When a Killer Strikes, page 22
‘I think it’s time for a break,’ she said with a look of concern for her client on her face. She offered him a tissue.
* * *
The incident room was buzzing with police personnel offering their theories. Everyone was under pressure to complete their personal task in hand, to achieve the shared goal – the conviction of a murderer. CSI Sarah Jarvis, senior at Flat 4, Wingate Heights, the home of the deceased Julie Dixon and her boyfriend Alan Sanderson, opened the debrief. ‘Based on our findings, sir, I am confident that Flat 4 is where Julie was attacked. There was enough blood on the hallway floor to have soaked through the rug. I am confident that our samples will match Julie’s DNA profile. On the ceiling, and on the walls, we have not only found splashes of blood but also minute bits of flesh. The pattern of evidence follows the action of the attacker striking the victim and then pulling the weapon back above his or her head, intending to strike again. In this case, there was no need to render a second blow. One blow would have been sufficient to kill her. We have found traces of blood on a wet cloth, secreted in the cupboard beneath kitchen sink, and further traces of blood have been found in the U-bend of the same sink. I have no doubt someone attempted to clean up after the event, but not sufficiently to conceal what took place.’
Dylan thanked the CSI. ‘And I believe the scene is still sealed should we need to revisit?’
Jarvis nodded.
Dylan turned to Raj and Andy. ‘What’s Alan Sanderson saying in interview?’
Raj took the lead, ‘Well, he’s talking to us, which is step in the right direction. Whether he’s telling us the truth, only time will tell. He tells us he works long hours, twelve-hour shifts, and although the money’s good, Julie didn’t like being home alone. In recent weeks she’s been helping a friend out, which apparently she enjoyed, and this meant she has become less needy. He swears he has no knowledge of the blood in the flat and denies the cleaning up. He is adamant that the last time he saw Julie was on the morning of the day she was murdered at approximately half past six, before he went to work. He claims that they argued due to the fact he believed she was seeing someone else.’
‘And has he any evidence to substantiate that?’ said Dylan.
‘No, and she denied it. But, he says he saw a bite mark on her left breast.’ Raj raised her eyebrows.
‘And he hadn’t done that to her?’
Raj shook her head. ‘He says not, sir.’
Dylan turned a few pages over in his notebook, scribbled a few words and when he looked up. He was still frowning. ‘That’s interesting because no bite mark to her breast was picked up at the post-mortem. We’ll have her body re-examined as a matter of urgency.’
‘Petterson admits knowing his way around Shroggs. Ogden Water was a place of interest to him and her.’
Dylan sighed and turned towards Andy. ‘Your thoughts?’
‘In all the interviews he hasn’t changed his story and, you know what, I actually believe him, sir. But I’d be interested to see if we found her blood on his clothing… He has a valid excuse for it being on the soles of his shoes because he admits walking over the hallway rug after she went missing.’
Dylan was thoughtful. ‘What’s your take on him, Raj?’
‘Honestly? I’m not sure. If he did kill her in anger, carry her body from the flat to her vehicle, dump her behind the wheelie bins then go onto drive her vehicle in the reservoir, wouldn’t we expect to find wet shoes, damp clothes etcetera in his possession?’ Raj screwed up her face. ‘And, would he come and report her missing so quickly after the event?’
‘Why would he not leave her in her vehicle?’ said Donna.
‘Exactly! And whilst all the evidence we have available to us points to him, some things just don’t add up,’ said Raj.
David Funk put his head around the door, ‘Can I come in, sir?’ he said.
Dylan eagerly beckoned him. ‘Have you got an update?’
‘I do, yes sir,’ he said. ‘The parcels in the back of Julie’s vehicle contained drugs. In one we found two blue Tesla pills, a new blend of dangerously strong MDMA tablets that’s so potent Gary Warner tells me I’d need a self-driving car to get me home safety after taking a hit, assuming that nothing worse happens to me first. The other is hash disguised as tea. Regional Crime are getting the necessary tests done on both, but his initial reaction considering the packaging is that they are linked to their target dealer.’
