Chapter 78
Second day, mid-afternoon, he got the break he needed. A soiled scrap of paper containing the number five, the partial word ‘Liverp’ and a postcode, dangled in an evidence bag from the thumb and forefinger of a young, uniformed Matrix officer who had a pleased look on his face and a fairly unpleasant smell about him.
For a whole day, he’d carefully sifted through a huge stinking bin bag comparing bits of paper to the quality photocopy of the original find. “I’m not an expert, Sir, but it looks like a good fit to me,” he said.
Thurstan agreed and picked up the phone. “Put Arthur on will you ... Arthur? What have you got on number five?” A pause. “Ok, I’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”
The DCI looked at him. “What’s your name, son?”
“Constable Willis, Sir. Billy.”
“Well, Billy, if this is as significant as we both seem to think it is I owe you a few beers.
He walked to the office door and beckoned him over. “Right, lad, see that chap over there. That’s one of the exhibit officers. Tell him what you’ve got and that I know about it, then write your statement up and leave everything with him. He’ll sort it out.” Billy nodded.
“Oh, and make sure you have a good shower before you go home.” He gave him a well-meaning smile.
Billy smiled back. “That bad is it?” Thurstan nodded his head, subtly.
As he watched the officer walk away, Arthur entered the incident room. “You wanted info on number five? I’ve got nothing on it in respect of occupants but it’s divided into three flats and one of the neighbours at number seven reckons there’s only one of them been occupied for the last two months. He doesn’t know which one though, but he sees the same bloke going in and out. The people at number three, again all flats, haven’t a clue who lives there.”
“Thanks, Arthur, make sure that’s fed through to the indexers.”
With his hastily scribbled note, he strode across the main room. “Sammy, you need to get your arse into gear. I’ll speak to a contact at the Magistrates’ Courts and let them know we need a search warrant today. Get down there and sort it out. Ask for Marion in the clerks’ office and take someone with you, I don’t want to fuck about getting a parking ticket written off. Here’s the details.”