Day 4…
"A hand? An actual severed hand!? What kind of messed up town is this?" Hardy shook his head in disbelief. SOCO Brian Young, his white suit crinkling around him said annoyed,
"Hey, I live here!" Hardy sniffed while saying,
"Case in point." Miller, still staring horrified at the mess on the ground asked hopefully,
"Could it have been an animal of some sort?" Hardy snorted and said,
"This place isn't that rural, there aren't many animals around that could have taken down a human adult and a wolfhound." He added thoughtfully, "Maybe a werewolf..." Miller said absently,
"Har har." Brian Young answered Ellie's question, ignoring Hardy's comments entirely,
"This was a deliberate cut, made without a doubt by a human agency." Miller groaned and left the tent suddenly, while Hardy stared intently at the remains. Brian looked like he wanted to follow after her, but returned his attention instead to his study of the canine corpse and partial human cadaver at his feet. The sounds of dry retching assaulted their ears. Hardy grimaced, wrestling with himself, and then left the tent. Miller was bent over, one hand on a weathered gravestone the other holding her knee. She wasn't the only copper there who was looking green about the gills. The rest of the milling crowd found something more interesting to look at as Hardy went over to her. He put out a hand gingerly towards Ellie's heaving back.
"You alright?" he asked. Ellie steadily stopped dry heaving and turned towards him, wiping her mouth on a sleeve,
"Sorry, it…I'm just not used to this sort of thing, a dead body is one thing-we've had plenty of those, but that… That's just sick!" Hardy looked off to the side saying,
"Can't argue with you there." She asked wonderingly,
"How do you do it? Doesn't it affect you?" She stopped herself and muttered, "I suppose you're used to this sort of thing, no wonder you're such an asshole." Hardy ignored the insult and tried to give her an honest answer to her distress, which oddly bothered him.
"No one ever gets used to the gore, the stickiness, the total disregard for the human condition, not really. It's your focus that changes. Instead of concentrating on the blood, focus instead on catching the messed up sicko that did it, and giving justice for the loved ones left behind." Miller thought about that for a moment, turning it about in her head.
"Is that how you managed to get through the last enquiry?" She couldn't bring herself to be anymore specific about the case that had ended up with her husband being the sicko who was brought to justice. He sighed out,
"Yeah." Ellie pulled herself together and nodded decisively,
"Right, let's get back to work then." Hardy nodded and followed her, watching her straightened back enter the tent once more. Miller tired not to hold her breath. Young smiled incongruously at her return, the strange tableau of a dog being walked still at his white-bagged feet.
"Yes, well, back to the matter at hand," Brian Young chucked at his joke. Miller stared at him. He cleared his throat and said, "Er, the appendage was made to grip the leash before rigor mortis." Ellie asked calmly,
"Was it severed post mortem?" Young replied,
"Yes, this woman, and we know it is a woman's hand who was in her early 20's to late 40's, died within the past 24 hours. This limb had also been severed right where it lay." Hardy said abruptly,
"So the rest of the body must have lain here for a time." Young curtly replied,
"Yes." Ellie asked tentatively,
"The condition of the…limb tells you that?" The experienced SOCO answered,
"Yes, and the blood pooled on the ground around the stump." He gestured at the muddied ground as he warmed to his subject and went on. "The hemorrhaging is consistent with one-day-old remains. The lividity shows that the limb had not been moved much since it had been severed, and it had been separated from a recently deceased body. The hand was, no doubt, made to grasp the leash almost as soon as it was severed. It is therefore likely that the person died right here in this spot. We'll get the hand and dog over to pathology to confirm the time of death and see if we can glean anything else. Unfortunately it rained heavily last night which has given the ground and evidence a good wash and rinse, but we'll hope for the best." Hardy asked,
"Anything else?" Brian shrugged,
"That's it." Hardy left the tent, Ellie following. They both took a deep breath of fresh chill air, their breaths puffing into little white clouds. Hardy moved over to speak to PC Bob Daniels. Bob got off his radio and asked,
"Sir?" Hardy asked resignation tingeing his question,
"Don't suppose there's any sign of the rest of the body?" Daniels shrugged
"Not as yet, SOCO's and PC's have scoured the cemetery, but so far, no joy Sir." Hardy's said to the world at large,
"Of course not, that would be easy." Daniels considered it a personal insult, he grumbled,
"There's a lot of ground to cover." Hardy barked,
"Keep at it. Now who made the discovery?" Daniel's hurriedly got out his notebook and glanced at it,
"A…Mary Shannon. She's out by the medic's, she's in shock,-." Hardy interrupted him,
"Miller, you go and hold her hand. You know what to ask, see what you can get out of her."
