Sycamore Gap: A DCI Ryan Mystery(28)

“It was only a matter of time,” Phillips thought aloud, unconsciously straightening his tie.

Gregson cut a debonair figure as he promenaded across the car park, his dress suit spotless and his steel grey hair brushed back from a strong face, which bore a pleasingly grim expression for the benefit of any photographers who happened to be observing his progress.

“Boys,” he greeted them with his usual baritone. “I hear there’s been another one. I want a progress report.”

“Pinter and Faulkner are working over the scene. They’ll transport the body back to the mortuary shortly.”

“Female?”

“That’s correct, sir. Twenty-something, mixed race, dark-haired. She was found dismembered.”

Gregson harrumphed. He was the only person Ryan had ever known to make a noise that could be described as such.

“Who was first on the scene?”

“That would have been MacKenzie. She was here early, to oversee the work of the archaeologists.”

“Yes, Professor Freeman tells me she was dismissed from the scene in a very high-handed manner.”

“Yes, sir,” Ryan replied easily, without a hint of apology.

“Freeman seems to think she has a right to be here.”

“She can think what she likes,” Ryan countered. “CID has been granted oversight because this is a murder investigation, not an archaeological dig. Her presence here yesterday was much appreciated, but there are other forensic archaeologists we can use if she finds my management style clashes with her own.”

“Playing hard ball?”

“It’s the only way.”

Gregson’s eyes narrowed a fraction at Ryan’s newfound defiance and he wondered whether it might be time to burn the man’s ego a fraction. Phillips cleared his throat and looked between them.

“Perhaps we should give those vultures something, so that they’ll back off a bit and let us get on?”

At Phillips’ well-timed intervention, they all turned to look across at the group of reporters who waited with mounting impatience for a press statement.

“I’d rather we took control of PR. So far, you’ve allowed Freeman to run rings around the department,” Gregson said, pointedly. “Why don’t you do the honours?”

Ryan recognised the challenge for what it was: a test to see if he could deflect the inevitable questions surrounding Amy’s connection with The Hacker. When her image had been discovered among his possessions last year, they had done their best to keep her name out of the limelight, but as Phillips had rightly observed, there were always departmental leaks. Any journalist with half a nose would have recognised her name and sniffed out the connection.

Ryan turned on his heel and made for the crowd of media affiliates. When his intent became clear, they parted like the Red Sea, allowing him centre stage while they fired up their cameras and microphones.

“Good lad,” Phillips muttered, under his breath.

“Thank you for taking the trouble to come all the way out here into the wilderness, I’m sure out of concern for the memory of a young girl whose life has been sadly cut short,” Ryan began smoothly, with a liberal sprinkling of sarcasm.

“Can you confirm a second body has been found, only hours after the first?”

Several more voices shouted out the same question and he waited for their calls to die down before answering. He had received his public relations training alongside all the other senior police officers, but he needed no training to project an air of authority. That came as standard.

“Yes, I can confirm that a second body was discovered early this morning. Until she has been identified and her next of kin have been informed, that will be all I have to say on the subject.”

He ignored the inevitable follow-up questions.

“It was reported on the morning news that the body of a girl who has been identified as Amy Llewellyn was found at Sycamore Gap yesterday. Her family have been informed and we offer them our sincere and heartfelt condolences. Northumbria CID will use all means available to bring her killer to justice.”

“How did she die?”

Ryan sighed inwardly. Would they never learn?

“I am not going to divulge the specific details of an ongoing investigation. To do so might prejudice the task we have ahead.”

“Amy Llewellyn went missing in 2005. How has it taken so long to find her?”

“Her disappearance was widely reported at the time,” Ryan made sure to note. “There was an extensive police appeal and a thorough forensic investigation. Unfortunately, the trail went cold, as is the case with many unfortunate people on an annual basis –”

“But you knew who her killer was!” A persistent young reporter made sure that his voice carried. “Amy was named as one of The Hacker’s unclaimed victims, only last year. Do you deny it?”