As Gina and O’Connor walked along the station car park, she spotted Darren’s large white van. It was exactly as Toby Biddle had described. He thought it was a Transit and it was. It also had dark green writing on the side, Mason and Sons Tree Surgery, and below it was a small logo of a tree with their office number printed underneath. With gloved hands she went to open the back door just as Keith from forensics pulled up in the staff spaces. As he approached, bag in one hand while the other hand adjusted his comb-over, he let out a small cry as he placed his bag on the floor. ‘Back is killing me. Bernard’s on his way so I’ll make a start when he gets here.’

‘I’m opening it up for a quick look, then it’s all yours,’ Gina said.

Keith passed her a hairnet to go with the gloves she was already wearing. She tucked her hair in and tried the handle. It was already open. She didn’t need the van keys. Maybe Darren Mason did forget to lock it the other day. She passed O’Connor the keys to put back in the evidence bag. The smell of marijuana escaped out of the door. She spotted the tiny bag of weed, no more than enough for one or two smokes. ‘Looks like we have him on possession.’ She’d pass his information over to PC Smith for his investigations. He’d no doubt want a word with Darren too. ‘Bloody hell that stuff stinks.’

‘I know, it’s rancid.’

She spotted a bag spilling over with ropes, harnesses, carabiners and a buckled waist belt. A petrol chainsaw had been strapped to a frame up against the one side of the van, along with a few other tools. ‘Pass me a forensics suit and some boot covers. I’m stepping in,’ she said to Keith.

He flinched as he bent over and passed her the items. As she zipped the suit up, she gazed at structure of the van. The cab section was divided by a large panel so she couldn’t see the seats. Leaning in, she gently lifted a few items. Her gaze travelled into all the corners, under the tools and in the crevices. The glint of something caught her eye. Reaching down, she turned the metal disc and waited for Keith to open a clear evidence bag. He got out some tweezers and gripped the edge of the item before dropping it into the bag. She closed the van door and handed the scene over to Keith.

‘To work it is then,’ he said as he finished suiting up.

‘If you find anything else, call me out. We have him in custody now and the clock is ticking.’

---

Back at the incident room, with O’Connor in tow, she entered, holding up their prize find. A small disc that looked like the type a dog might wear on a collar.

‘Found something, guv?’ Wyre asked.

‘Yes, as well as a bag of weed, we found a small disc with…’ She held the bagged item to the light and squinted at the grubby disc. ‘It has the letters E Ho on the front. It also looks like the rest have worn off. You can just about make out the E Ho. It’s been engraved in an amateurish way, almost scrawled on, with a small sharp object. There is a brownish smear to the back. This could be a spec of dried blood. Get a couple of photos taken and send it straight to the lab,’ she said to O’Connor.

‘Yes, guv.’ He took the bag, then he and Jacob left to take the item to Keith and Bernard.

‘E Ho. Ho, who is Ho?’ Gina queried. ‘Darren’s surname is Mason. If this was from the Mason’s dog, the contact name would be Mason, surely. He mentioned the friend, whose flat he came from on the Saturday, his name was Callum Besford. E Ho…’

‘It could be a customer. Maybe a customer’s dog jumped into the van while he was working,’ Wyre added.

‘Could have. We’ll soon find out if any of the forensics that come back match those of our victim. Time to play the forensics waiting game. In the meantime, I need to see the CCTV at Crump Lane. Did you call them?’

‘I did, guv. Told them we’d be there soon.’

‘Let’s go.’ She grabbed her car keys from her bag and headed towards the door, with Wyre following. She checked her watch, there was still a bit of the morning left. Plenty of time to collect the CCTV footage and speak to Darren Mason again. As they headed out to the car park she spotted Jacob. ‘Prepare for a search of Mason’s house when we get back. We need also to speak to Callum Besford. Hope you haven’t got any dinner dates planned for this evening. It’s going to be a long one.’

‘Just cancelling,’ said Jacob as he pulled his phone out. Gina had nothing to cancel. She watched as Wyre typed out a message to George. No one was ever expecting her to come home and for that she was glad.