Adele stood up and revealed the body. Matilda wanted to be sick. There was no denying it now. Keeley had been left in the position in which she had been found, and it wasn’t dignified. She was upside down, her legs painfully wrapped around the exposed roots of a tree. Her black tights were torn in several places, her grey, pleated skirt was up around her waist, showing her pink underwear. The blue sweater with the yellow Mary Croft school logo on the left breast was pulled up, revealing the white polo shirt beneath which was muddy and ripped. Her yellow coat was hanging off her shoulders. Keeley’s blonde hair was a tangled mess and had twigs knotted into it.
Nobody said anything as Matilda remained frozen to the spot, looking deep into Keeley’s dead blue eyes.
‘The poor child,’ she eventually said.
‘I’ve been doing this for twenty years and it never gets any easier when a child’s involved.’
‘What can you tell me?’
‘There’s a heavy blow to the back of the head. I’ve no idea if it was from when she fell or was pushed down the embankment or if it was a deliberate blow to kill her. I’ll know more when I get her back to the mortuary. However, I can tell you that she was strangled, and her neck was broken.’
‘Any sign of … you know?’
‘Sexual assault?’
Matilda nodded.
‘She’s still wearing her underwear and tights, so on the face of it, it doesn’t seem like it. I’ll know more after the PM.’
‘I don’t suppose you can estimate a time since death?’
‘No. Rigour mortis has passed. However, she’s wearing exactly the same clothing she went missing in and it doesn’t appear to have been disturbed. We’ll take soil samples and analyse stomach contents, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was killed shortly after she went missing on Monday evening.’
‘Why take her just to kill her?’ Matilda asked, almost to herself.
‘I’m so pleased I don’t have to answer that question.’
‘Are you finished here?’
‘Almost.’
‘When will you do the PM?’
‘Is first thing tomorrow morning all right for you?’
‘Yes. I’ll be there. I want Claire to do a full digital autopsy too.’
‘I’ll give her a call. Are you all right?’
‘No. But I will be,’ she said, giving her a brief smile. She couldn’t take her eyes from Keeley’s broken body. It was an image she would be seeing for many sleepless nights to come.
***
Christian was waiting for Matilda outside the tent. She nodded, confirming the body was that of Keeley Armitage.
‘Would you like me to give Ellen a ring?’
‘No. I need to do this.’
‘Why do you put yourself through such hell?’ Christian asked.
‘Because it’s my job.’
‘No, it isn’t. You can delegate duties, you know. That’s the whole point of being a DCI.’
‘No. I need to tell Linda myself.’
She started to walk away but Christian grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
‘I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but I’m not talking as a DI, I’m talking as a friend,’ he took a deep breath. ‘This is not the Carl Meagan case. You can’t atone for what happened in the past. This was never going to end well, and you are not to blame for her dying.’
‘I’ve let her family down.’
‘No, you haven’t. You haven’t let anyone down. Look how many people have been involved in searching for Keeley. Do you think they’re all going to go home tonight and blame themselves? No. I won’t. Sian won’t. Rory and Scott won’t. It’s not about blame. It’s about finding the person responsible and making sure they pay for their actions.’
‘You’re right,’ she said, struggling out of her forensic suit. ‘I know you’re right, Christian. It doesn’t stop me beating myself up, though.’
‘That’s why you have supportive people around you. We can help. We will help. You don’t have to go through all of this on your own.’
‘I should go.’
‘Where?’
‘To break the news to Linda and Craig.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
‘You don’t have to. Ellen’s there.’
‘No. She’s there for them, not for you. I’m coming with you,’ he said with determination as he headed up the embankment.
Matilda smiled to herself. As much as she hated delivering the death message, as difficult as the job was at times, she was thankful she was surrounded by people who looked out for each other and cared so much.
Chapter 26
It wasn’t far from Storrs Brook, where Keeley’s body was found, to the Armitage house in Acorn Drive, but there was no direct route. The easiest way was to drive up Rowel Lane, over the River Loxley, onto Spout Lane and turn on to Acorn Way leading to Acorn Drive. It would take less than ten minutes.
Matilda asked Christian to take the longer route, pass Wisewood Cemetery and up the long Stannington Road. What was the rush to deliver the worst news possible? Delaying the inevitable would give the Armitages a few more minutes of hope before destroying their entire world. It also gave Matilda time to compose herself and decide what she was going to say once she’d knocked on the door.
At the back of her mind, she kept picturing the sexualised photos of Keeley found on her iPad. Who had taken them? And why? The father was the number one suspect. She’d watch his reaction closely when she told him of Keeley’s fate. On the other hand, if he had killed her, why had he left the iPad on display?
As Christian drove slowly and carefully towards Acorn Drive, Matilda looked out of the window and watched life continue as normal. It was dark, and there were few people out on the streets – the odd dog walker, people coming home late from work, or back from the shops with an emergency bottle of wine. Matilda didn’t have a clue what to say. How could she tell parents their nine-year-old daughter was dead? It was almost inhuman.
‘We’re here,’ Christian said, turning off the engine.
Matilda looked up at the house. The curtains were closed but lights were on in almost every room.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and breathed out slowly.
‘Do you want me to do it?’ Christian asked.
‘No. I’ll manage.’ She looked over to him. ‘Thank you, though,’ she said.
As she walked up the garden path, she looked around her, and felt as if every curtain in the road was twitching. People were ghouls and wanted to be in on the moment when a family’s life was destroyed. She rang the doorbell and stepped back.
Ellen opened the door. Her smiling face dropped as soon as she saw Matilda and Christian’s grim expression. She knew that look. She knew what they had come to say.
‘Oh my God, no,’ she said in a whisper. Her bottom lip began to wobble, but she managed to swallow her emotion. She stood to one side to allow them both in.
‘Where are they?’ Matilda asked.
‘They’re all in the living room. We’ve had a full house this evening: Linda’s parents have been round. So have Craig’s and his sister.’