Reprobates (14 page)

‘I know I was supposed to be picking Max up from the vet today but can you do it?’ Dylan asked Jen as he walked out of the kitchen. She heard him running up the stairs.

‘
Do I have to do everything?’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘Bloody job!’ she said out loud as she finished mopping the kitchen floor after breakfast.

Maisy looked across at her from her high chair, where she had been happily playing with her books and bricks. Jen saw the soft hair of her blonde eyebrows knitted together and her sweet little lips took a dive at the corners.
‘Cross?’ she said.

‘Oh, I
’m sorry. Yes, mummy is cross,’ she said with a scowl, ‘but not with you darling.’ Jen wiped her brow with her forearm as she went to her daughter, kissed her on the cheek and lifted her out of the chair. She held her tight.

Dylan
’s mind was on one thing and one thing only, murder.

‘
Maisy shall we go and see Max today?’

The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

‘Shall we see if he can come home with us?’ she said as she walked into the lounge.

Maisy squealed with delight.

‘That’s a yes then,’ Jen said kneeling down on the floor. With Maisy still in her arms she pulled out her changing mat from behind the chair. Laying her daughter on it she gently tapped her nose. ’You are so like your daddy. But don’t you ever, ever grow up to be a detective because you’ll never be at home.’

‘
Right that’s me off then. See you when I see you,’ Dylan said as he popped his head around the door. His jacket over his arm and his briefcase was in his hand. He blew a kiss and vanished out of the door. She heard a purpose in his stride as he walked down the hallway.

‘
Will you be home for tea do you think?’ Jen called after him which was met by the slamming of the front door. ‘Love you too,’ she said.

Nappy changed, Jen picked Maisy off the floor and carried their daughter to get the coats from behind the front door.

***

Dylan had agreed with Vicky that if she and Andy continued with the interview of Jane Simpson he
’d accept the short straw and go to the mortuary.

‘
Where art thou, fair maiden?’ Professor Stow asked when they arrived, his fat red cheeks wobbling as he gleefully sought the preferred person usually in tow. ‘I have a present for her.’

DC Ned Granger reached out for the box of chocolates.
‘For Vicky?’

The professor smiled but hung onto them.

‘She’s in interview. Anyhow, what’s she done to deserve a present?’ asked Ned.

‘I
’m very pleased to say Mr Eugene Regis furnished me with a glowing reference and I have no doubt...’ Professor Stow pulled Dylan to one side and said out of the corner of his mouth, ‘that she was party to it,’ he said.

‘I
’m pleased,’ said Dylan taking the coverall handed to him by the mortuary assistant.

‘And I
’ll make sure she gets the chocs,’ said Ned taking the box from Stow.

‘
Well if you’re sure,’ Professor Stow said looking over his half-rimmed glasses suspiciously at the detective. ‘I thought Eugene Regis might be with us today too but it appears not, he must have seen enough,’ he said to Dylan.

Karen Ebdon arrived.
‘You know Karen our Scenes of Crime supervisor, Professor?’ asked Dylan.

‘
Oh yes, we’ve had many a naked body between us, haven’t we Kazza?’ he asked signalling her to follow him into the examination room.

The pathologist was already suited and booted.
‘Ned Granger is our exhibits officer on this one,’ Dylan said as they all made their way towards the examination table.

Professor Stow eyed him suspiciously.
‘Well don’t get those exhibits mixed up with the chocolates, they were rather expensive,’ he said.

‘
You can trust me sir, I’m a police officer,’ Ned said with a glint in his eye.

Dylan didn
’t respond but there was an expressive shake of the head before he went on to outline the attendant circumstances of when, where and how Billy Simpson had been found.

‘
Well, there is one thing for sure. He won’t be terrifying anyone else will he? Well done to Ms Simpson. If she hadn’t done what she did perhaps it would have been her stretched out on the slab before us.’ Professor Stow sighed. ‘I’ve seen the knife block being involved in so many fatalities these days. They’re often left far too accessible in my view. I keep mine in the kitchen cupboard out of sight and suggest you do the same. One never knows does one? Let’s get on. I’ve another post-mortem at Leeds after lunch and then I’m onto Sheffield.’

***

Dylan stood quietly as he watched Stow methodically and thoroughly examine the body and take the relevant samples. Dylan searched in his pocket for his mints. Where were they? Damn, he can’t have replaced the packet he had given to Vicky. He would just have to grin and bear this one. He could taste the putrid smell as Stow opened the body. The pathologist’s voice was very clear and precise as he spoke for the purpose of recording his findings.

Two hours later he spoke directly to the team present. They sat in the office. It was warmer than the examination room and it felt nice for Dylan to take the weight off his feet. The room where the post-mortems took place had to be kept cool for obvious reasons, but the trademark type of tiled flooring was often unforgiving in being the cause of shooting pains up both Dylan
’s legs. Professor Stow rubbed the back of his calf muscle vigorously.

‘Cramp?
’ Dylan asked.

‘One
downside of this flaming job,’ he said. ‘As you saw I’ve taken the relevant samples and nail scrapings. The man received three stab wounds. One to the chest, which went straight into his heart. This was the killer strike, as it were. The two others to his back are deep wounds but they missed his vital organs. As you could see there was a lot of blood inside the body cavity. Can I have a look at the knife you’ve brought in?’ he asked, turning to the exhibits officer.

