Easy Kill Read Free Page A

mortuary.’
    ‘Do we call Sissons back?’ Bill said.
    ‘I don’t think we need a pathologist to determine death has occurred in this case.’
    It was a feeble attempt to be light-hearted. Bill acknowledged it with the ghost of a smile. The truth was you couldn’t succumb to constant angst in this work. You accepted the horror and got on with the job, even if it meant developing a ghoulish sense of humour.
    GUARD, the Glasgow University Archaeological Research Department, supplied the experts needed for dealing with concealed bodies. Judy Brown certainly had the experience, having worked on mass graves in the Balkans, Angola, and more recently Iraq. Thankfully, after a further period of careful excavation, Judy’s trowel hit metal. The iron grave-covering lay a couple of feet below the surface.
    ‘He couldn’t have buried another one here even if he wanted to.’ Judy’s long dark hair was drawn back and fastened with a comb under the regulation hood. Smears of dirt marked her face and mask where she’d brushed aside some stray strands. ‘The official graves here are twelve feet deep and brick lined. There’ll be more than one member of the Aitken family sharing their patriarch’s resting place.’
    ‘I bet he never imagined two scarlet women lying on top of him,’ Rhona said.
    ‘I expect he preferred them alive,’ Judy replied cynically.
    The exposed remains followed the same pattern as the one above ground. A short skirt drawn up, the chest exposed, the ligature and stiletto.
    ‘No pants again. Could they have rotted away?’
    Judy shook her head. ‘Unlikely in the time this has been in the ground.’
    ‘So he collects them?’
    ‘Or they don’t wear them. Certainly makes things quicker.’
    Rhona stood up, her knees protesting at the length of time she’d crouched. Judy joined her with a groan of relief.
    ‘What about transport?’
    ‘There’s a mortuary van waiting,’ Rhona told her.
    ‘Let’s get some fresh air, then.’
    The evening breeze skimming the hill was a welcome relief from the stench inside. Rhona dropped her mask and took a deep breath. She had been inside the tent most of the day. The penetrating smell would have impregnated her clothes and hair, despite the suit. The only solution was a long hot shower.
    McNab was still on duty, although Chrissy had long since gone back to the lab. He supervised the removal of the corpse, then joined Rhona and Judy.
    ‘So, not a mass grave then?’
    ‘Only if you count the Victorian layers,’ Judy said.
    McNab gave Judy an appraising look and Rhona hid a smile. You could always depend on Michael McNab to eye up the ladies. She was just grateful his eye was no longer on her.
    ‘The dogs pick up on anything?’ she asked.
    ‘Not so far. We’ll have another go tomorrow.’
    ‘I’d better be getting back.’ Judy stepped out of her white suit.
    ‘I wondered if anyone fancied a drink,’ ventured McNab.
    Rhona shook her head. She did fancy a drink, but not with Michael McNab, and besides, she fancied a shower more.
    McNab looked directly at Judy.
    ‘Maybe, but I need to go back to the base first.’ Turning, so McNab could not see her face, Judy looked quizzically at Rhona – should she?
    McNab was fun and had been pretty good in bed. Rhona hoped her expression conveyed at least that much. She left them to their decision-making and headed for her car, which was parked what seemed like miles away.
    Dusk had rendered the Necropolis eerie and silent as the throb of the police generator faded into the distance. Out of the harsh glare of the arc lights, the shadowy gravestones stood sentry on Rhona’s walk back to the Bridge of Sighs. Below the bridge, a yellow stream of headlights flowed down the road built over what had once been the Molendinar Burn.
    The victim had crossed here to her death, just as other victims had made the more famous crossing in Venice. Rhona’s mood was growing as dark as the day. She remembered what Bill had told her