Chapter 4

"So, this is the only means of controlling the machinery?" asked Rachel as she stepped across the planks put down by the forensic department so as not to contaminate evidence. The CSIs had been carefully dusting the large control pad and lever for fingerprints, and DNA, and had already swept the floor area so they had deemed it safe for Rachel and Janet, along with a man from the yard, to enter, providing they only stepped on the planks.

"S'far as I know" said the tall, skinny-ish bloke by the name of Martin.

Rachel peered at the lettering above the control-pad.

"What is Peppa?" She asked

"Name of the provider I reckon"

"Is that important?" asked Janet, looking at Rachel and studying her facial expression. She never knew whether Rachel's questioning was fuelled by curiosity, or whether she believed her questions to be relevant to the investigation.

"No" said Rachel defensively. Obviously just one of her Sherlock moments, thought Janet as she peered round the control room. She looked at the door they had just walked through. It was small, but had a large keyhole, and, if locked, it looked sturdy.

"Is that door locked at night?" She asked, turning to Martin.

"Of course!" said Martin, almost as if Janet had asked a ridiculous question. "We couldn't have kids coming up here and messing about with the machinery, someone might get hurt..." His voice trailed off as he realised what he'd said. Rachel gave a scoffing sound, and raised her eyebrows at him. He was the one being stupid, not Janet.

Janet looked at him calmly and nodded her head. "Who has keys to that door?"

"Myself, Terry, and of course Gab...I mean, Miss Reynolds would"

"Do you have any idea when she'll be back?"

"She said around 11-ish" said Martin, looking down at his watch. Rachel glanced at the clock on the wall. '11.20'. Brilliant.

"So, nobody else has access to this control room other than the three people you have just mentioned?" Asked Janet, determined to get the facts off of him before he began to feel pressured by Rachel's killer glare.

"And what about CCTV?" Janet was looking around the room.

"Well..." began Martin, but he stopped as the sound of a car was heard from down below. The three of them looked out of the window to see a Blue Vauxhall Astra pull up just below the control room.

"That'll be the boss back" said Martin, sounding relieved.

"Right, well thank you Mr Greenwood." Said Janet, handing him her card "We'll need to get in touch with you again, but if you think of anything that might help us with our investigation, could you please give me, or one of my team a ring" The man nodded, taking the card from Janet and pocketing it in his scruffy jeans.

As they reached the car that had just pulled up, a woman in her late 30s, holding a small black pug dog, got out of it. She had long black hair tied back into a tight ponytail which had left the skin on her forehead looking taut. Instant botox, thought Rachel. The woman put the tiny pug down, and it scampered away out of site between the cars. As she straightened up, Rachel noticed that she was taking great care to subtly straighten both her tight black skirt, and her tight fitting white shirt, which were in danger of revealing a little too much of her.

"Miss Reynolds?" asked Janet expectantly. The woman nodded.

"My name is Detective Sergeant Janet Scott, and this is Detective Constable Rachel Bailey." Rachel wondered why she still felt funny when Janet said this. It made her feel inferior, but this was her best friend. Surely she wasn't jealous? "We're from the Manchester Metropolitan Police Major Incident Team. We're here about the incident..." More like tragedy. "...that occurred here last night. Are you the owner of this yard?"

"Technically my father is" said the woman, clearly disappointed. Had she been expecting someone else?

"Where is your father now?" asked Rachel bluntly. She was bored of waiting for the owner. She wanted to get on with catching the killer, and hopefully bringing justice for the young girl who had died here. Not to mention justice for Kevin...

The woman shot Rachel a hateful look. She hadn't appreciated her tone. "Hospital" she said curtly, "he has a lung condition" she was looking at Rachel pointedly as she said it, as if Rachel should feel very guilty. Rachel looked away.

Janet, wishing Rachel would leave the questioning to her, said "As you're already aware Miss Reynolds..."

"Gabby"

"As you're already aware, Gabby, a woman was found dead in one of the cars in this scrap yard last week. Whilst acting on intelligence given that there was further action going to be taken last night, you gave permission to the Manchester Metropolitan Police surveillance unit to keep tabs on this area over night" Gabby nodded, yawning as if Janet's story was most uninteresting to her. "As I assume you have been informed" continued Janet, ignoring her yawn "there was then another death, witnessed by one of my officers. We are, at present, identifying the body, but we believe it to be a Detective Constable from our own team. Therefore, this matter is being treated with the highest attention and urgency."