Dylan sat back in his chair. ‘Dealing on the dark net?’
‘Drugs in the post, bought with Bitcoin, the latest way to pay cash over the internet. Yes, I believe that’s what RCS are looking at.’
‘Okay, so in the first instance we need to get a twelve-hour extension for Sanderson’s detention. Second, I want us to look into both Julie and Alan’s backgrounds, relations and friends. Thirdly, we need to visit his place of work. Fourthly, some of you may not be aware but in the footwell, on the passenger side of Julie’s car, we also found a lump hammer. This could be our murder weapon and as you just heard David also took possession of a couple of undelivered packages that were in the back of vehicle.’
‘Where’s the vehicle now, sir?’ said Donna.
Dylan lifted his arm, pulled his shirt sleeve back and squinted at his watch. ‘Right now, it should be on a vehicle skate at CIU so that it can be moved around easier once the recovery guys have left.’
Donna nodded. ‘And once it’s dried out we can examine it properly.’
‘Yes.’ Dylan turned his attention to Raj. ‘I hear what you’re saying about there being no wet clothing to be found at the flat…’
‘And, if the murderer drove the vehicle into the reservoir, and the lump hammer is the murder weapon wouldn’t you think that he or she would have thrown it into the middle of the reservoir knowing the sinking car had failed to submerge?’ Raj frowned.
‘Valid point. But, we’re sat here with a relatively clear mind, trying to make sense of the actions of a person who might have been in a blind panic, attempting to get rid of evidence as quickly as possible, and maybe worried about being caught. Hindsight is a wonderful thing,’ said Jarvis.
‘Although he has given himself a motive if he did believe, like he said, that she had been seeing someone else. Do you think he knew about the drugs?’
Dylan slapped the palm of his hands down on his desk. ‘Okay, it’s late. I’m certain Gary will be in touch re the RCS drugs enquiry as soon as he has anything to discuss with me. In the meantime continue with priority enquiries, and I’ll call the coroners officer to get the pathologist to revisit Julie’s body to confirm or negate what Sanderson is saying about the bite.’
‘If there are marks on her breast then presumably it reinforces his motive,’ said Donna.
‘Mmm… Leave off interviewing him further until we have more to put to him.’ A shrewd light entered Dylan’s tired eyes. ‘Raj, just out of interest see if the automatic number plate recognition system picked up her vehicle on the day she went missing.’
Chapter Twenty
Dylan put his key into door of The Station House under the cover of darkness, with the ease of someone who had done it a thousand times before. He pushed it open as quietly as he could, but he knew it would squeak anyway. Startled by a familiar low-pitched roar, like the sound of the ocean in a conch shell, he glanced over his shoulder into the still, starless, night sky. Above his head he saw a colony of bats fluttering like butterflies. Hearing the tiny, flicking sound of their wings brushing against each other and against the walls of the surrounding buildings, he stood perfectly still, head up with his back to the door and closed his eyes, searching his mind for answers. When he opened his eyes a few moments later it was quiet and there was no moon coming through the clouds. Now he could hear little unseen creatures rustling around in the leaf litter, and then came the expected hooting of the owls. Dylan turned, stepped over the threshold and shut the door slowly behind him. He entered the kitchen, fumbling around in a cupboard or two, then gave up on making himself a warm drink. Instead he opened the fridge door and tugged out a can of lager from a four-pack. He stood at the sink with a furrowed brow, opened the can and swallowed the contents in one, making tears appear in his eyes. He burped and drew his hand across his mouth. Setting the empty can down on the drainer, he crept up the stairs in a zombie-like fashion, stumbled into the bedroom and kicked off his shoes at the side of the bed.
‘Where have you been?’ Jen said sleepily as she watched him step out of his trousers. He put his finger to his lips and lifted the duvet gently. Sneaking under the covers he felt Jen’s warm body open up to him. His feet were freezing cold and Jen gave a little squeal which brought a little smile to his face.
‘I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help. Did the move go okay?’ Dylan’s eyelids were quick to close.
