Maxwell's Point by M.J. Trow Read Free Book Online

aerial shot,’ Hare said. ‘Sorry about the quality. New camera on board the chopper apparently. Leaves something to be desired in the crispness department.’ He helped them out with his pointing finger. ‘Here’s the road, obviously, Ringer’s Hill and the Point car park. Then, we’ve got the trees to the right and that leads to…’
    The next photograph was clearer, taken as it was from ground level, ‘…the steps and the path through said trees. Then…’ the slide show went on with a clinical thoroughness, ‘we’re out onto the coastal path proper. SOCO tell me we’ve got sandstone cliffs here, falling away and pretty eroded.’
    ‘Lot of work there last year,’ George Bronson remembered. ‘Couldn’t take the mother-in-law because they were having to shore it up.’
    ‘Going to throw her over, were you, Inspector?’ somebody chipped in from the back.
    Bronson didn’t turn as the chuckles spread. ‘When I do, Jenkins, you can accompany her on the way down. Just to make sure she’s all right.’
    Hare waited for the noise to subside. For once, Hall didn’t intervene. Let it happen. Unless it breaks concentration, leads in the wrong direction, let it happen. It builds a team, cements relationships, does the job. Let it happen. ‘Sandstone cliffs, so the soil is very light. Easy to dig, but conversely, holes fill up quickly with sand.’
    ‘So what are you saying, Geoff?’ Jacquie asked. ‘A two man job, the burial?’
    ‘It could have been,’ Hare conceded. ‘Whatever, it wasn’t well done.’
    ‘What do you conclude from that, Geoff?’ Hall asked, sipping his by-now-lukewarm coffee.
    ‘Done in a hurry, I’d say, guv. Foxes may have dislodged enough earth for the Downers’ dog to find the body. Dr Astley will tell us if any fingers are missing.’
    ‘Early June,’ Hall mused. ‘Height of the season. Who’s on this? How busy is the Point at this time of year?’
    ‘Difficult to say, guv,’ Benny Palister opened his mouth for the first time that morning. ‘Tourist Board don’t keep stats like that. It’s not your lovers’ lane type place.’
    ‘I can confirm that,’ Hare chipped in, to a chorus of ‘Aye ayes’ from the Back Row Element. ‘SOCO found nothing of what my old Forensics Tutor at the Shop used to call “the detritus of lovemaking”. No knickers, johnnies or even used tissues.’
    ‘No hayfever sufferers, then?’ somebody wanted to know.
    ‘No,’ Palister went on. ‘The path goes to the east for nearly three miles out towards Littlehampton. To the west not much more than a mile before it hits the Shingle and terminates at Willow Bay. And the going gets rough to the east. Serious climbing needs to be done along the Middens. Just before you get to Star Rock. Not for the faint-hearted.’
    ‘You could do most of it, though?’ Hall checked. ‘Any age? Moderate disabilities?’
    By now the ciggies were out. The addicts in any workplace thought more clearly when their nerves weren’t frayed. And the Incident Room was the one place where smoking was allowed, by order of the General Officer Commanding, Henry Hall.
    ‘We’re still faced with the fact,’ Jacquie said, ‘that we don’t know how busy the place gets. But,’ she was looking at the photo still on the screen in the thickening smog of the ciggie smoke, ‘it’s damn near the road.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Hall nodded, pointing at her with an approving finger. ‘Let’s go with that, people. From the shallow grave of the man with no name to the car park is…what…two hundred yards? Three?’
    ‘I paced it at near four, guv,’ Hare said.
    ‘Four hundred yards.’ Hall stood corrected. ‘All right. Conclusions?’
    ‘Mr Nobody was brought by car,’ somebody said.
    ‘When?’ Hall pushed them.
    ‘Early June – 4 th , 5 th ? Night.’
    ‘Night,’ Hall echoed. ‘Who’s got an almanac? We can’t be certain about the date until Astley’s done his stuff, but we can find out what the moon was