Dead Simple

loved-one or relative came to identify someone. Sometimes it was never going to be possible. But as they walked through to the back of the mortuary, to the small, carpeted viewing room, with its perennial silver vase containing a small spray of plastic flowers, which doubled as a multidenominational chapel for the many people who wanted that solace, Grace could see she had done a good job on this body.
    The young man had been placed on his back, his head resting on a plastic pillow which cleverly concealed the fact that the rear of his cranium was stove in. Cleo had washed the mud and grime off his face and hands, tidied his spiky hair and arranged his clothes. If it wasn’t for his alabaster complexion, he could have been just another young man enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon kip after a few jars in a boozer, Grace thought.
    ‘Emma-Jane is on the case on the mobile phone numbers,’ Nick Nicholl told him.
    ‘We need to see which way the wind blows before deciding on any more action,’ Grace said, looking at the body. ‘Let’s find out first if this is our man.’ Then he heard the distant ring of the front entrance bell.
    ‘I think we’re about to find out now,’ Cleo said, walking off.
    Moments later she returned, followed by an ashen Gill Harrison, and Ashley Harper, stiff-faced, holding her hand. PC Linda Buckley, the Family Liaison Officer, stood a few steps behind. Michael Harrison’s mother looked a wreck, as if she had just come in from gardening. Her hair was dishevelled; she wore a grubby windbreaker over a white sleeveless vest, brown polyester trousers and scuffed mules. Ashley, by contrast, in a navy suit and starchy white blouse, looked as if she was dressed in her Sunday best.
    Both women acknowledged Grace with a silent nod, then he stepped aside to let them past. He watched them carefully as Cleo led them up to the viewing window, and for a moment his eyes were drawn to Cleo. She said few words to the two women, yet conveyed exactly the right balance of sympathy and professionalism. The more he saw of her, the more he liked her.
    Gill Harrison said something and turned away, sobbing.
    Ashley shook her head and turned away too, putting a comforting arm around her fiancé’s mother.
    ‘You are absolutely sure, Mrs Harrison?’ Cleo asked.
    ‘It’s not my son,’ she sobbed. ‘It’s not him, not Michael. It’s not him.’
    ‘It’s not Michael,’ Ashley confirmed to Cleo. Then she stopped in front of Grace and said, ‘That’s not Michael.’
    Grace could see both women were telling the truth. Gill Harrison’s bewildered expression was understandable. But he was surprised Ashley Harper did not look more relieved.

61
    Two hours later, Grace, Glenn Branson, who had just arrived back from Solihull, Nick Nicholl, Bella Moy and Emma-Jane Boutwood sat at the work station which Operation Salsa had been allocated.
    Grace smiled to reassure their new recruit, Emma-Jane, a slim, attractive girl with an alert face and long fair hair scooped up in a bun, then started to read out loud to them the report he had dictated since leaving the mortuary, and which Emma-Jane had just typed up. This was the way he liked to run all his investigations – keeping everything under constant review.
    ‘The time is six-fifteen p.m., Sunday May 29th,’ he read out. ‘This is the first review of Operation Salsa, the investigation into the disappearance of twenty-nine-year-old male Michael Harrison, conducted on day five of his disappearance. I will now summarize the incident.’
    For some minutes, Grace reviewed the events leading up to Michael’s disappearance. Then he discussed possible suspects. ‘At this time we have no evidence a crime has been committed. However, I am uncomfortable about Michael Harrison’s business partner, Mark Warren, and his fiancée, Ashley Harper. I am also uncomfortable about Ashley’s uncle from Canada, Bradley Cunningham, because I have a hunch he is not who he says he is – just a hunch at this stage.’
    He paused to drink some water, then continued. ‘Resourcing. East Downs Division has been very positive in offering manpower. We instigated a search of the vicinity of the accident last Tuesday night and have been upgrading the level of this further over the past few days. I’m now bringing in the Sussex Police Underwater Search Unit, and will have the USU team drag all local rivers, lakes and reservoirs. We will also request a further helicopter sweep – the