“Yeah, I’m Keir, and this is Doug,” said one of the officers. “Forensics have been working on the master bedroom and bathroom. They’ve recently been cleaned with bleach and ammonia. We’ve found some fibers in his car, and some hair, blood, and bodily fluids.”
They heard an engine, and a police car came down the track and stopped next to Kate’s car. The beach was now bathed in a dim dawning light, but they couldn’t make out who was inside the car until the police officer driving opened his door and the interior light came on. Kate caught a glimpse of Bev Ellis sitting in the passenger seat looking drawn and haggard. The police officer got out and ducked his head back inside to speak to her.
“Jesus Christ. I don’t know what I’d do if I was in her shoes,” said Doug.
“I’d want to be here,” said Kate. “However difficult it was. Bev needs the closure of finding Joanna, even if it’s unbearably painful.”
Part of Kate wanted to go over to the car and talk to Bev, but she thought it was best to leave her. There was nothing else she could say right now. They watched as the police officer left Bev in the car and came up to the van.
“Is the kettle on? I think she needs a strong cup of tea,” he said.
“If I were Bev, I’d need something stronger than tea,” said Kate. She looked back to the car, where Bev sat, staring trancelike out at the beach bathed in dawn shadows.
Thirty minutes later, the sun had risen, casting the sand in a blue-silver glow. The wind had dropped, but it was still cold. When Kate and Tristan climbed over the barrier to join Faye and watch the recovery, they saw that the Coastguard’s hovercraft was already moving down the beach toward the water, with five men sitting inside. A green tractor with oversize tires followed at a distance. Three forensics officers in Tyvex suits and waders were walking toward the recovery area, where Kate could see the long, thin pile poking out of the sand.
“We have less than an hour to do this, before the tide turns,” said Faye.
“Won’t that tractor sink in the sand?” asked Tristan. The hovercraft had stopped a few feet from where the pile was driven into the sand, and the tractor was a hundred feet behind it, still moving, slowly inching forward.
“The tractor’s fitted with special extra-wide flotation tires with the air pressure lowered, which should give it the best possible traction. He’s going to get as close as he can,” said Faye.
Kate and Tristan followed Faye out across the sand to get closer to the action. They watched as the tractor slowed, and came to a stop around fifty feet from the hovercraft. A moment later, they heard a shout from the driver and he waved his hand. He couldn’t go out any farther.
It felt tense as Kate and Tristan stood with Faye, watching the Coastguard team work to find the car. A couple of times, Kate glanced back at Bev, but all she could see was the outline of her inside the car, watching with the police officer.
The Coastguard’s team wore long waders as they stepped into the thick, gloopy sand around the long metal pile. Three of the men had long metal hoses, which they used to fire high-pressure seawater down into the sand and loosen it, whilst the other two men dug. After twenty minutes, a shout went up, and a voice came over Faye’s radio, confirming that they’d found a car bumper.
“We need to move fast,” said Faye into her radio. “You’ve got thirty minutes until the tide turns.”
“How do you think Bill drove Bev’s car so far out in the sinking sand?” asked Tristan.
“If he left the road and crossed the beach at high speed, then the momentum could have taken him far out to the water’s edge,” said Kate, feeling a burst of excitement that this could be it. This could be Bev’s car.
They watched as a long chain from the front of the tractor was fed out across the sand to the Coastguard team, who attached it to the car down in the sand. The tractor began to reverse, an inch at a time, until the chain was stretched taut. Its engine roared and hit a higher pitch as it pulled, and its wheels stuck and spun, throwing up wet sand. The Coastguard team dug in with their spades and used the metal hoses to irrigate the sand around the trapped vehicle.
“Oh no, the tide’s already starting to come back in,” said Kate, seeing the foamy water creeping closer to where the team worked.
Then there was a roar of shouting as the wheels of the tractor gained purchase on the sand, and it began to move backward. The sand in front of the metal pile began to move up and bulge, and then, rising out of the sand, came the shape of a car.