Legacy (6 page)

This was no normal corpse lying on the ground before him - this was something that he had never encountered before and with all the medical knowledge that existed within his mind, the Coroner was unable to explain the present condition of the dead man.

But there was one thing that was blatantly clear to all who had seen the dead man’s face - and that was an expression that showed how much terror he had experienced moments before his death - which was totally understandable as pieces of skin and bone were being spotted and bagged up by the forensic team around the alleyway.

What was the last thing he saw?

Who or what had attacked him?

Why was he attacked in the first place?

So many questions were shooting around the Coroner’s head right now and the only chance of them ever being answered had left the scene earlier in the back seat of a police car.
 

The Coroner paused for a moment to let the crime scene

photographer take some pictures of the dead body, taking the opportunity to begin filling in the paperwork officially confirming the man’s death, but unlike any other murder cases he had been involved with in the past, the time of death remained a mystery.

One thing was sure – this was going to be a murder case that he was never going to forget for as long as he lived.

And as the photographer took his last picture, the Coroner proceeded to make a few basic checks on the body before he gave his permission for it to be moved.

The face had clearly taken a battering with lacerations and bruises visible all over it, the left cheek caved in due to the upper and lower jaws being broken after hitting something extremely hard – such as the ground or a wall.

The neck showed no signs whatsoever of strangulation, but as the Coroner turned the corpse’s head to look at the right side of the neck, he was shocked to find a large number of puncture wounds visible.

Unbeknown to him, the crime scene photographer had noticed the Coroner’s shocked expression and at the same time, immediately caught a glimpse of the unusual neck wounds on the corpse too and instinctively caught it on camera.

First impressions of the murder scene pointed towards a human attack, but the marks that existed on the victim’s neck turned that theory on its head and instead pointed more towards an attack from some kind of animal.
             

The photographer looked at the image that he had just caught on the screen of his digital camera, immediately sending a shiver down his spine as it suddenly dawned on him that whatever had caused such a horrific scene was still on the loose somewhere - maybe miles away, maybe even close by hiding away in some dark corner, waiting for the right moment to leap out and kill another unsuspecting victim – but whatever it was, it needed to be caught before it struck again.
 

But it was clear to see that the corpse lying on the ground contained very little, if any, blood within it – and the Coroner knew that surely such a large amount could not have come from the puncture wounds - even the amount of blood that was scattered around the alleyway was nowhere near the ten pints that exists within the average male.

Blood, just like any other liquid, when spilt does have a habit of looking a lot more than what it actually is.

This case was beginning to grow stranger with every second and the Coroner was the one who had the unenviable task of producing some kind of plausible report on what he had discovered so far – a report that would ultimately decide if a murder investigation would begin.

Although he was a long serving, well-respected professional man, he still wasn’t immune from scrutiny and he too could also suffer the damage of heavy criticism – even to the point of it being irreparable.
 

But right now, under the Coroner’s orders, the corpse was placed into a body bag and transferred into a van at the end of the alleyway to be driven to the local mortuary without further delay.

This caused no end of excitement to the people gathered outside the cordon and they all watched on as the van began to slowly drive off.

The forensic team continued with their painstaking investigation of the alleyway, but for the Coroner, his time at the scene was over - so with clipboard in hand, he reflected on what he had witnessed after being woken from a deep sleep by a telephone call just over an hour ago summoning him here.

But there was more work to be done back at the mortuary where he would once again meet the corpse that had just left moments ago – this time to perform a post mortem examination.

And as he reached the cordon, one of the policemen watching guard lifted the tape for the Coroner to walk through and as he went to thank him, his gaze immediately came across two people who stood out from the others in the crowd.

A man and a woman who he immediately recognised and one nod from the man silently told him what had to be done.

CHAPTER FIVE

I was taken to the local police station and after being checked in by the Duty Officer, my clothes had been taken away for forensics and even the underneath of my fingernails were scraped. I wasn’t officially charged with anything, but the attitude on some of the police officers certainly made me feel a lot more uncomfortable than what I already did as I was escorted from the police car.

The Duty Officer was concerned with some of the injuries that I had sustained and did think that I should go to the hospital to be checked over, but I refused – I absolutely hate the places and even dread visiting anyone in them.

One thing I was thankful for right now was that I had not been thrown into a police cell, but instead I was sitting on a hard chair wearing one of those white body suits that the crime scene people wear in the most depressing interview room imaginable.
 

The room had an eerie claustrophobic feel to it and even though it was summer, it still felt like the inside of a refrigerator.

I sat forward on the chair with my head pressed on top of my folded arms which were on the edge of a wooden table and as I did so, desperately tried to grasp what was happening to me.
Every minute inside the room felt like hours and as each one slowly passed, I could feel myself beginning to grow more and more agitated - after all, I had done nothing wrong and was the victim in all of this, but here I was sitting inside the police station all alone without any explanation why, being treated like some kind of criminal.
 

My mood was beginning to swing from upset to anger and I fought hard to control each of them otherwise I could do something that I would later regret as it was blatantly clear that I was in enough trouble already without making matters worse for myself.
 

