Chapter 77
Thurstan admired his medal and hung it from his neck by the ribbon. “What do you think?” he grinned.
Degsy released a sad little smile. “I’m sorry it’s not a winner’s medal. It was close but in the end, they just had better luck. There’s always next year I suppose.”
The DCI gave him a look of sympathy. “You did a great job, Derek. You should be proud of yourself. I’m chuffed anyway.” He took it off and laid it on the desk.
“Sorry about that, got collared in the corridor.” Chalkie breezed in and sat down. “So, what went on yesterday? Where are we up to on the job?”
Thurstan relaxed back in his seat, twiddling a pencil and told them all he knew.
“Wow, I bet you’re popular at the mortuary.” Chalkie grinned. “So how come you got the Matrix to take them there. What was wrong with the CSIs?”
Thurstan shrugged. “Their union rep was there. Said it was a health and safety matter, kit wise. Anyhow, it turns out there’s only seven bags of immediate interest.”
“But we’re still missing the head and hands?” It was Degsy.
The DCI sighed. “Yep, and if they’re not in the bags the refuse people took earlier I’m stuffed. I wouldn’t know where to start looking.”
Degs sat shaking his head slowly. “You’re not going to be popular with the Matrix either. It’s a hot day to be dressed in CBRN kit looking for decaying body parts at the landfill. Don’t be expecting an invite to their Christmas bash.” He and Chalkie smirked.
A little grin crossed Thurstan’s mouth. “Yeah, very funny. Anyway, I’ve just had a phone call to tell me they’ve found part of a ripped up letter addressed to one of the street’s occupants, in one of the bags with a body part in it.” He saw their pleased expressions.
“Not as big a breakthrough as you’d think,” he continued. “All it says is ‘to the Occupant’. We don’t know where the rest of it is so I’ve got them going through the whole lot again to make sure they didn’t miss anything.”
Chalkie whispered to Degsy, “The Matrix’ll probably hire a hitman,” then nudged him. “It could be your fella, Nickson.”
Degsy’s mild amusement swiftly turned to confusion. “Hang on! The phone issue? I thought you said her phone was missing? But, you’ve just said it was in her car?”
“Correct, but the missing phone is her family and friends phone. We’ve found her work phone. The killer probably had no idea. I reckon they’ve just dumped the sim card and ditched the other phone somewhere. It might even be at the tip.” He saw the question on Degsy’s face.
“She didn’t just pick punters off the street. We’ve spoken to some of the girls who knew her. They said she’d plastered the phone boxes and a few local shops with her number. She’d use her car to get there but they reckoned she wouldn’t have sex in it because she still had the kiddy seat fitted. Forensic tends to bear that out.” He dropped the pencil on the desk. “Anyway, the last call on the phone was from another pay as you go unregistered number. Lizzie’s said FIU have had some success in the past tracing these so they’re going to do a wildcard search for me, see what comes up.”
“You want me to take this back off you, Thurstan? I think I should.”
He waved him off. “No, Chalkie. It’s no problem. I’ve got my teeth into it now. You can have the next one.” He smiled. “Right, Derek. I’ll treat you to a cuppa and an iced bun of your choice in the canteen for being MIT’s most successful player-manager then we’ll get up to the incident control.