Dead Sweet: A D.I. Turnbull mystery (6 page)

Sunday July 7
th
2013

0600, Olinsbury Police Station - Police Briefing

"Ok settle down; let's get this briefing out of the way."

Todd looked at the assortment of officers sitting before him, all from the CID department. Each officer carried his or her own sense of style; Todd could always tell the newbies just out of uniform as their attire would be more office-like; women attempting the pencil skirt and heels whilst men wore the favoured lilac shirt and tie combo that seemed to be in every CID officer's wardrobe. Old hats to the unit who hadn't seen a uniform in years would be much more casually dressed in jeans and t-shirts, male and female alike. It made a fitting uniform for an officer who may find themselves shimmying up a drainpipe or chasing a burglar across a field and it made it a lot easier to run after a drug dealer whose nest they may unwittingly disturb during their investigations. Todd saw the new to old divide sitting happily in their little cliques around the room, waiting for his briefing on what work was to come in the day ahead.

"Right, first things first, burglary figures are down." A small cheer went around the office; everybody all too aware of the Metropolitan Police's obsession with burglaries.

"Yes the folks of Olinsbury can rest easy that their drugs will not be stolen." Todd said to much laughter. "We had two rapes last night - same case though. Two girls went to a party at a mini-cab office and it all got out of hand."

"Guess that wasn't the ride they were looking for," a voice shouted from the back of the room.

"Come on, let's have some respect." Todd admonished. "That's somebody's daughter."

"Sorry Guv."

"Ok," Todd knew the police often used humour to get themselves through the turmoil of their day. Sometimes it was a case of if you don't laugh then you're gonna cry; a situation he had been in many times, however, there were certain lines that Todd would not allow the humour to cross.

"Door to door enquiries in the area; did anybody see the girls go in the cab office. How drunk did they seem; you know the drill. Handsome I'm giving you the lead on this one as you are looking to join Sapphire."

Matthew Hanson, known ironically as Handsome to his team members, gave Todd a salute. "Will do Guv, any info we get I'll let Sapphire know as soon as possible."

Sapphire was the unit dedicated to investigating rape cases. Matthew had applied to join a few times but never quite made the grade, being known for his constant banter and his beloved one liner, 'It's all 'bout the bant.' Todd was nervous he may not make rape victims very comfortable; however, he knew that at some point everybody needed to be given the chance to shine.

"You do that Handsome; do a good job and I'll give you a few weeks secondment with them ok?"

"Supreme." Matthew ran his fingers through his short spiky hair as he lent back in his chair. He gave DS Candace Whelan a wink as she watched him. She rolled her eyes and said, "Put it back in your pants Handsome."

"It's all 'bout the bant." He replied to the tittering of officers around him.

"Ok so Handsome will assist Sapphire with the double rape and also take Pringles and Dave." Two nods signalled agreement. "Now the main duty for us today is this murder. Get your note books out and I'll tell you what I know."

Todd turned to the large whiteboard in the room. The green carpet tiles, wooden desks and chairs and complete lack of air conditioning in the summer heat always made Todd feel like a school teacher addressing the classroom. Today was no different considering once again he was having trouble finding a marker which worked. Three attempts of furiously scribbling later and a weak blue line began to make its way across the board.

"Finally," Todd muttered before turning back to his team. He wrote 'Amanda Thomas' in as bold a line as he could get out of the marker, then underneath he wrote Mandy's demographic.

White Female, 23, blonde, green eyes, slim, large chest.

"Sounds like your type of woman Handsome." A voice shouted out to Matthew.

"Yeah, I like my women
alive
." He shot back.

Todd gave a stern look which quietened them down before he continued.

Fern Bridge Estate

Sperm present - Boyfriend? Lover? Killer?

Appointment with modelling scout - did this take place?

CCTV - outside flat?

Neighbours - Any noise? Anyone seen?

Movements - where did Mandy go that day? Who are her friends?

What do they know?

"Well we've done all this before, I don't need to tell you I expect a quick investigation; I want
everybody
spoken to who was in the Fernbridge Estate between twelve noon on the fourth July and the time we were called on the fifth. We need to look for any CCTV in the area; I know it's unlikely because it's residential, but there is a Big Value behind there. Let's see if Mandy went shopping in the day time.'

Todd chewed the pen for a moment, contemplating his next sentence.

"She was supposed to be seeing a talent scout; does that person exist? Did he come from the local area? Let's check out all businesses in Olinsbury; do we even have
one
talent scout near to here? Did anybody see this person going into Mandy's flat?"

Todd was pleased to see his officers taking notes, he knew that behind the banter and inappropriate jokes were people dedicated to getting justice for the victims and their families. "I wish I could give you more information than what we have which is basically nothing." Todd continued. "This is one twisted person. I have never seen a body with so many post mortem wounds. No one has
ever
died in this way before; it's violent, it's ritualistic and there is every possibility it could happen again. We need to think and act quickly to bring this guy to justice. I know you all have other ongoing investigations; I don't expect them to be put on hold. We need to keep our figures down and think of the Victim's Charter."

Groans emanated from every person in the room at the mention of the Victim's Charter which put unrealistic timescales on the investigation of crime.

"I know, I know." Todd held up his hands for silence. "Right work hard today, I want to be kept in the loop on anything you find and don't forget the bowling tonight. It's the semi-final and you should all be there to support us."

"Love a bit of ball action I do." Matthew said, winking at Candace again.

"Yeah, wink at me again and your balls will be seeing the action of my foot kicking them." Candace smiled sweetly at Matthew who sank back in his chair. "It's all about the bant." Candace winked at Todd.

