Dead Sweet: A D.I. Turnbull mystery (17 page)

"Sorry sir, I just need to answer my phone," Todd apologised, walking out of the stuff interview room into the corridor. "DI Turnbull."

"Hello sir, CAD room here; we've got a murder and an attempted murder."

"Location?"

"291 Twockford Road."

"That's not our area, why are you calling me?"

"It's our killer Sir, the sherbet is present around the mouth and it's a female who was shackled to her bed."

"You said a murder and attempted murder?"

"Yes Sir, the girl is still alive, barely, there was a man dead on scene."

"Do we know who he is?"

"Not yet sir, the Duty Inspector for Twockford has been contacted along with the scenes of crime for that area."

"Can we get our own SOCO down there as well? How well has the scene been preserved?"

"Yes Sir, I can give her a call. Scene preservation bad due to paramedics and emergency life-saving being used on the female."

"Description of the male?"

"Black, young, early twenties."

"Name?"

"Driver's licence in wallet says Wayne Lewis, twenty four years old, from Migden Lane in Elisworth."

"How was he killed?"

"Scalpel in the neck sir, still in situ on police arrival."

"Well at least the girl's alive." Todd was glad for that. "We may make some sense of this when she comes around. Ok I will make my way over to the area."

"Thanks sir."

"No problem, bye." Todd walked back into the interview room and made his apologies to Mr Stoppard and the young detective who still, amazingly, looked interested in the paperwork which surrounded him. Todd left the door and walked along the corridor out into the back yard where his car waited for him. He decided to phone Candace; it wasn't yet time for their actual shift, but needs must. The phone rang for a short while and then was answered by someone breathing heavily down the phone.

"Candace?"

The panting continued. "Yes guv?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm running, trying to get some exercise in before work."

"Very health conscious of you."

"This figure doesn't keep itself, it takes hard work." Candace said.

"Ok, well can that figure get it's arse over to Twockford Road. Our murderer's been busy again."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah and this time there's a dead male at the scene."

"Our killer?"

"That's what we need to find out, how long is it going to take you?"

"I'm nearly home, I just need a quick shower and then its drive time from Elisworth."

"Ok Candy, I will see you there."

"Yes guv, bye."

Todd continued to his car then got in it and began his journey to Twockford. He was contemplating the body on the floor, he hoped that the latest victim had managed to get the better of her attacker and this was the end of the gruesome killings, but Todd thought it was highly unlikely that he could get that lucky. He just hoped the girl would wake up so he could at least get an eye witness account of what really happened. Maybe then he could catch the twisted fuck who was killing these poor girls.

-x-

13:30 hours

Todd pulled up on the corner of Twockford Road, just outside the police barrier. He flashed his ID card to the community support officer who stood at the cordon and then walked into the corner house of the road. Cameras flashed as he walked, the paparazzi's attention focusing on actual News for a change. Shouts of "Who are you please?" "Can you tell us what's happened here?" "Can you look this way please?" were ignored by Todd as he walked down the front garden path and in through the open front door.

White paper suits filled every area of the ground floor flat, people squatting in every corner, searching for any evidence which may give them a clue as to what had happened there earlier that day. Todd walked past them, nodding as they acknowledged him, going into the room at the back of the house where a now empty, blood stained bed, sat in the middle of the room. Todd looked down at the unfortunate male who was still on the floor. A metallic smell of blood filled the room and Todd's nostrils, making him feel nauseous as he walked. The Duty Inspector made himself known to Todd and relayed to him what they had found, which wasn't much. Todd already knew that the girl had been handcuffed to the bed and had had sherbet poured into her mouth, she was unconscious but stable, although the lack of oxygen could cause her to be brain damaged and it was not known if she would come out of the coma she was now in.

"What about the male?"

"Wayne Lewis, it would seem he was her boyfriend." The duty inspector pointed out some photographs which sat in frames around the bedroom, a pretty blond girl smiled up at the same black male who now lay on the floor."

"So not our killer then." Todd grimaced.

"It doesn't look that way."

"How are we doing for trace evidence?"

"That's not looking great either, obviously my officers were more concerned with preserving life so didn't really think about the scene until they knew that she was ok. I have asked the nurses to bag up her clothes and not to wash her until we can get hold of someone who can give us consent to take samples from her.

"Have we found out who her parents are?"

"Yes there are officers on their way to speak to her parents and to get them down the hospital."

"You've got it pretty much covered then."

"Yes, all going well here."

Todd walked out of the flat, he didn't see any point in hanging around, he wanted to speak to the paparazzi and see if there was anything they could give him to go on. As he left the flat, Candace trotted up to him, still a little out of breath, hair wet and scraped back into a ponytail, clothes not quite straight.

"This way Candace," Todd pointed back out of the garden.

"Where are we going?"

"Need to speak to the reporters, find out what they have seen, nothing going on in there."

"Ok."

Todd walked over to the group of men, still taking pictures every few seconds. He motioned for them to gather around him and began to question them.

"Listen, you were standing on the road earlier on yes?"

A middle aged male with nicotine stained teeth and very greasy hair answered for the crowd. "Yes we were all here."

"Well we think that this murder happened only a few hours ago, around twelve o'clock. Do you think you saw anyone walking around at that time?"

