The Body in the River (7 page)

‘
Alison
’
s spare room was set up as her computer workstation; there was a printer and other accessories but no computer. We know from her friend she had a laptop. There was also an empty memory disk rack on the desk. There is clear evidence that the flat had been searched before we got there and various surfaces wiped, presumably to remove fingerprints. But nothing else seems to be missing. There was even cash in her purse and an expensive camera and mobile phone, to say nothing of the TV and music centre. None of this stuff was taken. What kind of thief leaves those things behind?
’

He didn
’
t wait for an answer but continued,
‘
The next thing we know is that at six pm on Sunday, two Thames Division officers on river patrol discovered Alison
’
s body floating in the river at the top of Limehouse Reach. The body was dressed in a white blouse, navy skirt, and green woolly jumper. Her underwear was intact but she had bare legs and feet. Tied in a granny knot around her neck was a pair of tights.

‘
I attended the PM this morning. Cause of death, asphyxiation; she was strangled with her own tights. There was no sign of sexual assault but there was a bruise on her chest consistent with someone kneeling on her. The time of death is estimated as nine pm on Saturday, give or take an hour. As I
’
ve already mentioned, her stomach contents show that she had eaten a meal and drunk one or two glasses of red wine within two hours of her death. The body was identified this morning by a Miss Joan Wilson, Alison
’
s best friend.
’

He consulted his notes. At the rear of the room, Fred Middlemiss whispered to Jacqui Rose,

‘
There you go, Jacqui, the full Monty. The boss would
‘
ave made a good general.
’

Rose nodded but reserved judgment.

Meanwhile, Brookes had continued.
‘
OK, Liz and Bob may have come up with something useful on their house to house enquiries. There
’
s an old biddy who lives opposite Riverview. She says that on Saturday evening she saw two strange cars parked outside Alison
’
s building. She
’
s obviously not an expert on cars but, when she was shown the photos of makes and models, she did identify a black BMW saloon with tinted windows.

‘
The other she
’
s not so clear about except for the colour
–
yellow
–
and the shape
–
she called it a box car. Could be a Fait, Renault, or any of the Japanese cars, but the distinctive colour should help. Liz and Bob are going back this evening to re-interview residents to see if any of them had visitors Saturday evening.
’

He paused again; the room was quiet.
‘
OK, that
’
s what we know. Now let
’
s try to reconstruct the crime. The victim came home alone to an empty flat. We can be fairly sure of that; there was no sign of a break-in and there
’
s only one other key which the Wilson woman has. And Alison only cooked for one by the look of it and changed into something more comfortable: a woolly jumper and carpet slippers.

‘
Then, at approximately eight pm, someone rang her doorbell. I think it
’
s safe to assume that she let him in; the killer must have got into her flat somehow. It seems that they may have had a glass of wine together so she may well have known him. Then there was a struggle, which ended with him strangling her on her bed. He then carried her body through to the balcony and threw her in to the river with her pantyhose still tied around her neck.

‘
Next, he searches the flat. Then he carefully wipes his fingerprints from everything he touched. He closes the balcony doors but does not re-arrange the furniture to erase the signs of a struggle. Then he leaves, closing the front door behind him and taking the laptop with him, and maybe some memory discs.
’

He looked up.
‘
Now the speculation. He may or may not have arrived in a small yellow box-shaped car or a BMW. He may or may not have brought a bottle of wine with him and taken the empty bottle away with him. He probably did take the laptop with him but ignored the cash and other valuables.

‘
We have one or two possible motives
–
either a frustrated lover or someone who simply wanted the information she had on her computer files. There may of course be other motives we don
’
t know about; we must keep our minds open at this stage. According to her friend, she was careful and there was a deadlock on the front door. She would hardly let a stranger in. So it
’
s not unreasonable to assume she knew her killer.

‘
I think that
’
s about it. Now it
’
s your turn; let
’
s have your ideas and comments.
’

There was silence in the room for a few moments. Then DC Bob Phillips spoke.

‘
This visitor that she let in. It
’
s the timing that gets me, eight o
’
clock. She
’
s already eaten so he wasn
’
t invited to dinner and she was dressed in her woolly jumper and carpet slippers. Why did she let him in?
’

‘
That
’
s a good question, Bob. It doesn
’
t look as if he was expected. Anyone else any ideas on that?
’

No one had.

