Philip Brennan 03-Cage of Bones by Tania Carver Read Free Book Online

psychologist.’
    ‘And I think we’ll need you,’ said Dr Ubha.
    ‘I’m not a child psychologist, though,’ said Marina. ‘I’m with the police.’
    Dr Ubha glanced at the closed door. ‘With what’s happened to that poor boy, I think we’ll need you anyway.’
    ‘I agree,’ said Anni. ‘You should be on the team for this one. Even if you can’t help with the boy himself, you can help find who put him there. You know what makes this kind of person tick.’
    Marina nodded. Josephina’s smiling face came into her mind. She blinked it away. Swallowed hard. Concentrated. ‘What can I do?’
    ‘I need to start checking on missing children,’ said Anni. ‘Go at it that way. And check that, that … ’ she could barely bring herself to say the word, ‘that thing on his foot. See if there’s been anything similar anywhere else. If you can stay here and—’
    A noise emanated from the boy’s room. A scream. The three women stared at each other.
    ‘He’s waking up,’ said Anni. ‘Come on.’
    They ran back inside the room.

11
     
    T he white tent had already been erected at the side of the house. Keeping their findings safe and onlookers away. Phil began stripping off his blue suit. Mickey did likewise.
    ‘Like a personal sauna, these things,’ Mickey said. ‘Must lose half a stone every crime scene I come to.’
    Phil gave a distracted smile in acknowledgement, checked his breathing. Fine. He looked up. The ambulances and Police Incident Units were parked at the top of the path, the area taped off, so the gawpers had gathered on the bridge. Peering over, necks craning. Trying for a glimpse of something dangerous or thrilling or exciting. A vicarious kick out of being close to violence but far enough away to be untouched by it. As though his work was some kind of sporting spectacle.
    ‘Like they’re watching TV,’ said Mickey, reading his mind.
    ‘Our audience,’ said Phil. ‘As though this is all a kind of showbiz.’ Then he thought of the cellar. Laid out like a stage set. The analogy didn’t feel appropriate any more.
    ‘Boss?’
    Phil turned. The Birdies had arrived. DC Adrian Wren and DS Jane Gosling. Inevitably paired together because of their surnames. And their physical appearance didn’t help: Adrian stick thin, Jane much larger. They looked like a music-hall double act. But they were two of Phil’s best officers.
    Phil called them over. ‘Adrian, Jane, good to see you both.’
    They nodded their greetings.
    ‘Right,’ he said, addressing the group. ‘The CSIs are going to take over this area. Having been down there, I think we’ve got our work cut out for us.’
    ‘In what way?’ DS Jane Gosling frowned.
    He explained what he had seen in the cellar. ‘We don’t know what kind of bones the cage is made from. Hopefully we will soon.’
    ‘Could they be human?’ asked DC Adrian Wren.
    ‘Don’t rule anything out,’ said Phil. ‘Not until we know for definite. But some of them have been there for years. And the way it was laid out, there’s a sense of ritual interrupted. Whoever’s responsible, it looks like he knew what he was doing. Chances are he’ll have done it before. So we need to know who owns the house, what sort of history it’s got, what hands it’s passed through, everything.’
    ‘Might be able to help there,’ said Mickey. He flipped through his notebook. ‘One of the two guys who called it in. Gave me the name of the demolition firm. George Byers. Based in New Town. They’ll know who owns the place. Might have had some dealings with them.’
    ‘Good place to start.’ Phil looked behind him at the big Georgian building. Faces were at windows, necks craning to see what was happening. ‘Before you do, find out what that place is. Who works there, what they do, if they saw anything or anyone going to and from this house. Someone must have seen something.’
    Mickey, making notes, nodded again. So did Adrian.
    Phil was still aware of being watched. He