Detective Ned Granger handed him the weapon seized at the scene. It was held in a see-through container. Professor Stow studied it carefully.
‘Yes, that may well be the weapon that inflicted the wounds to the back. They were caused by a single-edged blade. But the one that did the real damage was a double-edged knife which is quite clearly defined where it’s pierced his clothing, his skin and the wound itself. The particular blade you are looking for I suggest is at least six inches in length and half the width of the knife used on his back. In the examination room you saw I measured the depth prior to opening him up. The tip of that knife entered his heart and it must have been driven with some force for it to go as far as it did into his body. I also think that the two wounds to his back were most likely done when the body was face down on the floor. I base that purely on the angle that the knife has entered the body. This angle represents the position of someone knelt over the body at the point of the stabbing. I can see by your faces you weren’t expecting that?’

‘
I wasn’t,’ said Dylan. ‘So, let’s get this straight. In your opinion there were two knives involved in this crime?’

‘
That’s correct. The blade that caused his death was much thinner than this one here. I take it you have only retrieved this knife so far?’

‘
Yes, and it has been suggested by the accused that only one knife was used,’ said Dylan.

‘
Well, now you know different.’

‘
Then all is not as it seems,’ said Dylan. ‘Thank you, Professor Stow.’ Dylan turned to Ned. ‘We need to have the clothing he was wearing checked over to show the two different cuts made to it by the two different blades.’

‘
If you do find another knife I could probably tell you from the measurements if it could possibly be the one that was used. Most important to me for this particular wound is the cutting edges. The wounds to his back were created by a knife with one sharp edge, like this one. The killer wound is definitely a double-edged blade.’

***

Dylan pulled into the garage on his way back to the police station, picked up some extra strong mints, and popped two directly into his mouth on his way back to the car. Only that way could he get rid of the taste of the mortuary.

‘
What’s the score with Kirsty Gallagher, Paul?’ asked Dylan when he arrived at Harrowfield CID office.

Detective Sergeant Paul Robinson got up from his seat and followed DI Dylan down the gangway of the Incident Room to Dylan
’s office. He closed the door behind him. ‘I’ve got the team delving into her personal background and others checking the items we seized from her home but there’s nothing to get excited about yet. We’ve got no ID of the man in the photo found in her car yet either. It so bloody frustrating. I’m just waiting for that breakthrough but it appears no matter what we do we are coming up against brick walls.’

‘
Keep going, you’ll get there,’ Dylan said.

There was a rap at the door and Vicky Hardacre walked in. Paul Robinson nodded to his colleague and walked out.

Vicky called back into the main office. ‘Get the coffees in, Andy, it’s your shout.’

Dylan looked at her through half-closed eyes.
‘You mimicking me, lady?’

‘I
’m just a chip off the old block, boss.’ Vicky chuckled.

‘
Yeah but Andy did as you told him without a murmur. You always create a fuss.’

‘It
’s called control boss,’ she said. Vicky made an upturned fist. ‘Control.’

‘
Whatever. You were missed at the P.M,’ said Dylan.

‘
I was?’ she said sheepishly. ‘Eugene?’

‘No, Professor Stow.
’

‘Oh,
’ she said wrinkling her nose.

‘
He sent you a gift.’

“
He did?’ she said her eyes opening wide.

‘
He reckons you played a part in Eugene Regis giving him a good report.’

‘You bet.
He owes me.’ Vicky winked at Dylan.

‘
If I was to bet on anything. I’d put my money on Ned eating the chocolates he sent you by way of a thank you by now,’ he said.

***

Vicky looked out of Dylan’s door glass and eyeballed Ned who was grinning at her like the proverbial Cheshire cat from where he sat at his desk. She got up quicker than Dylan could say Jack Flash. Bolted through the door and ran down the office only to see him put the last chocolate into his mouth. With his mouth so full he couldn’t speak he offered her the empty box.

‘You rotten sod,
’ she said taking the box from him and proceeding to stuff it in the paper bin. ‘I hope you’re bloody sick.’

Ned swallowed hard.
‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist. There is always a positive. I did you a favour. You’re fat enough,’ he said puffing his cheeks out to her disgruntled face.

‘
That’s the last straw. I’ll get you back you’ll see,’ she said. Turning on her heels she winked at Lisa as she passed by her desk.

‘
Whooh I’m so scared,’ he called after her with laughter in his voice.

‘You
’re scared what?’ she called back, raising one eyebrow at Dylan as she stood before him as he sat at his desk.

‘I
’m scared, Sarge!’ he yelled. She smiled and sat down.

Andy walked in the office and sat next to her.
‘He will be,’ she whispered to him.

‘
Playtime over children?’ Dylan asked.

Vicky screwed up her face.
‘Oh, he’ll be sorry...’ she said smiling.

‘
Right, let’s move on. You two have just had another interview with Jane Simpson.’

Vicky and Andy nodded.

‘At any time did she mention using more than one weapon in the attack?’

‘No,
’ they said in unison.

‘
Okay, so tell me, what is she saying?’

Dylan sat back in his chair, and resting his elbow on the arm of the chair he put his finger to his lips and listened intently.

‘She seemed a lot calmer than before. We now know the intruder was her ex-husband Billy Simpson. She said she immediately recognised him, from the picture – hence her reaction which she apologised for. But she swears she had no idea it was him at the time of the attack. She still maintains she thought she was fighting for her life with an unknown intruder.’

‘Didn
’t she recognise his voice?’

‘
She says he didn’t speak,’ said Andy.

‘Andy
’s right, basically she confirms what she said yesterday, that she’d been watching TV, went into the kitchen to get a drink before bed and was attacked by a masked intruder. She fought for her life and managed to grab a knife which she stabbed him with.’