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Kapoor frowned. ‘You’re sure? We can cope if you need to go home.’

Dominic didn’t like the sound of this. ‘I’m absolutely fine.’ He sat straighter in his chair. ‘Shall we carry on?’

Kapoor didn’t look convinced but indicated that Dominic could continue.

Dominic cleared his throat once more and got on with the task at hand. ‘It wasn’t pretty and that had nothing to do with someone falling on top of her, or how long she’d been left in the ground. In fact, the pathologist, Nadira Azim, said it looked as though she had only been there a couple of days. Whoever killed her did a nasty job on her. There was strangulation but, bizarrely, after that he decided to cut her throat and smeared her face with lipstick, leaving the used lipstick at the scene with the body. We have no idea what any of this means, but it seems as though for him, it holds significance. There is too much to this killing for it to just be a murder. It means something to him. And in scenarios like that we have to be concerned about escalation. Unless of course he knew the victim and the mode of killing was specific to her.’

The room was silent, there was no place for laughter when you listened to details like that.

Dominic carried on. ‘We identified her reasonably quickly as Julie Carver as she’d been reported missing by her brother. He’s going to do an official ID this afternoon after the PM. We spoke to him and his wife and they said Julie had been dating online and had met someone new recently. They couldn’t give us any more details on him or tell us what the app was she used. She leaves behind a fourteen-year-old son who is being cared for by the uncle and aunt.’

Kapoor clapped his hands together. ‘Thanks, Dom. So we need to identify the app she was using, dig into the background of the dog walker, see if anything suspicious pops up for him and I’d suggest that this guy she was dating has become our number one priority. Anyone disagree?’ He waited to see if anyone else had any information to add to the discussion, perhaps a different viewpoint to look at.

The briefings were a fluid affair where every team member got their say and everyone was heard. Kapoor didn’t believe in dismissing anyone. Any so-called silly observation or consideration could be the one idea that could break an entire case. Dominic wondered if Kapoor had learned this the hard way on another team, another case, another time. Whatever the circumstances, he liked the way his boss did the briefing and was inclusive.

‘Okay, good. CCTV has been collected around the dump site. Because we believe it is a dump site and not the place she was killed. It’s not bloody enough to be the kill site.’ Kapoor looked at Dominic. ‘Dom and one of his team are going to the PM this morning and will be doing the ID this afternoon. Lizzy Fields is to be the FLO on this case and will pick up with the family as soon as the ID is done.’

Lizzy raised her hand in the corner of the room. FLOs were not a part of Major Crime teams but were brought in off their own teams when a case was up and running. There was a list of FLOs who could be used so one single FLO didn’t burn out being given every case that came up. Dominic liked Lizzy, she was calm and practical and the families tended to get on well with her. This was important because much as people thought FLOs were there to soothe the family through their nightmare, they were actually a conduit between the SIO — Kapoor — and the family. A way for information to flow between the two and mostly from the family back to the investigation. It was the little things that could potentially be important that families let slip when they were comfortable in their own homes, things that they might not otherwise say when being questioned by police in a more official capacity. They relaxed more with a FLO, even though the FLO was always upfront that they were there to gather information. Lizzy was great at keeping families onside about this.

‘What time is the post-mortem?’ Kapoor asked.

Dominic looked at his watch. ‘It’s in an hour, boss.’

‘Okay. Anyone have anything else they want to add at this point? Your team leaders will sort you out with actions from HOLMES. Let’s pull together on this one. I’m afraid it’s going to be long hours and maybe a long job, so get ready for that. Let your families know. I’ll give you some time off as and when I can, but you know the routine, the first days matter. Let’s make them count.’

Chapter 18

Dominic

Nadira Azim was already in the mortuary at the Medico-legal centre on Watery Lane with Julie Carver, who was laid out on a steel table. Julie was still in her clothes waiting for the police to seize and exhibit them as they were removed one item at a time. Dominic had brought Krish to the morgue with him. He was one of the more steel-stomached of his team and this was not going to be an easy post-mortem.

‘This isn’t a pleasant one, Krish,’ Dominic said as they both changed into spare scrubs.

‘No worries, sarge. I ate a while ago, there’s no concern about me bringing my breakfast up. Besides, I’m a professional guy. You never have to worry about me.’

‘I know that.’ Dominic put his clothes and mobile phone in a locker. ‘I want you to be prepared for what you’re going to see. I imagine I’m going to be shocked again as it’ll be more visible now she’s out of her grave.