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“Oh, God, it was horrible,” Penny broke in, looking from her boyfriend’s face, to Linc, and then finally settling on Lacey. “I thought I was going to be sick.” She stared at Lacey with large, fear-filled eyes. “Henry poked her with a stick and that’s when it…she…rolled over in the water and we saw it was a woman. Her skin was all white and blubbery like a ghost. It was… I’ve never seen anything like it.” Penny doubled over to lean her hands on her knees, and Lacey thought she might actually follow through on her threat to vomit.
Now she was closer, she could see the couple were really young, perhaps late teens. Shock was etched clearly in both their features, and Lacey felt a moment’s compassion. Nobody wanted to find a dead body, if that was indeed what they’d found. The grisly sight would likely stay with them for a long time to come, and she hoped it didn’t affect them permanently.
“It’s okay.” Henry soothed his girlfriend, rubbing comforting circles on her back. “The cops are here now. Everything is going to be fine.”
Lacey silently wished that were true. If there really was a body in the river, it meant there was a possible killer lurking out there somewhere.
Penny finally straightened, although it was with a noticeable effort. She was pretty, long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a pink T-shirt and very brief shorts with a pair of hiking boots. The couple had obviously been about to embark on a day walking the trails around the reserve. But now their plans were ruined.
“Yes, we’ll go and check it out,” Linc replied, his features a mask of cool competence. “Where did you see the body?”
The couple nodded in unison “Over there.” The young man pointed in the direction of the river. “By the lookout platform that juts over the river.” He couldn’t hide his trembling voice as he tucked his girlfriend tighter under his arm.
“Another unit is on the way,” Linc said, keeping his voice low and calm, as if talking to a pair of skittish animals. “Wait here until they arrive,” he directed the young couple. He didn’t add that he needed to preserve the crime scene—if that was what it was—and they didn’t want anyone else traipsing around the area destroying evidence if it could be helped.
“Yes, sir,” Henry replied.
Lacey knew that Constable Karl Hickey and First Class Constable Tag Gorman had been dispatched as backup and to help cordon off the area, keeping out any unwary tourists and to keep an eye out for anything suspicious until Lacey and Linc could confirm—or deny—the presence of a body. She’d worked with both officers already and they knew what they were doing when it came to preserving a crime scene.
She’d first met both officers when they’d been assigned to guard her after she’d been attacked at Nico’s house, directly after Rania’s murder. Gorman and Hickey were reliable and steadfast, like the rest of the officers at Burnie station. Lacey was learning that trusting your fellow teammates was essential if you were to get the job done properly.
“Did you see anyone else while you were walking?” Lacey asked as Linc took a few steps toward the trail that disappeared into the tall grass, deep shadows from the overhanging branches making it seen a little eerie.
“No.” They both shook their heads in unison.
Linc cast her a knowing look over his shoulder. That was good news. Hopefully, the people who owned the other two cars parked in the lot had passed on by the body without seeing it, and were now well out of the way of the crime scene. They would still have to be rounded up and interviewed, however.
“Stay behind me, Shorty,” Linc demanded as he stalked warily into the shadows.
Lacey bit back a retort. Both at the nickname, which she hated—just because she was shorter than him, really?—and because Linc still saw her as a rookie cop. He saw it as his role to keep her under his wing. She couldn’t count the number of times she reminded him that she’d already spent over a year on the force as a junior constable back in Melbourne and she was nobody’srookie. But it didn’t help that as part of the terms negotiated byChief Inspector Shadbolt for her return to the force, that she be put under another six-month probation—which was due to end in two weeks’ time—and because of that, Linc treated her like she was a newbie who needed his guidance. Which she didn’t. It irked her that Shadbolt had put this stipulation on her, but she understood why he’d done it. He needed to make sure she was still fit for duty after suffering severe PTSD from a traumatic incident she’d witnessed in her previous posting in Melbourne. Linc was also aware of her past trauma, and he was merely trying to shield her from what was to come. It didn’t cool her irritation with him, however. But she did as she was told, following in his wake, eyes searching the surrounding bush for anything out of place.
Linc went straight toward the boardwalk that curved along the edge of the river, his booted feet thumping along the wooden treads. At a bend in the river, the boardwalk veered out, so they were suspended above the water, giving them a good view of the pretty waterway in both directions.
“There.” Linc leaned over the railing and pointed at what looked to be a pile of floating rags. As Lacey looked closer, she could make out the shape of a submerged human figure beneath the clothing, face down and arms splayed out like a starfish. A large stick floated next to her, probably dropped by Henry in his shock at his find. Her stomach surged at the sight, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself not to look away. She was a cop now. This was part of her job. A grisly, sad, and distressing part. But a part nonetheless.
