The sunshine bathed the car park as Matt pulled the car in to the space just next to where Sam had parked moments earlier. He had been in a foul mood since he had got up that morning and just hoped Alesha and the children hadn't noticed. He sighed as he saw his Detective Inspector get out of the car holding a takeaway coffee and an armful of papers.
"Ready for Court?" Matt asked as Sam rolled his eyes.
"As I can be." Sam frowned. "James and Alesha are running the prosecution. So that's something."
Matt smiled slightly. He was proud of his wife. Alesha had worked hard to get George to accept that they could make a case against the man who had murdered his wife and children while trying to commit insurance fraud would go to trial on the charges she had wanted him to face. He knew she had been working day and night to get the case ready.
"You ok?"
"Me?" Matt nodded. "Always." He sighed as he fell into step beside his friend. He looked over the carpark, glad to see Ronnie and Joe had already arrived. Sam frowned, knowing that his friend was not being as truthful as he might have been. He looked up as he heard Natalie call his name.
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The wasteland behind the local factories had been left abandoned for years. The only residents were the rats, various drug users were regular visitors as were the drunks who occasionally appeared with bottles of vodka and cheap cider. Joe swallowed hard as he tried and failed not to think of the rats that had partially destroyed most of the body he was starting at.
"We know its a male." Joy stated as she took photographs. Joe nodded, trying to keep his breakfast inside him. The last thing he needed was to see his cereal reappear. Joy sighed as he looked away. "Ronnie." She straightened up. "I can't tell you much at the moment. Got to get him back to the morgue. Look after Squeamish Sid here, will you. Kids today. No stomach on them."
"Thanks Joy." He lead the newest member of the team away from the body as Natalie, Sam and Matt arrived. "You ok, son?"
"Yeah." Joe took a few deep breaths. "Rats, you know?"
"Yeah." Ronnie nodded. "You talked to anyone? Witnesses?"
"No." Joe sighed. "No one saw anything."
"Well, there's CCTV." Natalie stated as she crossed to them. "Angie is getting hold of it now." She frowned, still worried that the depression that had almost claimed him would take hold again. Ronnie shoved his hands in his pockets as he thought about the victim.
"All we know right now is that poor sod was a bloke. No idea who he was or why he was 'ere."
"Great start then." Natalie looked at him. "Joy doing the PM?"
"Yeah." Joe nodded. He watched Sam walk over to the uniformed officers watching the police tape flicker in the breeze. Matt made his way over to them, looking like he was either about to burst into tears or vomit.
"I just spoke to James." He frowned. "I think we may have a lead on identifying the bloke over there."
"Yeah?" Ronnie started to feel a little more optimistic about the case.
"The defendant in Alesha's case has gone missing. Fits the description of the dead body." Matt sighed. "My guessing whoever the killer is wanted him to keep quiet."