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‘Good call,’ she said, heading over to the group who’d been asked to remain.
She strode into the middle of them.
‘Someone here found the victim?’ she asked as the two constables stepped back.
A man with thinning reddish hair stepped forward. ‘Father George Markinson,’ he said, holding out his hand. ‘Father George for short.’
Kim ignored it. ‘You found her?’
He let his hand fall as he nodded to the guy in the cable jumper. ‘No, that was Terence Birch.’
Kim glanced over the other five men. ‘Anyone else see anything?’
They all shook their heads.
‘No one went near the body or took photos?’
They all looked horrified as they again shook their heads.
Sadly, it was a question she had to ask these days.
‘We’ve got all their details?’ she asked the constables.
‘Yes, marm,’ they said together.
‘Okay, you can all go for now, but please don’t share what you’ve seen here with any press. Officers will come to take statements at your homes.’
They all nodded their understanding before filtering away.
‘Okay, Mr…’
‘Terence is one of our bell ringers,’ Father George said. ‘He was leaving—’
‘Thank you, Father. Is Terence unable to speak?’
The clergyman’s expression told her he didn’t like to be challenged. She held his gaze for a second before turning to the man.
‘Terence, can you tell me what happened?’ she asked, touching him lightly on the arm. He hadn’t yet looked at her once.
‘So much blood,’ he said, still staring at the ground as though the body was right there.
‘You were leaving after ringing the bells?’ she clarified, looking to where he would have exited the church. It was a good seventy metres away. ‘You didn’t head straight for the gate?’
To find Sandra’s body he would have had to take a detour around the back of the building.
‘I was checking.’
‘For what?’
‘Sandy. I saw her when I came in.’
‘You know her?’ Kim asked, hearing the distant peal of alarm bells herself.
Terence lifted his head and nodded. ‘She’s local. We all know her. She comes here a lot.’
‘Yes, she does,’ Father George added with a hint of irritation.
Halesowen wasn’t a huge town. She shouldn’t be surprised that the victim was known.
