‘Erm, I heard there was the ghost of a girl haunting the summer camp, and a guy out there, who some people call the watcher; he walks around behind lost walkers on the fell whenever the weather is foggy or misty.’
Scotty laughed. ‘The watcher, what’s he watching in the fog? Is that it, he just walks behind people?’
‘Well, not just that. Apparently, he’s nine-foot tall, pale-skinned and, I don’t know… It’s just what I heard. I’m not saying it’s true or that he’s out there.’
‘Hahahaha, good, because I’m not sure what the point is.’
Morgan felt stupid now, wishing she had never opened her mouth.
‘I heard that when I was a kid,’ said Susie.
Morgan looked at her expression to see if she was teasing her, but her lips were set in a straight line and there was no hint of humour on her face.
‘Well, my gran used to call him the grey man, but I reckon it’s the same thing. Nine-foot tall, only seen when it’s misty, that kind of thing.’
Morgan nodded. ‘Did she say if he did anything, is he a ghost or what?’
Susie shrugged. ‘I can ask her for you, not sure if she’ll remember it now though, her dementia is pretty bad most days.’
‘Thanks, that would be great.’
‘You know who you need out on that fell, don’t you?’ Scotty was grinning.
‘Who?’
‘Mulder and Scully offThe X-Files, they’ll find your watcher and figure out what he’s doing.’
Morgan laughed, secretly she wanted to tell him to shut up but she did love watching old reruns ofThe X-Files.
‘You better not tell the boss you’re looking for a grey man, watcher dude for this.’ He pointed to the body bag on the table. ‘He’ll have an instant heart attack on the spot.’
‘I think you’re right. Marc isn’t the most open-minded of people.’
Declan walked in to find them whispering; they had formed a semi-circle around the body bag on the gurney. ‘What in the bejesus is going on in here, are you trying to summon that poor soul back from the dead?’
Scotty guffawed loudly, too loudly, and he cupped a hand over his mouth. ‘I’ll leave this in your capable hand, Morgan.’ He turned and walked towards the door.
The undertakers hovered around.
‘Can you sign our paperwork, please?’ She waved it in Susie’s direction, and Susie walked towards her, uncapping a pen.
Declan smiled at Morgan.
‘The family is on their way to ID this victim, who I have been told was pulled out of the same lake the teenage boy was found in. Apparently, they heard it on social media that a body had been discovered in the water and they can’t wait. Which technically, I get. I mean how awful for them, especially to hear the news over social media first. Ben’s just chatting to Caroline, then we’ll rock and roll with this identification. Today is not going how I expected it would at all, but it’s not a bad thing. Sometimes things happen for a reason, now don’t tell me what that reason could be because I can’t figure it out, but you know there could well be one.’
TWENTY-TWO
Dawson’s family had left with Caroline. Morgan had been relieved she hadn’t had to deal with them. She wasn’t going to be as lucky with Scarlett’s family, though, as Ben had asked her to be present for the identification, and she could hardly say no a second time. They went to the small viewing room to await their arrival, while Declan and Susie did the preliminary examinations before preparing Scarlett’s body to be viewed. A noise signalled the arrival of Scarlett’s family as a harried-looking officer led them into the room.
There was a man, woman and two teenagers following behind them. Morgan glanced over at Ben whose face looked as stressed as the officer accompanying the family. The guy who she assumed was Scarlett’s dad had burning red cheeks and his eyes were two swirling pools of darkness. He looked to Morgan like he was ready to fight the world. Scarlett’s mum, on the other hand, was barely holding herself together; the two teenagers looked as if they didn’t care less, one of them was staring down at her phone tapping away on the screen. The boy, who looked the youngest out of them, was staring at his feet, as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.
‘What are we waiting for? Let’s get it over with,’ said Scarlett’s dad.
Morgan held out her hand. ‘I’m Detective Brookes, we’re just waiting for the staff to get everything ready.’
He didn’t take her hand but glared at her. ‘By “everything”, you mean our daughter?’
Morgan kept her voice calm. ‘The room, the paperwork. I’m very sorry you’re having to go through this.’
