Clean Cut (15 page)

Anna sat opposite him. ‘Perhaps they are interested because of the victim’s connection to Arthur Murphy?’

‘Could be.’ He was now looking for a pen.

‘The SIO on the Murphy case was a DCI Sheldon.’

He shook his head and then patted his pockets. ‘Got it. Right, let’s go from the top. The first time you met Gail, she was using the surname Sickert; previous to that, Summers, and her maiden name was Dunn–that all correct?’

It was painfully slow; Mallory wrote everything down in full, constantly holding up his hand for her to pause. He would reread everything she had just said, before he continued.

‘And on these two occasions you met her, did anything else happen?’

Anna described the interaction with Sickert, but did not mention the threat he had made to her. She just said he was very aggressive.

‘Can you describe him? You say his Christian name was Joseph.’

Anna nodded and then tried to conjure up his face; she was only really able to give the details that he was black, wore his hair in dreadlocks and that he was very well-built and over six feet tall.

‘Did she seem afraid of him?’

‘Yes. She was worried by the presence of the police.’

‘I see. So far, we have been unable to trace him. We’ve got prints from the house, but we’ve no previous on him.’

‘Yes, I was told.’ Anna looked at her wristwatch, impatient now to leave.

‘Can you describe the children?’

‘Well, the youngest child, Tina, is a toddler. There was a daughter Sharon, blonde and very skinny; I think she is seven. The boy, Keith, I only saw once. I am sure the local school will be able to give you more details, as will the social services.’

Anna stood up as his desk phone rang. He excused himself for taking the call.

‘DI Mallory.’ He listened, then put his hand over the phone. ‘It’s Newcastle; they’ve traced the victim’s mother.’

‘I can show myself out, all right?’

He nodded and returned to the phone call. By the way his cheeks puffed out, she knew it was someone important. She made her escape fast, closing the door quietly
behind her. As she passed through the station, she saw an incident room being set up: the telltale desks being moved along a corridor and two officers carrying computers. She pressed her back against the wall as they squeezed past, then continued out to the car park, where she sat for a while in her car. She could still smell the stench on her clothes. She closed her eyes, not wanting anything more to do with the hideousness, but it lingered like the smell of death mixed with manure. She hoped to God they would not find the remains of the children.

The first thing Anna did when she got home was shower and wash her hair to get rid of the stench. As she stepped out of the shower, her landline rang. She wrapped a towel around herself to answer it.

‘Anna?’ Langton’s voice sent shockwaves through her.

‘Yes,’ she said, almost inaudibly.

‘I’m going to head up the murder enquiry.’

She remained silent.

‘You were out there this morning.’

‘Yes.’ She was shaking.

‘I asked to be put onto the case. You will obviously know why.’

She swallowed.

He continued. ‘I don’t want there to be any mention of Sickert’s taped shouting match with you. Did you bring it up at all?’

‘No.’

‘Good. I’ll mention it when it’s the right time, but it’s obvious that there would be grave concerns if there was a direct link to my attack. Hampshire police are setting up the incident room; I’ve got Mike Lewis on board, and—’

She interrupted him. ‘Why are you calling me?’

‘Because, like it or not, I have requested you join my team.’

‘No!’

‘What?’

‘I said no. I’m sorry, I just don’t think under the circumstances it would be—’

‘Bullshit! Whatever our personal differences are, we leave them out of it. I want you with me.’

‘I can’t, I’m sorry.’

‘Yes, you can.’

‘No, I can’t.’

‘Listen to me! You don’t have any option.’

‘I will not work with you!’

‘You are the only person who can recognize this Sickert bastard! You also have to feel some guilt about what has happened.’

‘Well, I don’t.’

‘That’s more bullshit! I know you, and I know you knew the victim; if they find her kids buried with her, you will want to be on the enquiry. The bastard chopped her to pieces, Anna.’

‘You shit!’

He ignored this and went on. ‘I’m on my way there now, so the sooner you can get yourself back to the murder site, the better. Also, I’ve brought in Harry Blunt, as Barolli wasn’t available. Plus I’ve asked for some serious back-up on the forensic, as it’s apparently a hell of a job and Hampshire police are a bit out of their depth. Anna?’

