Page 10 of The Vanished

“Nah, I’m just talking,” Logan said and grinned. “I’m getting maudlin in my old age.”

“Don’t talk to me about age,” Quinn grumbled. “When my mum was my age, I thought she was ancient.”

“You’re only as old as you feel,” he said. Quinn rolled her eyes at that, and Logan laughed softly. “Sounds like you need another drink.”

“Bring it on,” Quinn said and gazed at the sky until Logan returned with a glass of wine.

They talked easily for another hour until the film ended and it was time for Logan to take his sleepy five-year-old home. Quinn saw them to the car and kissed Max before Logan settled him in his child seat.

“I love you,” Quinn said.

“Love you, Aunt Quinn,” Max murmured.

“Love you, Aunt Quinn,” Logan said and gave her one of his bear hugs. “Next time at mine.”

Quinn nodded, waved to Max, and went back inside.

SEVEN

On Tuesday morning, Quinn was on her way out to meet her friend Nicole Rayburn, a writer of historical mysteries, when Colin finally rang. Nicole was a devoted fan of Echoes from the Past, and so she wasn’t terribly upset when Quinn canceled their plans on such short notice. They’d meet up next week, and Quinn would fill her in on all the details. Nicole and her husband, Kyle, were part of the tight circle of family and friends who had been aware of Quinn’s gift before the ill-fated tweet went live on X, and Quinn knew that she could openly discuss her visions with her friend without the added worry of being publicly talked about or labeled a New Age freak.

As she hurried towards the tube station, Quinn could hardly wait to hear what Colin had discovered. He was top of his field in forensic pathology and had recently left his position at the hospital and opened his own lab in Hammersmith. He now worked with the Home Office and employed several pathologists and forensic experts, who helped to autopsy victims of violent crime and used their expertise to assist Scene of Crime officers dispatched by the Met.

Quinn hadn’t seen Colin in person since before the pandemic, but they had kept in contact by text and through social media, though Colin wasn’t one to post anything personal. And these days, neither was Quinn. She’d had enough of social media for the moment. Perhaps once she felt less exposed that might change. Colin buzzed Quinn in when she arrived and enveloped her in a warm hug the moment she walked through the door.

“You look well,” he said as he let her go. “Really well.”

“So do you. And this…” Quinn said, making a gesture that encompassed the new offices. “Very impressive.” Several people were going about their work, but Quinn didn’t recognize any of them.

“I’m very happy in my professional life,” Colin said and smiled contentedly.

“And how is your partner?”

Colin had kept a photo of himself and Adam on his desk at the hospital, but his new office was devoid of personal touches. It was all glass, chrome, and recessed lighting. Not even a plant to make the place feel cozier. Perhaps he hadn’t had time to decorate, or maybe, now that he was the boss, he preferred to keep his personal life away from the office.

“He’s very well,” Colin replied, and, when he smiled, his gaze turned dreamy. Quinn was sincerely glad. Colin was a lovely person, and he deserved to be happy.

Once they’d had a chance to catch up on their personal lives, Quinn asked, “Have you been able to learn anything from the remains?”

Colin had always preferred to show rather than tell, so he invited her to follow him to the lab, where the woman from the well reposed on a metal slab, her body covered up to the neck with an avocado-green sheet. Quinn could see the postmortem scars just beneath the hairline and hoped that Colin had been able to determine the cause of death, but, given his closed expression, she told herself not to expect miracles.

“I must admit, this is probably one of the most complex cases I’ve ever worked on,” Colin admitted as he pulled back the sheet to reveal the woman’s now-naked body.

Colin worked on cadavers every day, so to him a nude corpse was nothing new, but to Quinn it felt like a violation, and she looked away and focused on the woman’s face. Perhaps it was silly, but she felt that she ought to show the woman respect and not ogle her as if she were nothing more than an interesting specimen. She might be gone, but to Quinn she was still very much human.

“Why was this case so difficult?” she asked as she reverently touched the woman’s hand.

“Well, for one thing, I have never had the opportunity to examine a bog body before. And for another, the lack of an actual bog presented me with a unique challenge. In order to date the body, it helps to study the layers of the bog as well as other archeological discoveries from the area. As you well know, they provide historical context,” Colin explained. “The well might date to medieval times or even before, but we don’t know precisely when the woman was deposited in the shaft, so it’s difficult to narrow down the historical period that spanned her life.”

“What about the usual scientific methods?”

“There’s DNA sequencing that can be obtained by pulverizing and analyzing a tooth, and carbon-14 dating, but, as you’re aware, these tests are costly and can take weeks, if not months, to carry out. There’s quite a backlog,” Colin said apologetically, “and, of course, victims of recent crimes get priority.”

“So you haven’t ordered the tests?” Quinn asked. She was deeply disappointed by Colin’s unexpected response.

“I contacted Rhys, but, although he’s eager to obtain the scientific data to supplement your own findings, he has yet to receive authorization for payment. I gather the top brass are not keen to invest so much in an hour-long episode.”

“Hosted by a woman with a questionable reputation,” Quinn supplied.