“Call it in,” Linc directed, his face a mask of steely resolution. “I’ll retrieve the body.”
She opened her mouth to protest; she was more than capable of wading into that dark, forbidding water if that’s what it took. But one look at his face told her not to argue, so she nodded and pressed the button on the police radio resting in her shoulder holster. Hickey and Gorman were already on their way, but Lacey asked for more backup to secure the scene, as well as a homicide team from Devonport, and the local forensics guys to attend the scene. As she talked into her radio, she watched Linc unstrap his duty belt, take off his police vest, boots and socks, snap on a pair of latex gloves, and wade into the river. At least the water looked clean, but she knew it must be cold. He was up to his waist by the time he reached the body, and he gingerly took hold of the fabric of her sweater and towed her toward the riverbank. Tugging the body onto dry land, Linc emerged with water running off his clothes.
“Holy frack, that water is freezing,” he declared, standing dripping next to the body. As she looked at him, still in her dry uniform, a tiny part of her was glad she had a big, burly, testosterone-fueled partner who was prepared to do the physical side of the job. Not that she would ever tell him that. And yet another part of her was amused that this strapping partner of hers refused to swear. He never took God’s name in vain either. Said his grandma would wash his mouth out if she ever heard him blaspheme. It was kinda cute.
Being extra careful where she stepped, she bent her knees and got down on her haunches to get a better look at the body.
“Poor woman,” she muttered under her breath. She wasn’t a pretty sight. Penny had been right in her description. Her face was pallid and wrinkled, like a ghost who’d escaped from the depths of a watery grave. “She must’ve been in the water for a while,” Lacey mused. “A few days at least.” Lacey knew a body usually sank quite quickly at first, then floated to the surface again later, once the putrefaction gases filled the cavities and brought it up.
“Hmm.” Linc bent down next to her. “Whoever did this must’ve known the body would be found, eventually. This is a public reserve, lots of people use these walking trails every day. They were either incredibly sloppy, or they wanted us to find her.” Linc was right on the money, and Lacey lifted her head to look around. Everything was peaceful and idyllic. The birds were still singing in the trees; they didn’t care that a human had lost her life here. The grass still swayed in the warm, gentle breeze and the bees still buzzed. It was only her who was freaked out. Why would someone choose this place to dump a body?
“It’s good that your detective is due home today,” Linc said. “We’re going to need him on this case.” He sat down and began pulling on his boots underneath his soaking wet pants. Poor guy was going to have to wear damp trousers all day now.
“You think it’s definitely murder?” Lacey queried, ignoring Linc’s referral to Nico asher detective. They never made it obvious they were a couple when they were at work. Lacey intentionally kept any public displays of affection at the precinct to zero, not wanting to rub it in her colleagues’ faces that she was dating the lead homicide detective. Not wanting them to think she took any liberties just because she and Nico were together. He was a detective, and she was just a junior cop on the beat, so they were almost never partnered with each other. But people always talked. And they made their own judgments. People could be spiteful and unkind at times, and she knew she was the topic of some of the gossip around the lunchroom table. But she knew Linc didn’t hold any grudges against her dating Nico. He was a fair-minded guy, and he got on well with Nico. They’d become squash partners of late, playing a weekly round of heated tournaments, much to Nico’s delight. He’d missed playing squash after his friend Gabriel DuPont had become a convicted murderer and was now spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Her heart gave an involuntary jump at the thought of Nico. She couldn’t wait to see him again. Anticipation had been fizzing in her veins ever since she’d awoken this morning. He’d been away on the mainland for the past week. Had taken personal leave to see his mother in Canberra. As well as follow up some leads regarding his father. But Nico was keeping the fact that his supposedly dead father may have faked his own death on the down-low. No one at work, except his boss, Shadbolt, knew anything about this surprising turn in Nico’s life. Including Linc. So she kept her face impassive as she waited for him to answer.
“Yep. I’m pretty sure. Look.” He pointed and Lacey saw what he meant. There were ligature marks around her neck and wrists. “She’s been tied up and possibly strangled,” he added.
Lacey’s mind went immediately to the board set up in the second meeting room at the station. To the images pinned in a row, of the faces of three women, all victims of horrific murders. A suspected serial killer was on the loose somewhere on the northwest coast of Tasmania, and Nico was liaising with the cops from Hobart to try and help solve the case. Could this be the work of the serial killer? The other three women had all been involved in the sex worker industry. Cause of death had also been strangulation. Was this woman a prostitute? Perhaps Linc was wrong, and the marks on the dead woman’s neck were from something else altogether. But a shiver went down Lacey’s spine at the eerie similarities.
She caught Linc’s eye, and they both knew without speaking that they were thinking the same thing.