She took a deep breath. ‘I really do not want to work with you, so I am asking you again: please, get someone else.’

‘See you there as soon as you can make it.’ He cut off the call and she stood there holding the receiver, still dripping from the shower.

Right, she thought. If this is the way he wants it, fine! He’s not going to make me act unprofessionally, no way. I’m going to be there, DCI Bloody Langton, and I’ll show you how I can act as if nothing had ever gone on between us!

It was after three when Anna returned to the bungalow. This time, she was dressed for the rain and filth. She didn’t use her umbrella but wore her raincape and headed straight for the crime ribbons. The first person she saw, looking very green, was Harry Blunt.

‘Afternoon, Harry,’ she said.

He turned. ‘Dear God, the stench in the forensic tent is overpowering. I’ve already puked up.’

‘DCI Langton in there, is he?’

‘Yeah, with his pal Mike Lewis. Have you got any spearmint?’

‘No. Sorry.’

‘So, back together sooner than you thought, eh?’

‘What?’ She thought he was referring to her and Langton.

‘You and me.’

‘Oh yes.’ She pulled on her white paper suit and overshoes as Harry stripped off his.

‘I’m going over to the incident room,’ he said. ‘They’re taking her to the mortuary any time now, so I’ve made excuses–anything to get out of here.’

‘Not found any other remains?’

‘No, thank Christ, but they’re not even in the piggery section yet. They’ve been carted off, the pigs; apparently
the landlord of the place swilled everywhere down and hosed their pens, so maybe we won’t find anything. I hope to God we don’t.’

Anna fixed her mask in place, and drew back the flap of the tent to go back in.

Langton was kneeling, leaning in very close to the body. As he straightened, he saw her and gestured for her to come to his side. Her heart felt as if it was going to explode in her chest; she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She clenched her teeth to maintain control, thankful the mask hid part of her face.

It was as if the past eighteen months of living with him had never happened and the horror of his injuries had not taken place. He showed no sign of any kind of emotion on seeing her; on the contrary, he was cold and professional, even down to the tone of his voice.

‘You’ve identified her, right?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Do you want to take another look, just to be certain?’

‘They have contacted her mother.’

‘I know, but it’s going to take some time to bring her here from Newcastle, so I’d like to be sure.’

Anna bent down and again looked at the mottled, beaten face of Gail Sickert.

‘Yes, it’s her.’

‘Good. Right, we might as well let her go to the mortuary now, so we can head back to the incident room.’ Langton gestured to the forensic team. ‘They’re going to have to sift through that heap of bloody manure and then do a search of every inch of the place. He could have fed the kids to the pigs, but the landlord—’

She interrupted. ‘I know–he swilled the pens down.’

‘Right.’ Langton walked ahead of her and lifted the flap to exit.

Anna followed and began to remove her paper suit. He was already rolling his into a tight ball and chucking it into the bin provided.

‘You remember the Fred West case?’ he grunted.

‘Of course I do.’

‘The only way the teams could sift through his stinking garden was to shovel everything through women’s tights. We’re a bit more advanced, but not that much, so these poor bastards have a filthy job on their hands. We’re looking for bone fragments; anything that might indicate the children died here as well.’

Anna followed him as he strode across the muddy yard; the rain had stopped, but the puddles were still deep. He was wearing big black Wellington boots and his old brown Driza-Bone raincape. As he reached the area where the squad cars were parked, she saw him light a cigarette. So much for his health regime!

Langton turned and saw her Mini parked on the bank at the side of the potholed drive. ‘See you there.’

He got into the patrol car and was driven away. He had shown not so much as a flicker of emotion, nor had he made any reference to the situation between them. It was hard for her to be able to maintain her cool, but Anna felt that so far, she’d done well. Question was, would she be able to keep it up?

The incident room in the Hampshire station was still pretty rough, but they had shipped in more computers and there now were eight desks. Anna placed her briefcase onto her allocated desk next to Harry Blunt’s; he was sucking peppermints.