"Why me?"
"It has to be one of us, would you rather it was me?"
"Good point."
Miller left Hardy to organize the SOC while she went down the hill to the back of the medic van to see the young black woman shivering beneath a blue blanket. She moved past the medic and approached the woman cautiously. The woman didn't meet her eyes; she just stared off into the space in front of her and shivered. The medic cautioned her to be gentle. She said she would. She sat next to her and said gently,
"Mary?" She started at the sound of her name and looked wildly around until her eyes trained on Miller. "Mary, my name is DS Ellie Miller. I wanted to ask you some questions, if that would be alright?" Mary's voice came out surprisingly rough,
"The others already asked me questions, there wasn't much to tell."
"I know, we just want to go over it one more time, okay? It's important." Mary nodded jerkily. "Can you tell me what happened? How you came across the…remains?" Mary made a small sound of distress at the word remains. Then she looked away and said almost robotically,
"I was going to visit my mother. It's her birthday today. She died three years ago." Miller sympathized,
"I'm sorry." Mary continued, not seeming to hear her,
"I walked up the hill and saw a bit of red. I moved towards it and saw that it was a leash attached to that poor dog. Then I noticed the hand. After that I called 999 on my mobile. You guys showed up soon after." Miller asked,
"Did you see anyone else up there or around the vicinity?" Mary stuttered,
"N-no!"
"Can you think of anything else that might help us?" Mary clutched the blanket more firmly about her,
"No, I'm sorry." Miller patted her shoulder awkwardly,
"It's alright, you did everything right." As she moved to walk away a thought occurred to her, "Wait, one more thing, did you see any other vehicles around the area before calling us?" Mary looked up at her,
"Vehicles?" She thought for a moment looking back on her memories, "I, I think so, a caretaker's truck over by the entrance." Miller moved next to her excitement writ upon her features,
"Can you describe the truck?" Mary answered,
"It was, er, green with Easthill cemetery on it."
"Was there a diver inside it?" Mary said,
"I didn't notice."
"Anything else about the truck that you observed?"
"No that's it. Does that help?" Ellie smiled a small smile to herself and said,
"Yes, I believe it does."
Back at the station Hardy congratulated Miller during the briefing, "Good job, Miller, you may have found us a witness, or a suspect." Ellie smiled, pleased at the rare praise,
"Thanks." Hardy looked at the rest of the team,
"Alright, any joy finding the caretaker?" DC Collins said from behind his computer,
"We've found his flat. He lives fairly close to the cemetery." Hardy said,
"Fine, Miller and I will go check it out." Ellie murmured,
"Thanks for asking." Hardy continued,
"Keep going through the graveyard, see if they are any witnesses, check the CCTV in the area, and find out if they are any missing persons fitting the description of a female early 20's to late 40's who may or may not have possessed a wolfhound pet." He got his coat and left the incident room with Ellie in tow. She rolled her eyes at him as they went down the stairs,
"You did it again you know?" He didn't turn as he said,
"Did what?" Miller said exasperated,
"Gave all your instructions in an impossible to-do list." Hardy turned to her and lifted one eyebrow,
"Is there another way to get things done?"
