Guilty as Sin by Adam Croft

getting into nightclubs, that was for sure. Her looks were mature, and she would certainly pass for being in her twenties.
    All girls grow up too quickly nowadays. Jack's own daughter would be almost in her teens by now. The pain and sorrow choked up as his visions of Danielle Levy became visions of his own daughter, her features transforming before his very eyes. It was true to say that he had no idea what she would look like nowadays, but he was sure she'd be beautiful. He could see her all grown up. The boys and make-up, the getting into nightclubs. The screams of terror. The dark, congealing blood and empty, staring eyes.
    Shaking the vision from his mind's eye, he reminded himself that Danielle Levy was probably still alive; his daughter even more so. He hoped to God he would see them both soon.
    Culverhouse was jolted out of his phantasmal daydream by the ringing of his mobile phone. As he pressed to answer the call, he could utter nothing more committal than an absent-minded “Mmmm?”
    “Guv, it's Frank Vine. We've received a call from a dog walker. They've found a body. We think it might be Danielle Levy.”

26
     
     
    The dense wooded area sat aside the train line between Upper Berrydale and Middlebrook, a peaceful and tranquil location but for the cutting sound of London-bound trains every few minutes. It was clear to Culverhouse that sunlight rarely permeated any part of this wood. It smelt dark and musty, hundreds of years' worth of rotting leaves and vegetation compacting to form the rich compost on which he now stood.
    “Right, where is it?”
    “Down there, guv,” Frank Vine offered, pointing to the crater-sized dip in the forest floor which was coated with a thick layer of deep-green ivy. Grunting to himself, Culverhouse scuttled down into the crab position and worked his heels down the steep edge of the ravine. Losing his footing just once or twice, he righted himself at the bottom of the dip and almost overcompensated but for the saving grace of a well-place tree trunk.
    “Just to your right, guv. Over towards the birch tree. You'll see the newspapers.” Makes a change from black bin liners, Culverhouse supposed.
    He made his way, slowly but surely, towards the body, being careful not to tread anywhere he shouldn't.
    “What the fuck is this?”
    “Is there a problem, guv?”
    “Yes, there's a fucking problem. You told me you had a body .”
    “It is a body, guv.”
    “It's not a fucking body, DS Vine. Bodies have heads, arms, legs and a torso. This is a half-formed cadaver with the majority of the skin and bone melted into mush.”
    “Yeah, but 'body' was easier to say on the phone, guv.”
    Culverhouse could see that what was left of the body had been wrapped in newspaper as an afterthought, seeing as most of it was in more-or-less pristine condition. More than could be said for the body. He was no expert, but even he could see that the body had been subjected to the acid attack in situ , and had not simply been dumped. The cloying silt which surrounded her body had turned to glue, the process of biodegradation sped up by the chemical interference. The newspapers which covered the cadaver, though, were remarkably unscathed.
    “Great. Fucking great. Has Dr Grey been down here yet?”
    “Yep, she's been and gone. She says she can't tell much from what's left and it'll be virtually impossible to tell the age and sex of the body, but she said she's 80% sure it's a woman between eighteen and forty years of age.”
    “Nice and precise, then,” Culverhouse remarked sarcastically.
    “There is some good news, though, guv. Danielle Levy's handbag was found just a few feet away and Dr Grey reckons the general height and build fits the description we have of Danielle. She's pretty certain it's her.”
    “Great. Just what we need.”
    “Oh, and she said that the body definitely couldn't have been covered up before Saturday.”
    “What? How can she be so sure?”
    “The newspaper's got Saturday's