‘Christ, the stench clings to you, doesn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ she said, taking off her jacket and placing it onto the back of her chair.

‘You think the fucker fed the kids to the pigs?’

‘Harry, I don’t know–but like you said, I hope to God he didn’t.’

Langton walked in and signalled to Anna to join him.

‘I want you to sit with the artist we’ve brought in from London and get an Identikit picture of this Sickert. We need it out as fast as possible. We’ve no trace on him or any kind of record, so he’s using an assumed name, is an illegal immigrant, whatever. Wherever he is, if he’s still got the kids with him, he’s going to be easier to trace.’

Langton turned to Mike Lewis, who gave Anna a half-smile of acknowledgement as he handed over photographs. ‘Local school had these taken at half-term, so they’re up to date: a boy aged six, and a girl aged seven, both white…’

Anna interjected, ‘The baby, the little girl I saw, was also white, about eighteen months old.’

‘She’s twenty-four months,’ Langton said. They had reports on her from the local clinic. He gestured at the board: as yet, it was empty. ‘We are hoping Gail’s mother will bring some photographs of the victim, but we want these kids’ faces up there and out to the press. So, Anna–get cracking on the drawing, and then work on an ident computer image. We want it out asap.’

The whole place was hopping. The local officers attached to the investigation were running around like scalded hens. Langton threw out instructions and orders at such a pace, you could see them virtually tripping over each other.

Anna sat for over an hour with the artist. By that time, he had a likeness, or as much of one as she was able to remember. They then worked together on the computerized images to see if she could better it.

Langton walked in and leaned against the back of her chair. ‘How much longer?’

‘I am going as fast as I can,’ the artist said.

Anna remained silent and concentrated on the computer image. She could feel Langton close, almost touching her; she moved away slightly.

‘Okay. As soon as you are through, Anna, I want you in the incident room for a briefing.’

She was about to say something when he walked away.

Anna was printing off the images of Joseph Sickert when she was called to Langton’s office. This was connected to the incident room, but was very small and cramped.

‘Is this about the briefing?’ she asked.

‘That tape recording of Sickert–you still have it?’

‘Yes, I’ve brought it in.’

‘Good. You can leave it with me.’

She nodded. ‘I’ll go and get it.’

She walked out and returned to her desk. She had just taken the tape out from her briefcase, when Langton appeared and bellowed that he wanted everyone gathered for a briefing. As he made his way to stand in front of everyone, she noticed that he limped slightly; maybe the damp and wet from the piggery had got to him. She thought how much she would have liked to tip that manure over his head.

‘Okay, everyone, listen up.’

They gathered round, the locals standing at the back
of the room. By now, the incident-room board had been worked on. Photographs of the two children and the sketch of Sickert were now pinned up. There were also numerous other pictures and details that Anna was unable to check out at that moment, as everyone was focused on Langton.

‘We have a pretty solid ID of the victim made by DI Travis, but we will still need her to be formally identified by her mother, who should be here around six o’clock. The mortuary by then will have cleaned up the victim; she will be covered so as to cause as little anguish as possible. We have the children’s photographs, as you can see; as yet, no remains have been recovered. We also have an Identikit picture of our suspect, known as Joseph Sickert.’

Langton continued the briefing, covering the ground usual at this early stage of an enquiry. The post mortem and subsequent report would not be available to them for some time; all they knew was that the body had been mutilated; her arms and legs were still missing. He told everyone that it was imperative they get as much help from the locals, the social services and the local stores.

‘They lived there for over a year, so they must have known plenty of people. So get out there and find out as much as you can. The focus is on Sickert: we have to find him. We need to track down anyone with any information.’

Langton went on, asking for the landlord, Tom Adams, to be pumped for more information. The pigs had been taken to another location; the police would perform tests and possibly even slaughter one or more to find out if they had human remains in their intestines. He made everyone laugh when he said that Adams was
up in arms about them being slaughtered; he’d said, in a state of fury, that they were not ready. He planned on feeding them up before selling them onto the market and it would be down to the police to pay for them!