Chapter 81
“I thought they’d finished in the alley?” the Foetus remarked as he placed the contents of the brown paper bag on his desk. “I went past before and there was a CSI van there with a white suit scribbling on a clipboard. It was the same yesterday.” He began to unwrap his beefburger.
Chewy munched away at his cheese and mushroom pie and stuffed a few chips in his mouth. “They’re taking the temperature in the alley, couple of times a day,” he mumbled, “to compare it with what the Met Office say the temperature should be.” He swallowed rapidly and added with a shrug, “Or something like that.”
“Why?” The Foetus looked puzzled and took a bite of his burger.
“It’s all to do with maggots, flies and rotting flesh. They need to work out the life cycles and come up with exactly when she died.”
Roy looked carefully at his meal then decided the little white bits really were onion. Another mouthful. “Can I pinch a chip?”
Opposite them, Soapy was manning the phone. “Incident Control, DC Edmunds... Hang on. He’s standing next to me.” He turned and tapped him on the shoulder. “Call for you, Boss. Matrix sergeant out at the landfill site.”
He took the handset. “Yes... Really?... Fantastic! Tell them they’ve all done a great job but it’d be even better if they could find the other one... I know, I’m pushing my luck. Ask them to do their best. I’d really appreciate it. Speak to you later.”
Degsy and Spud looked at him in expectation. He pulled a face that was half smile, half grimace. “They’ve found the head and right hand. They’re taking it down to the mortuary now. From what they said I think identification is going to be down to dental records.” He sat on the edge of the desk. “Where were we up to?”
Alison volunteered. “The smell, Boss.”
“Right! The bloody smell! Derek, we need to sort that out, sharpish. Speak to Malcolm at Finance and ask him to chase up that walk-in freezer unit urgently. Oh, and tell him we need thermal clothing for the two Exhibit Officers. They’ll be working in there a lot. No cheap crap, it’s a health and safety issue.” He then gave Degsy a broad grin. “And try not to mention my name because I don’t think I’m very popular down there at the moment.”
“Where do you want them to put it?”
Thurstan chuckled. “That’s your problem, Derek.”
He put his hand on Spud’s shoulder. “Alison, the post mortem? The Pathologist can’t give us the cause of death because of the state of the body but she says it was most probably manual strangulation. We know he’s used a craft knife, or something similar, and a saw to cut her up so let’s get into all the DIY shops and see if we can locate some CCTV with our suspect on it. Start local and branch out if we get nothing. He’ll have paid cash because, as we know, he’s been knocked back for credit cards.”
He turned and walked away. “If anyone needs me I’ll be in my office wading through my emails. Keep me posted.”
He scrolled through the list, shaking his head. Special events, seminars, charity runs, changes to Force policy, mission statements, senior management with slick little videos and someone’s advice on how to put together an arrest file. He clicked into a message from Thames Valley Police.
Sammy tapped on the door. “Boss? We’ve got eyeballs on his sister’s and I’ve got a warrant anyway. Just a matter of sit and wait now.”
He looked up. “Thanks, Sammy. If we don’t get him soon we’re going to have to put an alert out to the press.” Sammy nodded and left.
The DCI went back to reading his email.