‘Yes.’ Branson glanced at his watch. ‘We’ve another starting shortly, we can see that first.’

‘What are the other developments? You said you had quite a bit more to report?’

‘I do, and this is where it gets more complex. The Dive Team have only started this morning. But the Search Team have been in Ashdown Forest since yesterday evening. They’ve found a number of items of bloodstained clothing in what looks like a hastily dug grave close to where the trainer and the kitchen knife – a match to the set in the Paternosters’ kitchen – were found. But no body parts.’

‘You’ve sent all the items for DNA analysis?’

‘They’re at the lab now.’

Grace considered this. ‘Just clothing. No body parts?’

‘No, but there’s something else I don’t think I’ve updated you on, boss, from last night’s briefing, which might be very significant. Especially regarding the knife. Niall Paternoster started out in life, after school, as a butcher’s assistant.’

Grace stared at him, thinking hard. ‘That might be very significant.’

‘Indeed.’

‘In woodlands, in particular, dismembered body parts can be carried off by predators within a very short time. Foxes, badgers, birds of prey – and all the rodents. That could explain why the team hasn’t found anything yet, potentially five days after it was left there.’

‘But what about the head, boss?’

‘I’ll put good money on that being in the harbour,’ Grace said. ‘Unless it’s in the Isle of Wight and walking around, still attached to her body. We need to get that footage from the hovercraft.’

‘Sometime today, hopefully.’

‘Good.’

Branson glanced at his watch. ‘We should go over to the custody centre and watch this morning’s interview with Paternoster. Are you OK to meet up?’

‘Sure.’

61

Wednesday 4 September

As they walked along the corridor, Branson asked, ‘So, what news on Bruno? How’s he doing?’

Grace was silent for a moment, then said quietly, ‘Not great, Glenn, not great at all.’

A young DC walking past the other way greeted them with a ‘Good morning, sir, good morning, boss’.

They both acknowledged her politely. Then Grace said, still quietly, ‘He’s brain dead, there’s nothing they can do. It absolutely breaks me.’

Branson stopped. Grace stopped too. ‘What?’

Grace nodded.

‘That’s terrible.’ Branson shook his head and looked at him balefully. ‘What – what’s the prognosis – what do the medics say?’

‘They’re asking Cleo and me if we would consider organ donation.’

Branson’s eyes widened. ‘Isn’t there a chance he could recover?’

‘No. I mean – from what they say – there’s no way he will.’

‘You don’t have to make any decisions immediately, do you, boss? People can stay in that state for a long time. Wasn’t there a case in the papers recently of a teenage girl who’d been in a coma for three years after a car accident and then recovered completely?’

‘It’s different with Bruno. We’ve had it all explained to us – about how his brain is swelling – coning, they call it – and crushing his brainstem. His chances of recovery are zero, and if we don’t make a decision quickly, his most valuable organs for transplant will atrophy.’