The caretaker of Easthill cemetery was an elderly man named, John Mcdermid. He lived in a flat in a building off the main road a ways. They had gone in Ellie's car. As she drove she pondered the enquiry they were currently on, and the complex miserable man beside her who stared morosely out of the car window and fogged it with his breath. She was temped to draw a smiling face in the steamed spot. They traveled in silence until they reached the caretaker's home. They noticed that the supposed cemetery truck wasn't parked in the drive. Hardy exited the car and leaned on the door after he closed it. Miller didn't say anything as Hardy forced himself upright and they went to the flat, where he knocked on the door. A man groggily answered the door, "Hello?"
"Mr. Mcdermid, I'm DI Hardy and this is DS Miller." The balding man in undershorts and a dingy t-shirt peered at them blearily as he said,
"So?" Hardy said,
"We wanted to know about your whereabouts for the past 24 hours." The man said belligerently,
"I've been here, why you want to know?" Miller tried to be tactful by saying,
"There has been an incident." The elderly man said again,
"So?" Hardy began to lose what little patience he had,
"You are saying you have been here, and not budged from your home for the past 24 hours?" Mr. McDermid said back while trying to close the door in their faces,
"That's not what I'm saying that's what is. I'm not feeling too well right now, so if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep." Hardy asked suddenly,
"Where's your truck?" The man blinked slowly,
"Truck?" Hardy said,
"Yes, the cemetery truck." The man opened the door wider and gestured towards the drive,
"Are you blind, it's right out front." Miller said,
"It isn't. Take a look." The old man left his flat and walked suspiciously to the railing of the balcony. He peered down at the road and then looked at them in anger,
"Hey, what trick are you pulling?" Hardy said,
"No trick." Mr. McDermid growled,
"Where is it then?" Hardy asked calmly,
"I suppose that's the question, do you mind if we come in?" The man muttered and went back into his flat leaving the door open behind him.
"If you must." The two detectives looked around at the one room flat. It was filthy, muddy clothes and leftover takeout's littered the floors. Miller was absolutely certain she was going to catch something if they were there for much longer. Hardy kept his professionalism in check as he asked,
"When was the last time you saw the truck?" The old man answered from the collapsed chair that engulfed him,
"When I parked it, on Monday." Miller then asked, while rubbing her nose,
"And you haven't seen it since then?" He snapped back,
"No, I've been ill." Hardy moved closer and peered into the man's bloodshot eyes. He asked,
"Out of curiosity, describe your symptoms." Mr. McDermid enjoyed the attention to his various sorrows,
"I slept really deep, and I was nauseous a while and have a pounding headache." Hardy moved back from him and returned to looking around the flat as he said,
"Sound's like you might have been drugged." The man gurgled,
"Drugged?" Hardy said,
"Come down to the station tomorrow and we'll get this sorted out. You should probably see your doctor immediately just in case." The man asked worriedly,
"Doctor, Doctor who?" Miller asked with concern,
"Don't you have a regular doctor?" He said shortly,
"No." Hardy said,
"Then go to hospital and get yourself checked out." The old man said in a much politer voice,
"Yeah, I will. Wait, my trucks gone." He looked up at them pitifully, "Can you give me a lift?" Miller said in an undertone,
"If I must." As the man made to follow them out she said loudly, "Put some proper clothes on first!"
After dropping off McDermid at the hospital. They had mutually agreed that he was more of a possible victim than suspect. "It's certainly been an interesting and long day." Miller was dropping Hardy at the station's carpark. As he left the warmth of her car he said,
"It has at that. I'll see you bright and early in the morning." He tried not to make that a question. Ellie knew the answer and gave it readily,
"You will." Hardy's mouth remained determinedly flat as he said,
"Have a goodnight Miller." She said,
"You too, Sir." Ellie added abruptly, "Don't worry so much, we'll catch this sicko." Hardy said over his shoulder as he walked to his car,
"I never worry." Ellie wanted to laugh as she yelled to him,
"Never, Sir!"