Urban Myth by James Raven Read Free Book Online

darkness closed in on me. My body went into lockdown as my muscles eased into a state of total relaxation.
    It was a strange sensation – almost like being sedated.

10
    T emple stood at one end of the incident room in Southampton’s police headquarters overlooking the city’s sprawling docks. On the board behind him were pinned maps of the New Forest and gruesome photographs of the dead girl lying in her shallow grave. There were close-ups of the tattoo and her wounds.
    ‘OK, listen up,’ he said above the buzz of conversation. He waited until he had the attention of the six detectives and four uniformed officers who were sitting on plastic chairs in front of him. Then he coughed to clear his throat before carrying on.
    ‘As yet we don’t have an ID on the victim,’ he said. ‘Her prints are now being processed and we should know soon if she’s on the database . There’s been a slight delay for some reason. In the meantime we have the ankle tattoo. Genna. It may or may not be her name but it’s a distinctive mark so hopefully it will ring someone’s bell.’
    He pointed to one of two maps on the board. It showed the whole of the forest – all two hundred and eighteen square miles of it and the coastline to the south with towns and villages including Lymington, Barton-on-Sea and Highcliffe. To the west, close to Hampshire’s county boundary with Dorset, were the towns of Ringwood and Fordingbridge. To the east the forest stopped a few miles short of Southampton, the nearest city to it.
    The team knew the layout well enough. They also knew that there were probably more bodies buried in the forest and that it was sheer luck that had led to the discovery of this one.
    ‘Here’s where she was found,’ Temple said, pointing now to the other map, which was a blown-up section of the first. ‘It’s an isolated spot close to a quiet road that runs between Burley and the village of Crow. So one possibility is that her killer – and for now we’ll assumeit’s a lone male – drove there, parked up, and carried the body onto the moor at night.’
    He paused to let them take in what he’d said and to dwell on the maps for a few moments. He wanted them to appreciate that this was probably not going to be an easy case. The forest was a desolate place, especially the area around Burley. Outside the villages properties were few and far between, with vast tracts of heath and large wooded areas.
    Temple looked at DI Angelica Metcalfe, who was sitting at the front.
    ‘Have you checked missing persons?’ he asked.
    ‘They just got back to me, Guv. But there’s nobody named Genna on their list.’
    ‘If she was killed three or four days ago she might not have been reported missing yet,’ Temple said.
    ‘But if she was local I expect she would have. Those forest communities are relatively small – even the towns. Everyone knows everyone else.’
    DI Metcalfe – or Angel as she was fondly known – had recently become a DI. It was a well-deserved promotion. She was one of the sharpest and most efficient detectives Temple had ever come across. She was also the most attractive by far – with brown eyes, brown hair and a pretty, angular face. She was thirty-five and had served out her apprenticeship with the Met in London before moving south a year ago after a bitter break-up with her long-term boyfriend.
    ‘So how goes it with the media?’ Temple asked. ‘Are we going to get blanket coverage or what?’
    Another detective, DS Mark Bannerman, said, ‘The press office has assured me that every national paper will be carrying the story tomorrow along with the appeal. The interview you gave at the scene has already gone out on TV and radio and they’ll continue to run with it through the night.’
    ‘Sounds good,’ Temple said. He looked at his watch. ‘The search of the area was called off for the night a while ago because of the dark. It’ll resume at dawn and I want at least two of you there to monitor