"I see" said the woman indignantly. "If it was just some poor sod off the street then you'd take your time. It's only because it's one of your own that you pay it special attention"

Janet smiled calmly. "That's not what I meant."

"What we're trying to do..." said Rachel, ignoring a look from Janet which was trying to tell her not to speak. "...Is to establish, as quickly as possible, if these two events were actually connected, so we can then follow a suitable line of investigation."

Janet smiled to herself. That might have been the most tactful Rachel had been in a while. She tended to wade in, putting everyone's back up. Although, Miss Reynolds certainly didn't look happy.

"Is this going to affect my men, and their work?"

"The quicker we find out why these events took place" said Janet "the quicker you can resume day-to-day activity."

Gabby nodded, begrudgingly. "Fine. What do want to do?"

"We've already got CSI's in all the main areas. I'd like to take all of your CCTV from around the yard..."

"The main camera covering the yard was taken by you lot after last week. I didn't replace it." She interrupted.

"Surely we only took the tape?" asked Janet.

"Yes, but I didn't have another spare tape. I usually just wipe the one that's in there every time it's full."

Rachel rolled her eyes. No CCTV of the actual incident? That would make their life so much easier...

XxXxX

"How?" This was the first question Julie Dodson had asked Gill, as they sat in Gill's office with cups of luke warm tea.

Gill looked at her friend across the desk. She looked shaken.

"He was eaten" Why had she just said that? What was wrong with her? This was serious. Julie was now staring at her, really confused.

"Sorry" she tried again. "They were on surveillance last night at a scrap yard, following a tip-off related to the death of Holly Wainwright last week" Julie nodded in recognition of the case. "Apparently Kevin got in a car, one that was waiting for scrap. He squeezed in. God knows how he'd have got out again in a hurry" Julie nodded again slowly. Highly impractical. Yes, that was very Kevin! "Anyway, a car broke through into the yard. There was a bit of commotion. Then the Auto-recycling machine just started working, it picked up the car Kevin had been hiding in and dropped it straight in, between the crushing cylinders. And..."

Julie shut her eyes as Gill's voice trailed off. She felt sick. Kevin was certainly not her favourite person, but how had this happened?

"Surely your team has been given some leave? Surely you're not still investigating it?" Julie was thinking of the large whiteboard with Holly Wainwright's name in block capitals as she'd walked through the Syndicate 9 office.

Gill nodded slowly and looked at her friend. "I asked them this morning. They all refused to take any time off. They're passionate about solving this case!" She sighed. "They want justice. To get whichever calculated, evil human being did this to Holly. And...to Kevin. I spoke to the Chief Con this morning, and he agreed that we could continue with the original case for the time being, providing we reported any problems we had straight away"

"Is his death part of the investigation now?"

"We're still waiting on an official ID. Then there are all the proper channels this will go through. My team will be subject to questioning and a full investigation into his death will be carried out."

"I know" said Julie, nodding in reminder to Gill that she was aware of police procedure. Gill sniffed and Julie looked up. Her eyes looked tearful, and her mouth wobbled slightly.

Julie had never really been the 'emotional support' and 'sympathy' type. And with Gill she never usually needed to. Gill was a private person, and all her emotions stayed securely locked away around people. If Gill was upset, the only physical support Julie would be giving her was to help her walk after a very boozy night. Gill got drunk and moaned about her problems. Julie never usually saw her cry.

"Gill?" she said softly. Gill didn't seem able to look at her and Julie guessed she was trying very hard to keep her emotions intact. Julie's own throat was tight and she felt a similar wave of emotion travelling through her. Bloody Hell, she thought. I never thought I'd feel like crying over Kevin Lumb.

She made a decision in that moment and reached across the desk, taking hold of Gill's hand, with its beautifully polished red fingernails. She squeezed it slightly. Gill's fingers slowly wrapped themselves round Julie's hand and squeezed back. Neither of them looked at each other. Neither of them spoke. They sat there in silence. The distant buzz from the office outside, and the low hum of Gill's computer were the only sounds...