Chapter 79
They leaned against the car and watched the officers trash the main door and swarm in. Two teams headed up the stairs, another shattered the entrance to flat one. Shouts of ‘Police’ faded away and there was silence. Calls of ‘Clear’ then they filed back out.
A sergeant passed him. “Only flat one’s occupied but no one there now, Boss.” Thurstan nodded. “Thanks, Mark.”
The CSIs humped their gear up the steps. It could be a long evening.
“Cup of tea, Boss? The cafe at the end of the road’s still open.”
“Yeah, why not?” He sighed and delved into his pocket, producing a fiver. “Here, Sammy, use this.”
Fifteen minutes later, they stood with their thin plastic cups. “Did you put any sugar in this?”
Sammy glanced at him. “Yeah, one. Here, have a sweetener.” One click and he stirred it with his plastic stick. “Anything else, Boss?” Comfy chair, maybe?” A sarcastic smile.
Thurstan mouthed, “Fuck off.”
The Crime Scene Manager ambled up and handed them two evidence bags containing letters addressed to an occupant of Flat 1. “Found these and there’s evidence the bathroom has been pretty thoroughly cleaned with bleach but not quite thoroughly enough. We’re using Luminol. It gives us a bluish light in a dark room if there’s blood, but it also reacts with some bleaches so we’ve got a few other things to do. I’m calling them down from the other two flats, they’re empty and they’ve found nothing significant. We’ll concentrate on this one. We can always go back later if need be.” A nod and he returned up the steps to the flat.
Thurstan’s phone rang. “Derek, what have you got?”
“We’ve got a name, Thurstan. The FIU came up with an application for credit where the applicant used the same phone number.”
“Hang on.” The DCI read out the name from the two letters in the bags.
“That’s the one! We’re checking the systems for him but all that comes back at the moment besides a couple of convictions for assault is an address for his sister. The good news is, it’s fairly recent and I’m getting on to the local nick to see if anyone’s had dealings with her. She lives down the south end.”
“Brilliant, Derek. We’re on our way back. We’ll see you shortly. Oh, by the way. Did he get credit?”
Degsy laughed. “No, they nobbed him off!”