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The knock at the door revealed a young man holding three clear evidence bags.
“DCI Baddeley? Terry from Technical. You wanted us to take a look at these phones. The straight mobile was a doddle and I’ve got a printout here for you.” He placed both items on the desk.
“The other two were a different matter. This one, we tried to bypass the security on it and I’m sorry to say it wiped itself clean. I’ve not messed with the other; didn’t want to bugger things up. Bert, in our office, has been around a few years and thinks you should speak to Special Branch. He reckons these phones probably have some sort of Government connection.”
Thurstan smiled at him. “Thanks for trying. Anyone in particular at SB I should talk to?” He took the items Terry handed him.
“Bert mentioned you should ask for Norman. There’s only one in their office, apparently.” He stood silent for a moment. “Oh yeah, and the bloke in the property office said someone’s been calling one of them. He doesn’t know which one because by the time he’d found what was ringing they’d gone off and, well, then I tried to bypass the security.” He smiled, sheepishly.
Thurstan watched him leave then took out the ‘unmolested’ phone. It had been dusted along with the others before going to Technical.
They’d identified the woman. Call girl. Young son at a private school. Breaking the news to her parents hadn’t been easy; they’d no idea.
The other two? The prints matched the dead guy but he still didn’t know who he was. No marks, scars or tattoos either. He went for a drink.
Back in his office, mug on the desk, he picked up the internal phone, dialled and waited.
“Technical, Terry speaking, how can I help you?”
“Terry, DCI Baddeley. Quick question. I assume these two ‘special’ phones can’t be used to dial out because of the PIN issue but if turned on will they still receive?”
“Yeah, the security doesn’t come into play unless you mess up the PIN or try to bypass it. If someone phones, you can answer it. Didn’t find anything to indicate otherwise. By the way, I charged them up and luckily they take a standard charger.”
Phone down, he sipped his tea, deep in thought, eyeing the pristine mobile. ‘Best leave it on,’ he reflected, ‘you never know.’