wartime stove.

The cloying aroma of fertile damp hooked at her nostrils as she moved inside. Frank suppressed a cough as he followed her in. She stopped.

Why, when your eyes got so used to seeing dead bodies and the places people left them, did your nose never get used to the smell?