Kraal

Chapter 1: Cole

DC Robert Cole rubbed his eyes in the glare of the red lights flashing like a beacon in a sea of grey. The interior of the car was ice cold, like a mortuary, the air-conditioning turned up in an attempt to wake him from his early morning stupor.

He nodded curtly to the solemn police officer who waved him through the makeshift blockade – two patrol cars parked across the forest road, the rain bouncing off the roofs. The officers inside reversed just enough to let the Detective Constable through, then they returned to their original positions, bumper to bumper.

Cole pulled up next to another patrol car at the side of the road. The back door was open and a man sat on the backseat with his head in his hands. There was a black, shaggy-furred dog at his feet, unperturbed by the rain or the situation that had unfolded around him.
Trees lined both sides of the road, the branches meeting in the middle, forming a canopy that cast the road into near-darkness.

They had already cordoned off the area where the body was found, the tape wrapped around the trees looked odd and out of place in the lush, green thicket, spoiling the natural beauty of the woodland.

Cole reached for his waterproof jacket strewn across the backseat and took a deep breath before exiting the car. His colleague, DC Katherine Brown, met him with a grim expression and coffee in a polystyrene cup. Her face was fresh and makeup-free, but pale.

"Morning." Despite the early hour, Brown's platinum hair was pulled back into an immaculate ponytail, but the soft, untamed curls around her face were stuck to her skin and tiny beads of rainwater clung to her eyelashes like dew on a spider's web.

Cole pulled the hood of her navy raincoat over her head, so that the increasingly heavy rain rolled off the peak. She did not object, instead she smiled, somewhat awkwardly, regarding him with dark eyes that shone in the half light.

Cole cleared his throat. "What do we know?" He took the polystyrene cup from Brown and carefully removed the lid before taking a sip. It was still hot, with a little milk and plenty of sugar, just how he liked it. Cole watched Brown's eyes flick back to the crime scene. She was younger than him by twelve years, fast tracked through the ranks because of her sharp mind and an enthusiasm that fuelled her will to succeed. Cole was supposed to be her mentor, but she had surpassed him in every way – speed, agility, a passion for the job. He did not resent her, nor did he take any credit for her talent. He simply watched her, with a kind of captivation. She was the most intelligent person he knew, though he would never tell her.

"Victim is a male Caucasian, late teens, believed to have been out here for around six hours, a dog walker found him about an hour ago, called it straight in. As well as the bullet wound, there are lacerations to the back, left shoulder, neck and chest."
Cole followed her towards the yellow tape that snapped against the wind, as though warning the on-comer to stay back. Brown ducked into the crime scene and crept carefully around the perimeter.
Bile rose in Coles' throat as his eyes found the body. After all these years, he was accustomed to the sight of a dead body, but that of a child always left him feeling nauseated.
The grass was sparse here, the ground uneven, as though it had been disturbed many times before.

"What about the weapon?"

Brown shook her head. "The wound indicates that he was shot in the back at long range, it took just one bullet to kill him, but we'll have to wait for the autopsy to find out what gun they used."
Cole rubbed the day-old stubble on his chin. "He was running from his killer."
Brown nodded. "Heavy rain during the night washed away most of the surface prints and this is a popular place for hikers, so the whole forest is teeming with footprints," She pointed to the ground beyond where the body lay. "Looks like he was carried and dumped here. Whoever did this, they wanted us to find him."

Cole crouched down at the edge of the grass, placing his coffee cup by the side of the road within easy reach. The boy lay face down in the mossy undergrowth, he wore faded jeans, but his feet and torso were bare. His back was a patchwork of cuts and bruises and deep welts ran down his spine like claw marks, but they did not disguise the hole made by the bullet. It had cut through the flesh just to the left of the spine, then travelled through the body until it found the boy's heart.
He looked barely sixteen, his straw-coloured hair obscuring much of his face. With a pang, Cole thought about his own children. He suddenly found it difficult to breathe steadily.

"Have you ever seen marks like this before?" Brown asked.

"No, never."

"They look like claw marks, animal claw marks, but there aren't any wild animals capable of inflicting that kind of wound in these parts."

"A lynx?"

Brown shook her head. "The lynx is a timid creature, they would never attack a human and they are barely bigger than a house cat. Besides, the reintroduction scheme tracks all of the animals," She chewed on her bottom lip, a behaviour that Cole was familiar with. He recognised it as a sign of Brown's frustration when she couldn't immediately piece things together. "The lacerations look like they were inflicted by something much bigger, each one is twelve millimetres wide. Then there's the bullet wound..."

Cole sighed heavily. "He may have been attacked with another weapon before they shot him. That might explain the lacerations."

Brown looked like she wanted to contradict him, but she kept her mouth firmly shut.

"Any idea who the boy is?"

"None of our missing person reports match his description," Brown replied. "But it's still early, he might not have been missed yet."

Cole imagined a Mother waking to find her child's bed empty, the sheets smooth like they had never been slept in. Once they found out who the boy belonged to, it would be Brown who would tell the family that the boy was dead. She had a way of delivering the news that was direct, but not without feeling. She would console the grieving mother, calm the angry father, then she would give the signal to Cole and he would begin to ask the difficult questions that would lead them to their son's killer.
Cole looked up at the grey sky; the rain had eased, but the surrounding trees still wept droplets of ice cold water. He stifled a yawn with the back of his hand, it was going to be a long day.