Peter Robinson - When the Music's Over

‘Christ,’ said Annie. ‘I’m practically old enough to remember Emergency Ward 10 . I’ll guarantee you that Alan does. They turn my stomach, medical dramas.’

Gerry laughed.

‘And more to the point,’ Annie went on, ‘I’m used to things like gallbladders and lungs being in the right places.’

Gerry wrinkled her nose. ‘Yes. It was a bit of a mess, wasn’t it?’

‘A bit of a mess? There’s an understatement if ever there was one. Her spleen was where her liver was supposed to be.’

Gerry picked up her glass again and took a swallow. ‘Don’t,’ she said.

‘I thought it didn’t bother you.’

‘Not at the time, but thinking about it... There’s no need to keep reliving it. I won’t forget in a hurry. At least we can be thankful she wasn’t pregnant.’

‘I don’t know. It might have pointed us towards a motive. Someone did a real job on that poor girl. Can you imagine it? Kicking her head and stomach like that? Stamping on her. We’ve got to find whoever did this. And fast.’

‘What did you think of the scars on her wrist?’

‘Sad to say,’ said Annie, ‘it’s not all that unusual in young girls.’

‘Suicide, or just... you know... a cry, like the doctor said?’

‘Can’t tell. Maybe someone even did it to her. Some sort of torture. But I’d go with the doc for now. It’s not like Doc Glendenning to make wild guesses, so I’d say, given his experience, that he’s seen that kind of thing before, and he knows a hawk from a handsaw. Off the cuff, I can only add that I don’t think it was a really serious attempt to kill herself, or she’d probably have tried again and succeeded.’

‘So how much closer are we?’

‘Well,’ said Annie, after a long draught of beer, ‘we might not know who she is yet, or where she’s from, but we’ve got the artist’s impression, along with her stomach contents — kebab and pizza — tattoos and a birthmark. And the doc reckons she ate about two or three hours before she was killed, which means sometime between eleven and midnight. It’s not the sort of meal you’d have in a sit-down cafe, I reckon, so it’s most likely takeaway.’

‘The stomach contents don’t help us much more than the tattoos,’ said Gerry. ‘It seems like every takeaway sells just about any junk food you can possibly think of in the same place these days. I know places where you can get fish and chips, tandoori, burgers, pizza, kebabs, falafels, chop suey and currywurst. All from the same fryer and oven.’

‘Maybe so,’ Annie said, ‘but there is one thing worth considering. Places like that are far more common in urban areas than around here, say.’

‘But we’ve got one here, in Eastvale, near where I live. Why couldn’t she have started out from here?’

‘She could have, I suppose,’ said Annie. ‘I know the place you mean. The student area, right? We’ll check it out. But the spot where the body was found is only, what, fifteen minutes’ drive from Eastvale. If she ate her last meal two or three hours before her death, what she was doing in Eastvale the rest of the time?’

‘Partying?’

‘Maybe. She didn’t need to have set off immediately after the meal.’

‘So she could have started here.’

‘Yes. But no one local has been reported missing as yet. We need to extend our area. I know I’m making wild generalisations, Gerry, but I’m also trying to be logical about it. I still think kebab and pizza places are more prevalent in urban areas, so I’m thinking that if she didn’t start out here, maybe she started out in the north-east, maybe Tyneside or Teesside.’

‘That’s a huge area,’ Gerry said. ‘And most of it’s off our patch. Besides, if she had her last meal between eleven and midnight and was killed between two and two-thirty, it doesn’t take two or three hours to drive from Teesside or Tyneside to where her body was found.’

‘They could have stopped somewhere for a while or partied before they left, as you suggested earlier. And it’s a smaller area to consider than the whole country. I’m just saying it’s somewhere to start, Gerry. It’s a massive job, but if we can get CCTV footage from the major roads in the area for before and after two a.m., we’re in with a chance. We can work out the most likely routes and check all vehicles within our time period. But we also need to know who she is. Get a list of the tattoo parlours and kebab and pizza outlets in the north-east.’

‘Fair enough. But maybe they started even further north and stopped somewhere en route for the food? Ate in the van.’

‘Maybe,’ said Annie. ‘But I don’t think there are a lot of kebab and pizza takeaways between Teesside and where she was found. Certainly few enough to check out quickly. Have you got a better idea?’

‘No,’ said Gerry. ‘Sorry. I just don’t know... it’s all so sketchy.’

‘You don’t need to be sorry for playing devil’s advocate. It sharpens the thinking. And I agree it’s sketchy, speculative. But we need a plan. We’ve got to do something. Let’s not forget that the poor girl was abused, and that took more than fifteen minutes.’

‘But it didn’t have to happen in the van, is what I’m saying.’

‘True,’ said Annie. ‘But if not, why was she naked?’

‘Maybe the van was just to dump her after whatever had happened.’

‘So what do you suggest we do first?’

‘Schools, colleges, tattoo parlours and kebab and pizza takeaways in Eastvale and points north-east, like you said, boss.’

‘Right. You’ve got it.’

‘What do you make of the tattoos? Any chance there?’

‘Tats like hers are ten a penny these days,’ said Annie. ‘Nothing artistic or distinctive, just off the peg. But we’ll get some photos run off. Someone might recognise the combination, locations. And the patrol officers and PCSOs can start asking around the parlours — Teesside, Tyneside.’

‘There’s a tattooist right here in Eastvale, too.’

‘How do you know that?’

Gerry said nothing, just looked away and blushed.

‘You didn’t!’

‘Just a little one.’ She held her thumb and forefinger in a close pincer shape.

‘Show me.’

‘No way! Not here.’

‘Where is it?’

‘I’m not telling you.’

‘Christ, you’re the quiet one, aren’t you? Did your boyfriend put you up to it?’

Gerry sipped more of her brandy. ‘Boyfriend? Chance would be a fine thing. I don’t have time, what with the exams, computer studies and the job and all. No, it was my treat to me on getting the posting to Eastvale.’

‘To each her own. So first we’ll ask around about the tats and the takeaway, starting here. They were professionally done, even if they are common designs, so we might get lucky with some artist recognising his or her handiwork, or remembering the birthmark.’

‘I still can’t get over how young she was,’ said Geraldine. ‘Just lying there on the table like that, so vulnerable.’

‘Obviously old enough to get involved with some nasty people.’

‘Come again?’

‘Well, you don’t think all this just happened to her by accident, do you?’

‘You’re not trying to say she was on the game or something, are you?’

‘I don’t know about that,’ said Annie, ‘but I don’t think we’re dealing with a complete innocent here. The doc found semen in her vagina, anus and oesophagus.’

‘You don’t have to remind me,’ said Gerry, sipping more brandy. ‘She was raped.’

‘He said the odds are that it didn’t all come from the same person, but there’s no telling how many as yet. We’ll know after Jazz has done the DNA testing.’

‘She was gang-raped?’