The roads to Strawberry Fields were busy; the school run was in full flow. It didn’t help that the streets along the way were littered with what must have been every temporary traffic light that Brooklyn Bay council owned. Detective Inspector Lucy Harwin finally reached the turn-off, which was blocked by a police van with flashing lights. Flapping blue-and-white police tape stretched from one side of the road to the other. She let out a huge sigh.

It had stopped raining a couple of hours ago, but there were large puddles everywhere. Judging by the swollen, dark clouds that were still hovering in the sky, it was very likely to start raining again, soon. This wasn’t good; it meant they had to work against the clock. It had rained heavily overnight and the victim had lain here out in the open, exposed to all the elements. There was a very good chance that any potential DNA evidence had already been washed away. As she got out of the car Lucy looked down at her pumps and wished she had a pair of wellingtons in the boot. She really hated soggy feet. She had parked outside the cordon of police tape. An ambulance was also parked up there, with two paramedics inside, heads bent as they filled out reports. The duty sergeant headed towards her, shaking his head.

‘It didn’t take an expert to pronounce death. This is bad. Woman, late forties – she’s been here a few hours. I’ll let you see for yourself. The two schoolboys who found her are in the back of the unmarked car over there; bit of a shock for them. There’s a teacher on their way to collect them. We’ll talk to them and get first accounts back at the school.’

‘Thanks, that’s great.’ Lucy began the process of putting on her protective clothing. Her heart was heavy for whoever had been murdered, left vulnerable and exposed at their most intimate moment for a stranger to find. Zipping up the white paper suit, she bent down to secure the shoe covers around her calves. Double-gloving, she walked towards the patch of long grass where she could see two bare feet sticking out, and inhaled.

Lucy took in the scene before her, looking at the woman’s pale, waxy face stained bright red on one side. She stared at the crusted, bloodied mess that had once been the right-hand side of her skull. Her milky-coloured, partially open eyes stared into the distance. She was naked from the waist down. Her jeans and pink lace knickers were bunched around her knees. The bloodstained blouse was lifted up to her neck, along with a matching pink bra, exposing her breasts. Who did this to you and why have they left you like this? Was it someone you knew?

Lucy looked around the area. Where were her shoes? There were drag marks in the grass; she’d been placed here and posed. She turned around to see where she’d been dragged from and walked towards the gravelly area where the marks began. She stared at the puddles of bloody water, which were now a washed-out pink because of the heavy rain. The remains of a smashed iPhone lay on the ground, the screen in pieces. It was doubtful that they would get anything from it – the rain would have penetrated inside it – but you never knew. It would still be bagged up and sent to the Hi-Tech Unit back at headquarters. She heard Detective Sergeant Matthew Jackson’s voice as he greeted the officer with the scene guard booklet. He wasn’t just a colleague; he was her best friend and she was relieved to have him with her now. His feet crunched along the gravel and she waited for him to join her.

‘She was killed here and dragged over there. Why here, out in the open? These are public playing fields – everyone knows the local kids use it as a cut-through to get to the schools on Rating Lane.’

She watched Mattie as he flinched at the sight of the body and turned away. It didn’t matter how many bodies they’d dealt with; it never got any easier.

Neither of them had heard the DCI approach. Tom Crowe joined them, running his hand over his shaved head.

‘Holy Christ.’

‘Yes, that’s one way to put it.’

Lucy gave the men time to absorb the horror of the body that was lying in a bloodied heap on the wet grass. It was the fact that her clothes had been arranged to expose her genitals that really bothered her. Whoever had done this had certainly been angry – the smashed skull and phone were proof of that. Was she arguing with her killer and tried to phone the police? Were they lovers? She didn’t think they were. She had never come across a domestic where the partner had gone to so much effort to cover their tracks and make it look like a random attack. If that was the case, she’d have more than likely been murdered at home and her body dumped here. Why go to the trouble of leaving her semi-naked? Lucy’s mind was frantically processing the crime scene. She was leaning towards the idea of a stranger-killing. Someone had wanted to strip away every last shred of dignity from the victim and she needed to figure out why.

The CSI van arrived with a harried-looking Amanda Forbes sitting behind the wheel. She jumped out, looked up at the sky, shook her head and muttered something under her breath. She began to dress in the paper overalls even faster than Lucy had; within minutes she was suited up and dragging a large green holdall out of the back of the van, which she passed to the nearest officer. She grabbed her camera and began snapping the scene; there was not a moment to waste. Lucy, Mattie and Tom all stepped out of her way. A drop of rain fell onto Lucy’s forehead and she said a silent prayer for it not to turn into a downpour. Amanda needed to document the scene as fast as she could; then they could erect the plastic tent over the body to preserve it and stop any further evidence being washed away. As she passed Lucy, she shook her head.

‘Poor woman. What a horrible, cold place to die.’

Lucy nodded, unable to take her eyes away from the body.