The Cadaver Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

time of day with any of them, but a couple did say that during the past couple of weeks
     there have been several cars parked outside so she must have had visitors.’
    ‘Does she own a car?’
    ‘A blue Toyota Yaris. But there’s no sign of it.’
    Wesley glanced at Gerry who was hovering impatiently by the front door.
    ‘Right, then. Forensic have finished whatever it is they do, so it’s all ours.’ Gerry pushed the crime scene tape aside and
     the door swung open. ‘Come on. Me and Rach’ll take downstairs and you do upstairs, Wes. We’ve got a licence to be nosy – official.’
    Wesley caught Rachel’s eye and they both smiled. Gerry’s brand of Liverpudlian humour had helped them face some dire situations
     in the past, as long as there were no grieving relatives around to hear.
    The scent of death still hung in the air but Wesley tried to ignore it as he climbed the stairs.
    He started in the second bedroom, which seemed to be serving as a store room. Here the wardrobes were crammed with clothes,
     and boxes of paperwork lay on the bare mattress of a single divan bed: bills, bank statements and correspondence all addressed
     to Tessa Trencham. Someone would have to go through them all in the hope that a clue to her death would be concealed in there.
     He searched through the bank statements for any indication as to how she earned her living but, although the account was fairly
     healthy, there was nothing to suggest where that money came from. In an old shoebox at the bottom of a wardrobehe found some photographs of an elderly couple and several of a fair-haired boy from babyhood to the brink of adulthood. But
     there didn’t appear to be any pictures of the dead woman, old or recent.
    The bathroom contained nothing out of the ordinary; just an array of expensive beauty products and some common proprietary
     medicines in the mirrored cabinet. When he stepped out on to the landing he knew he had to face the bedroom where the woman
     had died. He pushed the door open and stood for a few moments staring down at the place where her body had lain undiscovered
     and unmissed for all that time. The pale bedspread was discoloured with a large stain and scattered with insect pupa cases,
     while the tiny corpses of flies lay scattered around the room. Someone, the Forensic people probably, had been at work with
     insect spray and, as the place stank of mingled death and chemicals, Wesley decided to open a window to let some fresh air
     in before beginning his search.
    There were no books beside the bed. But some people, he supposed, just didn’t like reading. The double bed was still made
     up, immaculate with a satin throw folded across the bottom and matching scatter cushions propped up on the ornate velvet headboard,
     but his eyes were drawn to the dark, dinted area where the body had lain. This was a woman’s room all right – his wife Pam
     had observed more than once that no man she’d ever known could see the purpose of the scatter cushion.
    He began by turning back the bedclothes. The sheets looked freshly laundered and there was no sign of a nightdress or pyjamas
     beneath the pillows. He made a quick search of the bedside drawers and found a box full oftissues and several packs of condoms. There must have been a man – or men – in Tessa Trencham’s life. It was just a case now
     of finding him … or them. He looked in the waste-bin, but there was no sign of any used condoms that would provide them with
     useful DNA; the lover – or lovers – had probably flushed them down the lavatory. A pity, he thought.
    Rooting through the ottoman at the end of the bed, he found several changes of bedding, all newish and smelling sweetly of
     fabric conditioner. The wardrobes contained more clothes and the chest of drawers was filled with lacy, luxurious underwear,
     mostly in red and black. The top two dressing-table drawers were given over to jewellery and make-up and he could tell that
     she had very