"Hmm, sounds like a load of balls to me. Right come on you lot, get moving; you are wasting public money sitting here. Come on, shift." Bodies jostled, chairs scraped on the thin carpet tiles and soon the room was empty, leaving just Todd and Candace.

"Do you think we'll get anywhere with this?" Candace asked Todd.

"Well you know how hard it is to find the killer when they are a stranger to the victim." Todd shrugged. "We need to establish a motive, why the sweets? Why Mandy? Why then and there? If we can find out any of those answers then it will be a start.

"It could be a fat person." Candace ventured, "Considering the sweets."

"Yes very possible, although it could be someone who hates sweet things, sees them as evil, hence using them as tools of destruction. Could be an anorexic."

Candace nodded, "Or someone jealous of Mandy's looks; she was very pretty, great figure."

"Certainly was; the sweets defiled her, took away her looks and figure, even popped her implants."

Candace gave her own bosom a subconscious rub as she mulled that over. Whoever it is, he's got a real problem and we need to find him."

"Agreed Candy; let's hope the semen sample is a match with someone, that's the best lead we've got at the moment."

"How long have we got to wait for that?" Candace asked.

"A few days, oh but there is the trace evidence that we still need to go over" Todd informed her. "You sent the bags to the lab right?"

"Yes, the scenes of crime gave me loads of different bags, I put them in the cupboard for collection."

"What you didn't take them to the lab yourself?" Todd was surprised that Candy had been so slack in a murder case; he expected all evidence to be driven personally to the laboratory for testing.

"I'm sorry Guv, I didn't think." She looked suitably embarrassed. "The stuff goes off every night though, it's sure to be at the lab right now."

"I hope so; there could be some fibres on there that tell us the origin of the murderer; a place with a certain carpet or even hairs with more DNA evidence on it. It's very important Candace."

"I know Guv, I'm sorry, I just didn't think; I'm so used to putting everything in the cupboard."

"Yeah for assault Candace, but this is
murder
for crying out loud."

"I don't know what to say." She looked almost fit to cry, Todd felt a little bit sorry for her, but was still angry that she hadn't completed the work how he expected. He took out his mobile phone and dialled the number for the lab. The call was answered after a few rings. Todd asked the lab technician if he had received the bags of evidence which had been collected from Mandy Thomas's flat, only to be told that no they weren't there. He replaced the receiver with a grim look on his face.

"You want to hope those items are still in the safe downstairs Candace, or you're in my very bad books."

"I will go and check for them, then take them up to the lab myself." She agreed.

"Right
come on Candy Cane; let's get back to my office. I want to be near the phone in case anything comes up and I want to go through those cold cases again."

"Ok Guv, they can ring you on your mobile you know, what do you want me to do after the lab?"

"I never have any bleeding signal in this place. Can you coordinate the troops, and make sure Handsome is not let too near the public for Christ's sake."

Candace laughed, "Bit late considering you put him on a door to door."

"I must be mad." Todd laughed. "Ok off you go, I will see you later on, keep me posted."

"Yes Guv." Candace gave a short wave as she walked away from Todd. Todd went to the lift and called the metal box which would elevate him to the third floor. The borough Commander would be waiting for Todd to give him all the information he had just given to his team; sometimes Todd felt more like a messenger boy than a Detective Inspector; his belly rumbles reminded him he hadn't eaten yet that morning. Todd hoped this next meeting would be brief because the canteen would be opening at seven and there was a 999 breakfast with his name all over it.

-x-

14:00 hours.

Todd was sitting in his office going through the crime reports which had been recorded that morning. Being a Sunday had no real effect on the crime figures; it was just the type of crime which changed. Rather than the weekday reports of shoplifting, theft employee and the very rare bank robbery; weekends tended to be taken up with drunken brawls, domestic assaults and sexual offences. If anything a police officer was busier at the weekends and any Public Holiday would ensure the triple pay they received was well and truly earned.

As Todd went over the statement of Stacy James, the girlfriend of Davey Danley who had now moved on from theft to domestic violence; a knock came at his door.

"Yes," he called out.

"Guv," Candace Whelan walked in the room.

"Candace, tell me we have something."

"Sorry Guv, no leads at all and I'm sorry to say that the bags weren't in the safe." Candace pulled at her shoulder length auburn hair. "Tessa said they should have been collected and are probably in transit. I'm so sorry I didn't take them, but they will get there soon. As for getting the neighbours to talk, I'm literally pulling my hair out," she told him.

"No surprise really," Todd said. "Fern Bridge doesn't exactly give it up easily. No one likes a grass."

"Yeah but you'd think under the circumstances..."

"We are the enemy," shrugged Todd. He got up from his chair and got his summer jacket from the back of his office door. He really wanted to bawl Candace out for her mishandling of the evidence but decided it would do no good, he gave a silent prayer that the evidence would find its way to the Lab and not end up on a delivery driver's van floor, forgotten and lost.

"Too hot for that coat." Candace said pointing out the window at the clear blue sky outside.

"Trust me it will rain later," Todd informed her.

"Guv, its thirty degrees and it's the middle of summer." She smoothed her hands down her figure hugging t-shirt and tight jeans. "I'm sweating in this; I could never wear a coat."

"This is England," Todd smiled, "Never trust the weather. Now I'm going home to get ready for tonight, will I see you at the Alley?"

"Well yes, I am in the team." Candace laughed, "Maybe we could go for a drink after?" she asked Todd hopefully.