Free The Siren by Alison Bruce Page B

crank and tip?’
    ‘Yeah, and that’s when you really know what’s coming. Rachel and I used to say that.’
    ‘About what?’
    ‘You name it: work, people, going out, staying in.’ She half-smiled; it was a private and cynical reaction. ‘What did you expect? Some big insight, I suppose. Right now
I’m looking down and wondering how far I’m going to fall. But it shouldn’t need a detective to work that out, right?’
    He nodded. ‘If there’s still no news of your son at this time, I’m going to take you back to the station.’
    She smoothed two or three imaginary tangles from the ends of her hair. ‘Riley will be fine, I know it. And Rachel, she’s my best friend – I can’t lose her.’
    ‘And there’s her husband.’
    ‘Stefan?’ She looked perplexed, as though she’d forgotten his existence until that moment. ‘Where is he?’
    ‘We don’t know – can’t find him. He could be inside.’
    Kimberly didn’t reply but looked back to the house, and it was as if she could see something different there now.
    He looked back, too, but all he saw was the fire officer stepping away from Gully, leaving her white-faced and hesitant. She possessed new information, that was obvious; she might as well have
advertised it with an audible alarm emitting an insistent, multi-decibel screech. He wasn’t the only one who tuned into it, and more front doors had begun to open by the time she was back in
the driver’s seat.
    She faced Kimberly briefly, before turning back to slide the key into the ignition. ‘I think we should go back to Parkside Station.’
    Kimberly adopted the same resolute tone. ‘What have they found?’
    ‘There’s been a development.’ Falling back on stock answers was not going to work, and Gully seemed aware of this, but Goodhew could also tell that she didn’t know how to
handle the situation. He stayed where he was and kept quiet, but caught her eye in the rear-view mirror and willed her to give Kimberly some information.
    ‘I don’t want to leave until you tell me,’ Kimberly said firmly.
    Gully turned her head to face them both. ‘As I said, there’s been a development.’
    ‘Is it a body?’ Kimberly straightened, bracing herself for the impending drop.
    Goodhew gave up trying brainwaves as a method of communication. ‘I think the basic details would be appropriate, now that we’ve come this far.’
    Gully nodded and he saw the apples of her cheeks brighten with two small thumbprint-sized patches of red. ‘They found a body.’ She raised her hand in a calming motion. ‘They
believe it’s adult.’
    ‘Believe?’
    ‘It’s not your son.’
    Nothing in Kimberly’s expression changed, but the fingers of her right hand curled around the internal door handle and Goodhew noticed how the first two fingers of her left hand were
already crossed. ‘Is it female?’ she asked.
    ‘It’s too soon to tell.’
    ‘Too burnt?’
    ‘We’ll let you have as much information as we can, as it becomes available, but meanwhile, until formal identification takes place, nothing else can be confirmed.’ Gully seemed
to know that this was the moment to close the conversation and leave Gwydir Street. She glanced at Goodhew. ‘Am I dropping you at Parkside?’
    He nodded and Gully turned away to start the engine.
    And, maybe for no other reason than that Kimberly now had a clear view of his face only, she asked him the final question. ‘Will they have finished searching?’
    He shook his head. ‘No, not yet. I’m sorry.’
    The patrol car pulled away from the kerb, but not before two firemen appeared from the house. They carried a stretcher between them, and a sealed body bag lay on it, its burden barely large
enough to rise higher than the sides. It looked like something that had been full of air and had deflated, collapsed in on itself, leaving just pockets of nothing. It seemed impossible that there
was enough inside there to be anything resembling a person.
    Kimberly’s