‘There is so much to tell you. Charlie, your brother, brought Ronnie, Kirsty, Dawn and the kids to help, and Maisy had the time of her life… And, the room that your dad used for his photography, the one that you thought was missing? Well, Charlie and Ronnie think that maybe it’s in the kitchen behind the stud wall. That, they say should offer space under the staircase…’ She stopped to feel Dylan’s soft, regular breathing on her face and knew that they were the breaths of a man who was fast asleep. How much he had heard she was unsure.
* * *
‘You’re in early!’ said a jovial Vicky. ‘Wet the bed?’
‘Funny,’ said Dylan showing her his deadpan face.
In return Vicky showed him her bottom lip. ‘Want a cuppa?’
‘If its black and strong,’ he said. ‘Truth is there’s only one place I want to be, and that’s unpacking boxes with Jen but that’s not going to happen with two ongoing murder enquiries is it?’ Dylan stopped with his hand on the handle of his office door. A moment later he turned and spoke in a softer voice. ‘I thought the sooner I was here, the sooner I’d get home. With a bit of luck before Maisy goes to bed tonight.’
Vicky walked towards the kitchen, holding the papers she held aloft in her hand. ‘You mean you couldn’t face seeing the disappointment on Jen’s face when she woke up and you informed her you were coming to work today?’ she called out from the kitchenette.
‘Something like that,’ he said vanishing into his office.
Vicky pushed open Dylan’s door, precariously carrying two steaming mugs of coffee. The papers she had been carrying now under her arm. Dylan was flicking through the paperwork that had been left on his desk by the night crew, waiting for his computer to boot up, when Raj walked in. ‘What have you got for me?’ he said without looking up.
Vicky acknowledged Raj, slid Dylan’s mug across his desk and took a seat.
‘Search teams have completed their task around the area where Julie Dixon’s body was found. The exteriors of the wheelie bins have been fingerprinted, and a few partial marks lifted.’ Raj had Dylan’s full attention. ‘Only time will tell if they are of any relevance.’
‘According to this…’ he said holding up the piece of paper containing the forensic report he had been reading. ‘The bins have been emptied and their contents sifted – there was nothing of significance.’
‘According to Simon Clegg when the bins were moved there were drag marks visible on the ground signifying Julie’s body had been pulled behind the bins. Everything’s been photographed and recorded so that nothing has been left to chance,’ said Raj.
Dylan turned his attention to Vicky. ‘I’m conscious I haven’t been in all the meetings regarding Patti’s murder in the last few days. I need to sit with you and review the lines of enquiry to satisfy myself the investigation is still on track.’
‘There’s nothing startling.’ She leant forward and handed him the paperwork she’d been carrying. ‘I’ve had the HOLMES team do an audit of existing enquires and review the priority on them, for you.’ Vicky stopped, cocked her head and scowled. ‘The mortuary? Something happened that I don’t know about?’
Raj shook her head. ‘No, we just want to be present when Julie Dixon’s body is re-examined in relation to the bite marks on her left breast that Alan Sanderson talks about in interview.’
* * *
Dr William Townsend used a large magnifying glass and bright lights on the notable area of breast tissue, to confirm on the second examination, the oval-shaped mark that was hardly noteworthy the first time.
‘What am I looking for, Case?’ he said to Kate who was again at his side.
‘A representative pattern left in an object or tissue by the dental structures of an animal or human – a bite mark, by definition sir.’
He remained bent over the body peering closely at the further discolouration of the skin. ‘You’re good, Case, very good.’
‘Thing is I don’t want is to miss any opportunity to nail her killer,’ whispered Dylan.
Was Alan Sanderson speaking the truth? Could he be responsible for the bite mark, and to try to protect his innocence be making up this cock and bull story? Dylan had no way of knowing.
‘It just seems too good to be true If we can identify the person who bit her…’ His eyes lit up. ‘Get hold of Sanderson’s dental records.’ Dylan said to Raj as they pulled out of the hospital car park. ‘And, get his prints checked as a matter of urgency against the partial marks that have been lifted from the bins in Shroggs Grove.’
‘And if any turn out to be his, that would be the final nail in his coffin with all the other circumstantial evidence?’