"A few people," the man answered again. "Most of them live here though, we have recognised them from before."

"You've spoken about this already?"

"Well what else are we going to do while we are standing here?"

"Who else?" Todd was getting rather annoyed by the cockiness of the photographer.

"Just some geezer in a suit, fat guy, I saw him at the corner."

"When did you see him?"

"Yeah it was around 11 o'clock; I saw him at the corner, but he was quite far away, we stand over by Vixen's house."

"Can you tell me anything else about him?"

"No, just a fat guy, oh he had a pull along suitcase, you know the one with wheels? A black one."

"You can't tell me what his hair, face, or anything was like?"

The man laughed and rolled his eyes at his fellow reporters. "Mate, I am here trying to get photos of a supermodel. My eyes are always pointing
that
way. I just glanced over and noticed the rear end of him walking along the street, I can't tell you any more than that."

"Ok, can you all check your camera rolls and see if there were any photographs taken of him? Even a picture of him in the background is better than nothing."

The photographers brought their cameras up and began to press buttons, all looking carefully through their digital pictures which had been taken earlier.

"You were here earlier weren't you?" a young Chinese man asked Candace.

"Me?" Candace shook her head.

"Yes I'm sure I saw you running through the road earlier."

"Oh it's on my route for my run, but I only go past."

"Ok thank you for your help." Todd said to the photographers, "Let me know if you find anything on your cameras." He moved Candace away from the area by her arm and over to his car which was still parked at the barrier.

"You never mentioned to me that you'd been here today."

"I haven't spoken to you yet sir, I only just got here." Candace shrugged, "Besides, I literally ran through the street on my circuit, if I had seen anything I would have told you."

"That's a big circuit you run."

"Not really, it's about five miles all told, only takes me an hour. Who do you think the man in the suit is?"

"Well there's only one fellow I can think of at the moment - Malcolm Chadwell. It's the area he's been hanging around in, even though we told him not to. His mother said he's been going out in his suit looking for jobs all day. Seems like the jobs he's been doing aren't entirely legal."

"Are we going to bring him in again Guv?"

"You're damn right we are Candy Cane and this time I'm getting that DNA sample. It's time to take him down."

-x-

Todd and Candace pulled up outside Malcolm Chadwell's house in Linkford Road. They got out of the car and walked up to the front door of the terraced house. Before they had a chance to knock, Malcolm's mother opened the door.

"Saw you through the window," she explained. "What are you going to accuse him of now? He hasn't been near that super model."

"Is he here?" Todd asked.

"He got home about twenty minutes ago." She informed them. "All morning he's been out looking for a job; he's trying his best you know. It's not fair, accusing a man down on his luck."

"Madam, we need to talk to Malcolm, can we come in or shall we speak to him on the doorstep?"

"Like I want the whole world to know my business." She said, opening the front door wider to allow Todd and Candace access.

"I will call him downstairs, he's just been in the shower."

"What was Malcolm wearing this morning?"

"His suit of course."

"Colour?"

"Grey, he can't look for a job in ordinary clothes, what sort of impression would that give? Go through." She indicated the same kitchen table they had sat at before.

"Not Trevor's seat," Candace reminded Todd as he was about to sit in that very chair.

"Perish the thought," Todd raised his eyebrows.

"Do you think she knows?" Candace whispered.

"She wouldn't tell us if she did." Todd shrugged, "There's nothing as fierce as a mother's protection, I've been there before."

"Hmm, I don't think I could harbour a murderer." Candace looked around the kitchen; dishes drying on the draining board and a large pile of vegetables sat half-peeled on the counter. "Doesn't look like a murderer's kitchen." She opined.

"I don't think they leave meat cleavers and guns lying around on the counters with body parts and pound coins."

"If only they made it that easy." Candace agreed.

Footsteps alerted them to the arrival of Malcolm Chadwell, wet hair bearing testament to his recent shower. His mother followed him into the kitchen and stood behind him when he took a seat at the table.

"I haven't been near her," he began. "I swear, I never went anywhere near her."

"Who?" Todd asked.

"What do you mean who?"

"Who haven't you been near?"

Malcolm began to shake his head. "Why are you here?" he asked. Todd stood up and bent over Malcolm.

"Please answer the question Mr Chadwell, who haven't you been near?"

"Vixen of course, who else would you be talking about?"

Todd walked around the kitchen, allowing silence to fill the room. He wanted Malcolm to talk without prompting; something told him Malcolm was holding back. The silence went on for a good minute and Malcolm said nothing, following Todd with his eyes as Todd paced up and down the room. Malcolm eventually broke the silence, allowing Todd a small victory.

"I haven't been to Vixen's house." He reiterated," Or been on a computer or a phone."

"What about any other female?"

Malcolm's face grew red and the dampness on his forehead became sweat rather than water. "I haven't done anything," he murmured, looking down at the table. "I only look."

"Look at who?" silence permeated the room. "Look at who Malcolm?" Todd asked again.

"No one."

"Right, we're just going around in circles. Malcolm Chadwell you match the description of a male seen at the scene of a murder earlier on this afternoon. I am therefore going to arrest you on suspicion of the attempted murder of Moira Celeste and the murder of Wayne Lewis, on or around 11am on the 12
th
July. The reason for your arrest is to ensure the prompt investigation of this offence. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand the caution?"