The Woman On The Beach

The weather was getting wilder, but the frail old lady was strangely reluctant to leave...

- MJ WHITE

There are days in Cornwall where the sun shines and everything looks picture-postcard perfect. And then there are wild days when the coastline cowers beneath the might of wind and waves and rain.

Detective Inspector Kensa Rosevear was definitely a fan of the latter, preferring thunder-grey skies and thrashing, silver-green seas to anything else.

Today was the wildest for weeks, the late October tide furious as it lashed against the shore. Sheets of insistent rain traversed the sand of Finnygook Beach, chasing even the hardiest walkers and surfers back to the warm solace of their cars up on the cliff. Now, Kensa was the only one left in the water.

Seawater stung her eyes, her bare hands and feet numb from the ice-cold waves. Cold was seeping beneath the well-worn seams of her wetsuit; the first shivers registering across her shoulders. But she clung stubbornly to her surfboard, determined to catch one more wave.

It might be October and the filthiest weather she'd experienced for a while, but it was also her day off. Four solid weeks of working on a major fraud investigation had taken their toll, most noticeably on her promised leave.

The whole team had endured the same injustice. It came with the territory everyone knew that. But the call of the sea had been strong, as Operation Mantra had rumbled on, each day without a visit to this place a kick to Kensa's heart.

The final wave sped her towards the sand then flipped sharply, almost tipping her off the board. A warning shot. When the sea decided to play rough, it was time to go. With a final nod towards the ocean, she turned.

And that's when she saw her.