The Face Behind the Mask

Shona nodded. ‘Yes, he has, but he’s a good boss so don’t go pissing him off. He never moans if you need to finish early or swap a shift, so you’d do well to remember that. Do you really want to go and watch a post-mortem this time in the morning anyway?’

‘I suppose not.’

‘Nope, well me neither, so keep your mouth shut next time. Besides, Adele has been a detective almost as long as he has, so why wouldn’t he want her expertise?’

‘All right, bloody hell, Shona. Anyone would think you had a bit of a soft spot for our sergeant – sticking up for him like that.’

It was her turn for her cheeks to flush red. ‘No, but he’s a nice bloke, Brad. He’s one of the good guys and there aren’t many of them left.’

Brad shrugged. ‘Yeah right, you well fancy him. Everyone fancies him. I bet it drives his wife mad and I suppose he has had a shit time. He nearly died, didn’t he – last year? Forget I said anything.’

***

As the hospital loomed in the distance, Will’s stomach lurched and his mouth filled with acid. He needed something to eat. A greasy sausage bun smothered in tomato sauce would do the trick. The only thing was, if he didn’t digest it before he went into the mortuary, he would regret eating it.

‘So do you think whoever did it knew the victim? I mean, it was a pretty violent crime and normally such violence is carried out by someone they know. Do we know if she was in a relationship or had recently ended one?’

Will shook his head. ‘If I’m honest with you, I know jack shit. I’ve been thinking about the fact that there was no sign of forced entry. It looked as if Pauline may have known her killer – unless she regularly let strangers into her house.’

‘What do we know about Pauline?’

‘Not much at the moment. I’m hoping after this we can get some more information from her home address. The neighbour very kindly offered to do the ID; I want to have a chat with her as soon as we’ve finished up here. She doesn’t think that Pauline has much family – said she was a bit of a loner.’

‘And now she’s dead and naked on a cold slab, about to be cut up in front of several complete strangers.’

***

Adele shivered. It made her feel ill just thinking about it. The shame of having to endure a post-mortem in a roomful of strangers was not one of the nicest things. It would give her nightmares for days, but she didn’t say anything to Will. She didn’t want him thinking she couldn’t handle it because she could. It was just the thought of how desperately sad it all was.

The older she got, the more it made her contemplate her own mortality. Sometimes she wished she’d never become a copper, and then at other times the sense of pride she felt at solving some of the most horrendous crimes and taking those violent criminals off the streets made it all worthwhile. It had got much worse since she’d had children of her own; when they were little she’d been overprotective and had a hard time letting them gain their independence.

Some of her daughter’s friends had been playing out in the backstreet and going to the corner shop on their own since they’d been six years old. Adele used to wonder what the hell their parents were thinking, but they didn’t have to deal with missing kids who’d been snatched from their own front gardens and returned in body bags. Thank God for Steve. He’d had a normal nine-to-five job and had been there to supervise when she’d finally agreed the kids could venture out onto the front street and gain their independence.

Will turned off the engine and she snapped herself out of her distant memories – time to focus on the here and now, not the past. It was time to do what was right for Pauline Cook and find the bastard who’d done this to her. What a way to spend her first day in a new station. She’d been hoping for a couple of simple cases, nothing too complicated, to ease her into it slowly. They got out of the car, which Will had squeezed into the smallest gap she’d ever seen, next to a portable MRI scanning machine in the hospital car park.

‘Blimey, times are hard if you have to have your MRI done out in the car park.’

Will laughed and headed in through a small door, which led to nowhere. The only thing in the small entrance was a single knackered chair and a lift.

‘What is this place?’

‘No idea, but as long as you don’t mind walking through the clinic on the next floor and looking like you know what you’re doing, no one takes a blind bit of notice. Have you seen how full the car park is? You’re lucky if you can get a parking space first thing, but this time of day there’s no chance.’

He pressed the silver button to call the lift. The hum and clatter of the heavy machinery as the lift began its descent made Adele’s eyes almost pop out of her head.

‘Erm, I’m not really that fond of lifts and that one doesn’t sound too healthy. Is there no other way to get into the hospital?’

Will shook his head. ‘It’s fine, I use it all the time.’

The double doors slid open and he stepped inside. Adele was hesitating, wondering if she should just go and find another way in, when the doors began to close and he arched an eyebrow at her.