Free The Cadaver Game by Kate Ellis

about his missing cousin, the computer game and the reaction of Barney’s mother, the words coming out in a rush
     as if he was anxious not to leave anything out.
    ‘I promised my aunt I’d have a word with Uniform and try to get the matter edged up their priority list, not that I’m expecting—’
    ‘And you thought I might have some influence?’ The young man looked so worried that Wesley felt for him.
    Paul gave him a half-hearted smile. ‘I thought you might know which buttons to press, if you know what I mean.’
    ‘Uniform are probably right, you know. They might just have gone away somewhere for the weekend. Did you manage to get into
     that game you mentioned – what’s it called – Blood Hunt?’
    ‘No. It was password protected.’
    ‘If the worst comes to the worst we can always get Scientific Support to have a look at the computer, but I’m sure it won’t
     come to that.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I take it your aunt’s contacted all Sophie’s friends?’
    Paul nodded and Wesley touched his sleeve, a gesture of support. ‘Then all we can do is sit tight and wait for them to turn
     up. And if they’re not back by late tomorrow we’ll contact the Met in case they’ve decided to try their luck in London and
     get Uniform to look in the usual places down here.’ From the expression on Paul’s face, Wesley knew his words hadn’t provided
     much comfort and, as he watched him return reluctantly to his desk, he had an uncomfortable feeling that he’d somehow let
     him down.
    He was about to return to the statements when Gerry burst into the incident room. He stood in the doorway for a few seconds,
     looking round the room before calling for attention.
    ‘I’ve listened to the tape of the nine nine nine call from Keith Marsh’s phone. He doesn’t say much, just that there’s a dead
     body at the address. Then he rings off as soon as the operator starts asking for details. And apparently he’d been drinking
     heavily before the crash.’
    Wesley considered this new information for a moment. ‘So he discovered the body and reported it, then he must have gone for
     a drink somewhere.’
    ‘Drowning his sorrows.’
    ‘Or trying to blot them out. He must have had access to the house. Could he be the victim’s boyfriend?’
    ‘If he is, he might be one of many,’ said Rachel sharply. ‘One of the neighbours has seen quite a few men calling at the house
     in the past couple of weeks. I drew a blank with the vice squad, by the way. They’ve had no dealings with a Tessa Trencham
     and the address isn’t known to them either.’
    Gerry gave her a look of approval. ‘So that’s one possibility blown to pieces … unless she’s slipped under their radar somehow.
     We need to confirm her identity as a matter of urgency. I’m not convinced about this France story but if Sylvia Cartland is
     telling the truth about speaking to Tessa yesterday, we have to consider the possibility that Tessa’s not our victim and that
     the men the neighbour saw were visiting someone else. Or Sylvia might be lying. She might have had something to do with her
     death.’
    ‘We can’t rule anything out at the moment,’ said Wesley. ‘For all we know, Sylvia might have talked to someonepretending to be Tessa. But nothing’s certain till we track her down in France. We need to talk to the other referee, Carl
     Heckerty. He might be able to tell us more.’
    ‘We haven’t been able to get hold of him yet,’ said Rachel. ‘But we’ll keep trying.’ The telephone on her desk rang and after
     a brief conversation, she ended the call and stood up. ‘That was Morbay Hospital. The man in the RTA – Keith Marsh. His wife
     has arrived.’
    ‘We’d better have a word with her,’ said Wesley. ‘Maybe she’ll be able to throw some light on all this.’
    Gerry looked round. ‘OK. You go with Rach, do the tea and sympathy bit.’
    Rachel slung her handbag over her shoulder as Wesley pushed his paperwork