Two Evils: A DI Charlotte Savage Novel by Mark Sennen Page A

horror. In a woodland setting there’d be flowers or the sound of birds in the trees. In the city you could hear a constant background noise, reminding you that although you stared down on death, elsewhere there was life. Here in the tunnel there was nothing but the dank smell of the underworld.

    Savage and Layton stopped a few metres from the body and allowed Nesbit to approach alone.
    ‘Do we know the boy’s name and age?’ Nesbit said.
    ‘Jason Hobb,’ Savage said. ‘He was just eleven.’
    ‘Just eleven? That says it all, doesn’t it, Charlotte?’
    ‘Yes. He’ll never be anything else but eleven and a headline in the papers.’
    ‘Quite.’ Nesbit put his bag down on the concrete and then stepped over and surveyed the body. ‘There’s wounding on the hands. Cut marks. Not much blood though. I think he died somewhere else. The body was brought here afterwards.’
    ‘I wondered if that was the case,’ Savage said. ‘What we can’t quite work out is his attire.’
    ‘No? Well, we’ll leave his underwear and boots in place until the PM.’ Nesbit moved closer to the body and knelt. He touched one of the arms and then bent to the head. His gloved fingers examined the boy’s neck. ‘Seems the killer used a ligature. Did the boy have a belt?’
    ‘No. From the clothing in the bag it appears he was wearing tracksuit bottoms.’
    ‘Then I’d say the killer may well have used his own. Look, there’s more bruising on the back. I think the belt was used like a choke chain. The killer pulled up with one hand on the belt while pushing down with the other. The boy would have been powerless.’

    Powerless. Savage shook her head, not understanding how anyone could gain pleasure or satisfaction in subjugating another person, let alone killing them.
    ‘This one’s dangerous, eh, Charlotte?’ Layton pointed at the figure of Nesbit hunched over the body. ‘And I’ve got a bad feeling in my waters.’
    ‘I thought you were like Dr Nesbit, John? Scientific enquiry, evidence, reason.’
    ‘I’m just saying I’m uncomfortable with this. I can’t quite place my finger on it, but something’s not right here.’
    ‘Andrew?’ Savage said. ‘How say you?’
    ‘Well, there is something odd here.’ Nesbit was peering at one of his hands, holding a gloved finger up and rotating it. ‘There’s a substance on the surface of his skin. Something sticky.’
    ‘Sticky?’
    ‘Perhaps more slippery than sticky. Possibly grease. Perhaps it’s something from the tunnel. Oil from the trains maybe?’ Nesbit bent to the body again. He lifted one of the legs. ‘Of more importance is the fact he’s still in rigor. I’ll take a rectal temperature reading to establish time of death. Give me a few minutes and I’ll have an answer for you on that.’
    ‘OK, doc,’ Savage said. She turned away and walked back to the tunnel entrance, leaving Nesbit and Layton arguing over the ambient air temperature. She walked along the track and climbed the little path to the lane. She found Hardin standing in a pale circle of light cast by the mobile incident room van.
    ‘Layton and Nesbit any good?’ Hardin said. ‘Because if those two can’t find anything, we’re buggered. There’s nothing yet from the wider search and little chance of any witnesses.’

    ‘The barracks at Bickleigh. They’re not far away.’
    ‘A bloody squaddie? That’s all we need. They’ll close ranks, deal with it internally.’
    ‘No, sir. I meant cameras. They have them at the entrance. Perhaps they filmed a vehicle passing late at night. Possible a sentry also saw something suspicious.’
    ‘Good idea. I’ll get someone on to it.’ Hardin paused and cocked his head. ‘What’s it like in the tunnel, Charlotte? Grim, I’ll bet?’
    ‘Very.’
    ‘Well, I’ll go in when Nesbit’s finished.’ Hardin looked over Savage’s shoulder into the lane. ‘Before that lot take the body away.’
    Savage turned round. A little way up the road a