I was once again beginning to wonder if I had been forgotten about when I suddenly heard the sound of a heavy lock turning and I lifted my head to catch sight of the door slowly opening to allow two suited men to enter and judging by the expressions on their faces, I knew that whatever was about to happen next was not going to be easy for me.
The two men were quite clearly different ages and the oldest sported a well trimmed moustache while the younger one preferred to stay clean shaven and I could see that he liked to keep himself in good shape whilst the older one was obviously fighting a losing battle to keep his weight under control.
 

They both stared at me in silence for a few moments which made me feel extremely uneasy and threatened until the welcoming sight of a female police officer walked in to join us, promptly giving me a smile before sitting on the empty chair next to me, easing my anxiety just a little.
The uneasy silence within the room was immediately broken after the door closed when the older man stepped forward and introduced himself to me.

              “Miss Gallagher, I am Detective Inspector Harran and this is my colleague Detective Sergeant Short.”
I hadn’t been called Miss Gallagher since my comprehensive school Headmistress used to call me that after I had been sent to her office for misbehaving in class to face what punishment she saw fit – but what I was facing right now was a lot more serious than any amount of lines.

The man continued speaking, trying to sound sincere, but failing badly.

              “I know that you have gone through a lot already, but we really do need to ask you a few questions in order to understand a lot more about what happened in the alleyway tonight.”
I couldn’t stop my body from shaking as I tried to recall what had happened to me in the alleyway earlier and as I struggled to get my words out, I felt my left hand being gently held by the female officer who could sense my obvious distress.

What I could remember I told them, taking nervous deep breaths as I did so.

              “I can remember hearing something out my back garden and when I looked out, I saw a broken flower pot on the ground and I caught a glimpse of something moving.”

              “So you just walked out into your garden without any thought that someone could be out there waiting to cause you harm?” the older policeman asked sarcastically, “Looking back, do you really think that was a smart move?”

I immediately saw red after he spoke to me in such a condescending manner and without a second’s thought for how much trouble I could get myself into, I was not going to continue being attacked by anyone anymore – be it verbally or physically.

              “Who the hell do you think you are to judge me? You don’t know anything about me! I had heard cats nearby and I opened the door to scare them away so I could get some bloody peace, but how was I to know that some crazy sick perverted sorry excuse for a man was prowling about in my garden ready to pounce on me? I didn’t go out there to be attacked, I didn’t go out there to be dragged into some alley and be forced to the ground so that piece of shit could try and rape me! Have you ever experienced anything like that? Have you ever had that feeling of complete helplessness as someone stronger than you decided whether you survived to see another day? That bastard deserved everything that he got in that alley! I’m glad he’s dead because I may not have been the first woman that he has attacked - maybe there’s loads of women out there who are too frightened to come forward just in case he finds them and kills them because I saw the look in his eyes when he pushed me onto the ground and I truly thought that I was going to die tonight!”

              “Calm down, Miss Gallagher! May I remind you of the seriousness of why we are speaking to you right now?” the older policeman said firmly as the female officer finally persuaded me to sit back down onto my chair, but the feeling of anger inside me would not cease and my body continued to tremble as I recalled looking up at my attacker.
              “Don’t tell me to calm down! I did not kill that bastard, but if I was given the chance to I would gladly take it just to see him suffer for what he put me through.” I shouted back.
              “So there was somebody else in the alleyway with you?” the younger man asked, finally coming to life instead of looking like a dummy in a window display.
              “Someone certainly picked him up from on top of me, yes. But he must have been one hell of a strong man because my attacker was powerful enough to keep me down on the ground and whoever lifted him off me did it with great ease.” I answered.
              “Did you get a good look at this man? Could you describe him to us?” the older man asked excitedly.
              “From where I was lying and with what was going on, I never did manage to get a long hard look at him - it was almost as if he was a shadow, dressed completely in dark clothes, but I never did get to see his face properly.”
The two policemen looked disappointed at my last statement and when it looked like another question was going to head my way, we were disturbed by the door opening again and everyone watched on in silence as a police officer entered the room holding a sheet of paper which he promptly gave to the older man before leaving the room, closing the door as he left.
The two men read what was written on the sheet of paper and immediately looked at each other, both visibly showing signs of confusion.
              “What does that piece of paper say?” I asked impatiently, but my question remained unanswered, instead being counteracted with another question.
              “When your alleged attacker was lifted off you,” the older man asked again with an air of impertinence, “are you absolutely positive that it was definitely a man?”
              “The shape of the body was definitely not a woman’s if that’s what you mean.” I answered, slightly confused by the question.
              “It was definitely not an animal of any kind whatsoever?” he asked again.
              “What do you mean? The shape and characteristics were definitely that of a man and a strong one at that too. I saw him throw my attacker against the wall behind me with ease and I also saw him walk over to pick him up again.”
It was at this point that I remembered seeing him hold my attacker around the neck.
              “I definitely know it was a man, because I looked directly into his eyes.”
              “I beg your pardon?” the young man asked.
              “When he lifted my attacker off the ground after throwing him against the wall, he looked me directly in the eyes. That’s the moment I think I passed out - the next thing that I can remember was opening my eyes to find myself lying in the alleyway with the body next to me, looking up at two policemen who put me in their car and brought me here. That is honestly everything that I can remember of what happened tonight.”