Wilderness (Arbogast trilogy) Read Online Free PDF Page B

morning all,” she said scanning the room. There should have been more people here and they would need much more than this as the day went on. Half had been here for ten hours already while those who had made it through the snow so far accounted for roughly two thirds of the normal total.
    “First up I’d like to say it’s been a great effort from the overnight team. It’s been a long, hard shift but we think we’ve managed to keep everyone safe and there were no major accidents to speak of. However...” DCI Ying left the word hanging. “...however we have a developing situation near to the Kirk o’ Shotts which looks likely to have major implications for us.”
    Colleagues glanced at each other, unsure of what might be heading their way.
    “As you may know a coach was found abandoned. At first it didn’t look like there was anyone on it – a farmer and his son managed to get to the coach and found a woman handcuffed in the toilet. Why she was there we don’t know, but what we do know is that she was left there in her underwear and now looks to be suffering from hypothermia. The woman, Mary Clark, is being treated in Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary and at this time it’s unclear how long it will be before we can speak to her. In the meantime we’ve sent two uniforms out with the Air Ambulance to conduct a preliminary investigation. We identified the woman from a passport in her handbag. We also found two tickets for the journey – one for the woman, and one for a child. The child has not been found and neither has the driver.”
    “That’s all we need,” snarled an anonymous voice from the back of the room, “a fucking pervert. With any luck he’ll be dead already and buried in the snow. He won’t have got far.”
    “That’s enough,” DCI Ying said, “Let’s not prejudge this before we even get started. We’ll be setting up in the major crime incident room here at Motherwell, active immediately.”
    The addition of extra space at the headquarters had been controversial to say the least. The decision had been made to ensure there was always a spare room capable of handling a major case but operational staff had complained that space was already at a premium. They had lost the argument and on days like these no-one really complained.
    “I appreciate that a lot of you have been here overnight but additional help will be needed.”
    Everyone in the room nodded. In practice no-one claimed for overtime. It was cases like these that made the job worthwhile. What’s more a similar case two years ago had failed and they had ended up dragging the body of a 12 year old boy from the bottom of a quarry. He had been beaten to a pulp and dumped in a weighted sack and forgotten. The press had had a field day with it. One of the tabloids had dubbed it the ‘Cat Sack murder’. The label had no doubt sold a lot of papers but the family had been furious. DCI Ying wondered if this time would be different.
     
    ***
    Sandy had been caught up in a round of calls to the emergency services all morning as he tried to establish the scale of disruption the storm had caused. Bored now, he had retreated from the newsroom and was sitting outside having a cigarette and coffee, freezing in the morning chill when he remembered the bus. His brain was running slowly this morning and he reminded himself he was getting too old to be out on the town on a Sunday night. Five minutes later he rang Motherwell again and was surprised when Frank answered.
    “You still there Frank, thought you’d have been off for a wee kip by now?”
    “It’s been a bit hectic.”
    “Anything to do with the bus?”
    “After a fashion.”
    “Oh come on don’t dry up on me now.”
    “I can’t say Sandy.”
    “Did they find someone?”
    “........”
    “Frank”
    “All I can say is that they have found someone on board.”
    “Male or female?”
    “Female.”
    “Age?”
    “Thirties.”
    “Injured?”
    “No comment Sandy. Look there will be an