Die of Shame Read Online Free PDF Page B

broken glass on the kitchen floor, plant pots and whatever knocked over. It was a right mess. You only had to see the blood, though, to know it was wrong.’ The sound muffled suddenly; Fuller placing a hand over the mouthpiece to talk to someone else for a few seconds. ‘Sorry… yeah, the skull looked intact, so stabbing’s my best guess. Hard to be sure, what little there is left.’
    ‘And no signs of forced entry.’
    ‘Only what the uniforms did,’ Fuller said.
    So, a victim who was trusting enough to let a stranger in, or a killer who was known to them.
    ‘Have we got a name yet?’
    ‘We found a couple of credit cards, got a name from the landlord. You might be able to get a formal ID later on today.’ Fuller gave Tanner the name and Tanner wrote it down.
    ‘Next of kin?’
    ‘The mother’s dead and the father lives up north. He’s on the way down, but like I say, he’s not got a lot left to identify.’
    Tanner knew it would come down to personal effects most probably, dental records to be absolutely sure. The correct way, and the kindest. No father should have to watch a sheet being pulled back, only to find himself staring down at bones and slop.
    ‘A couple of weeks?’ Tanner was scrolling through the pictures again. It never ceased to surprise her just how quickly a human being could be… reduced. Beneath a heavily stained white shirt, a chest collapsed in on itself; exposed flesh creamy at the edges and a glimpse of the cavity, blackened and hollowed out.
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘And definitely not a missing person?’
    ‘Nope. First thing I checked. Doesn’t appear to have been missed by anyone.’ Fuller sounded busy suddenly, keen to end the call and crack on with something of her own. ‘Not yet, anyway.’
    This was what disturbed Nicola Tanner the most, over and above the routine problems that went with the death of someone who lived in isolation. Most people were killed by someone close to them, but where did that leave those conducting the murder investigation when the victim did not appear to be close to anyone?
    She thanked Fuller for the information and ended the call. She began to print out the pictures.
    It was hard to imagine anything more wretched. This was not the natural order of things. A death, especially a violent one, should leave a hole in the lives of the bereaved.
    Tanner trudged across to the printer feeling listless, heavy; nodded back at a colleague whose mouth was moving and whose eyes were turned in her direction.
    A hole in
somebody’s
life.

… NOW
     
    It was at least ten hours since the forensic team had first arrived at the property in Victoria, and the crucial recording, collection and removal of potential evidence had already taken place. Given the choice, Tanner preferred access to an untouched crime scene, at least prior to the removal of the body, but a handover usually meant sloppy seconds. It was not without its benefits, though. There was something to be said for having the freedom to move around on her own, and she didn’t miss the unseemly chit-chat or the stream of tasteless jokes. She was certainly happy enough not to be creeping about, all too aware of her own clumsiness, done up like an oversized infant in a plastic Babygro.
    ‘Going to need a fair few bottles of Mr Muscle to clean that lot up.’
    Sometimes, there was simply no avoiding the chit-chat. It was not Tanner’s strongest suit.
    ‘Right,’ she said.
    ‘Not exactly fragrant in there, either.’ The uniformed officer on duty outside the property seemed keen to continue the conversation, but Tanner kept her head down and went inside.
    It was like a smack in the face, meaty and sickly sweet. Before pulling on nitrile gloves, Tanner dabbed Vicks beneath her nose and began to breathe through her mouth; slow and shallow.
    She put her head round the bedroom door. The bed had been stripped, the wardrobes emptied. It was much the same story in the bathroom, and the whole place might have looked as