‘Exactly,’ he said. ‘I want the team out chasing up results and, I’ll look forward to the debrief to see how they fare. If we’re going to charge Alan Sanderson with Julie Dixon’s murder then I want to be able to show, beyond any doubt, that the murderer was him, and him alone.’
* * *
The building of a new supermarket in Harrowfield was causing major traffic congestion on the main route into town. As they approached the roundabout that took them to the police station Dylan saw several red tailgates. Suddenly the traffic came to a standstill. Raj was distracted, talking to her son on her mobile phone: no, he couldn’t go out to play football before he did his homework, he had an exam tomorrow. Dylan allowed himself a half-smile, relaxed back into his seat and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the music, waiting patiently for the traffic to move on. Light drizzle became heavy raindrops peppering the windscreen. A few minutes later the rain hammered on the roof. Raj struggled to hear her son and eventually put down the phone with a look of satisfaction on her face, as Dylan turned the windscreen wipers to work faster.
‘Someone up there likes me,’ she said turning her big brown eyes skywards. ‘Thank you!’ The traffic coming in the opposite direction stopped, started, crawled and suddenly stopped again.
Dylan turned to look out of his driver’s window to see a man opposite him in a black BMW whose face he recognised. Their eyes met. Instantly the man turned away and edged his car forward. Dylan looked puzzled. ‘The man in the car to my right,’ he said to Raj. ‘Do you recognise him?’
Raj shook her head. ‘No,’ she said, as the sound of sirens blared loudly, and blue lights flickered in the distance.
‘Once a copper, always a copper, eh?’ Dylan’s mind continued to search for the man’s name as he pulled the car towards the pavement to allow the traffic cars and motorcycle outriders to pass. He went through all the letters of the alphabet hoping that it might provide a spark, but the prompt aid that he had used as a child didn’t work this time.
‘Why’ve we got the circus out?’ Dylan asked as he entered the CID office.
‘Planned drugs operation that’s ended up on our patch apparently, sir. Gary Warner from the Regional Crime Squad is waiting to see you.’
* * *
Julie’s Dixon’s vehicle had dried out sufficiently for the crime scene investigators to have another look inside. On the floor in the back of the vehicle they found a clear trail of what appeared to them to be blood. The area was photographed and samples taken.
The lump hammer found in the footwell was already on its way to be forensically examined. Immediately the exhibits officer could see that the parcels were addressed to two different people. Each address was written in a different hand. The vehicle would spend another night drying out in the garage and Dylan was told that they would then be able to look for fingerprints, lift fibres and swab for DNA.
Dylan wasn’t one to be fobbed off with negative comments. ‘It’s been in the water so it’s unlikely we’ll get anything…’ would be immediately challenged with, ‘You don’t know till you’ve tried.’ He had known success with blood traces, good enough to be used as evidence in a court of law, found on clothing washed in a washing machine.
‘The packages are addressed to addresses other than Julie’s. They’re unopened, so I wonder why they’re in her possession? Do you think they’ve been nicked,’ asked Ned at the briefing.
‘Nicked from where, the post office? Pfft.’ scoffed Vicky.
‘No, off people’s doorsteps, you fool. You know how lackadaisical some folk are, and posties aren’t an exception to the rule.’
‘Perhaps the reason for them being in Julie’s vehicle is something to ask Sanderson about in the next interview?’ said Raj.
Dylan’s next question was met with blank expressions. ‘Have we fingerprinted them, do you know? And has anyone visited the addresses on the parcels?’
‘They’re recorded as being in our possession so they’re on the system. But, as far as I know there have been no actions raised to visit the addresses.’
‘And perhaps we should see what’s in parcels?’ Andy suggested.
‘Okay,’ said Dylan. ‘So, first let’s find out who and where they are addressed to, secondly get the exterior of the packages fingerprinted if we haven’t already done so, thirdly open them to see what’s inside and fourth visit the addresses, see who the occupiers are and what they have to say about them. Of course, Raj, it’s definitely something else to speak to Sanderson about.’
