BooksBarbecue
Back What Lies Beneath Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Cover
  2. Get more of my books FREE!
  3. Map of Rutland
  4. Map of Oakham
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. On Borrowed Time
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. Adam Croft

‘It’s weird. Kinda looks like he’s just crawled out of the water like some sort of zombie.’

‘Yes, Dex. That’s what we’ve got here. A zombie apocalypse.’

Dexter looked at her. ‘You serious?’

‘No. I think he’s been put there. That begs the question why. Why go to the trouble of doing that? Why not hide the body? Bury it, even? And then there’s the logistics. You can’t get a car down here, so the killer will’ve had to have used a wheelbarrow or something. Dead bodies are heavier than you think. There’s no way he was carried. That’s a huge amount of effort to go to, when it’d be easier to just dig a hole somewhere and chuck him in. This is deliberate.’

Dexter shuffled uncomfortably. ‘A message of some sort?’

‘Possibly. Look at the symbolism. Crucifixion pose, right in front of the church. And if I’m not mistaken…’ she said, walking back towards the church and peering in through the low windows, ‘yep, he’s facing the altar. I doubt it’s a coincidence the killer’s put him in that exact place. And, as my rumbling stomach has just reminded me, it’s a Sunday morning.’

‘Mmmm. Maybe. Only one problem with that.’

Caroline looked at him, waiting for his explanation.

‘It’s not technically a church. Hasn’t been for decades. It was deconsecrated years back.’

‘Deconsecrated?’

‘Long story. I’ll fill you in on the details when we get back to the office.’

Caroline smiled. ‘Quite the fount of local knowledge, aren’t you?’

‘Yeah, sometimes. Not exactly the busiest job, being a detective in Rutland, so I like to familiarise myself with the area and its history, yeah.’

‘Good. Well, hopefully that’ll come in useful. We’ll need to look more into the history of this place. Doesn’t look to me as if it’s been picked at random. Do we have ID on him yet?’

‘Not at the moment. Waiting on the SOCOs before we start going through pockets. Don’t much fancy chancing those rocks, either. Uniform leant over to check for a pulse, and even she nearly lost her footing a couple of times.’

‘Who found the body?’

‘Two old boys over there,’ Dexter said, nodding his head in the direction of a bench near the main footpath. ‘They were out on a boat. Must’ve been a shock.’

Caroline looked down at the body on the rocks and thought about the family who were about to find out they’d just lost a loved one. ‘Yes. Yes, I imagine it was.’

4

With the area secured and handed over to the scenes of crime and forensics officers, Caroline and Dexter took Bob and Geoff along the path to the main car park by the fishing lodge. They sat down at a table in the glass-fronted Waterside Cafe, overlooking the water.