DC Liz Foreman asked,
‘
The computer files, boss. What could she have had on them that would cause someone to kill her?
’

Brookes smiled.
‘
That could well be the sixty-four thousand dollar question, Liz. If that
’
s the motive it would probably tell us who the killer is. We can only speculate. Perhaps he was an old flame; maybe they had an argument and he lost his temper and killed her but guessed that she had details about him on the computer. So he takes it to protect his identity. But there could be several other explanations. We
’
ll have to get warrants to check her phone and bank records; hopefully when we get to those tomorrow that will shed some light on things. Any more points?
’

There were none.

Brookes closed the meeting.
‘
OK then. The house-to-house team has some work to do this evening; they need to re-interview the neighbours to see if any of them had visitors Saturday evening that would account for the strange cars. The rest of you get an early night; I want you all here by eight in the morning. Fred and Jacqui, see me before you leave. That
’
s it, folks.
’

Middlemiss and Rose joined their boss as the other detectives dispersed.

Brookes said,
‘
Fred, I want you to find out all you can about the victim; her childhood, education, friends, associates, the lot. See what there is on the Internet about her; perhaps she
’
s on Twitter or Facebook.
’
To Rose he said,
‘
I shall be a while yet. Sit down with DI Short and tap his brain; he
’
ll tell you how we put together a computer murder file and make sure nothing is missed. Once we
’
re done, you run me home and take the car home with you. I hope you haven
’
t too many plans for the next few evenings, we
’
ll be working long hours on this.
’
He didn
’
t wait for a reply but turned and disappeared into his office.

Middlemiss smiled.
‘
No time for cocktail parties on this squad, Jacqui.
’

She returned his smile.
‘
Never mind, Fred, I
’
m sure your friends will understand.
’

Short smiled too.
‘
The only cocktail party he
’
d get an invite to would still have feathers on it.
’

The three laughed.

*

Brookes spent the next two hours going through the notes of interviews and other information the team had already acquired. When he
’
d finished, he was satisfied that the team had been thorough and missed nothing. But he was no closer to finding a suspect. The only additional thought that came to him was to wonder whether the killer had put something in her wine. There were no defensive wounds or skin under her fingernails. Yet he
’
d strangled her whilst facing her. Why hadn
’
t she put up a fight?

His mobile rang. He frowned as he saw who the caller was.

He answered and said into the mouthpiece,
‘
Yes sir, sorry I never got back to you.
’

The voice of Bert Mclean, his divisional commander, said,
‘
So you damned well should be. How
’
s young Jacqueline getting on?
’
Despite the words, there was no rancour in his tone.

‘
She seems bright enough.
’

‘
Do you know her father, Quentin Rose?
’

‘
Only by reputation, never appeared before him.
’

‘
Well he
’
s a friend of mine. Give her a chance, John.
’
He paused then added,
‘
How
’
s the case going?
’

‘
Slowly; doesn
’
t appear to have been a domestic.
’

There was a long silence as Mclean waited for him to expand on that. But Brookes didn
’
t.

Finally, Mclean said,
‘
I hope you
’
ll have more than that to say to the press tomorrow; they
’
re already baying like wolves. It
’
s not drugs-related, is it?
’

‘
Not as far as I know; why do you ask, sir?
’

‘
After the last lot with the Russians and the Jamaicans we can do without more of the same.
’

‘
Well I
’
ve got my hands full with this murder case. I
’
ll leave the drugs to the Drug Squad.
’

Mclean laughed.
‘
Single-minded as well as bloody minded. Where are you; I tried your home number.
’

‘
Still at Leman Street but I
’
m just about to leave. Your young Jacqueline can drive me home so I can have a pint on the way.
’

Mclean laughed again.
‘
Bloody typical, I send you a rising star and you use her as your personal driver.
’
Then, in a more reasonable tone, he added,
‘
Give her a chance, John, she
’
s got potential; that
’
s why I sent her to you.
’

‘
Yes sir, but she
’
ll have to earn her spurs first; I can
’
t afford to carry any passengers.
’

‘
Just remember she
’
s got a future ahead of her. And not as a Class One driver.
’

‘
That
’
s why I
’
m keeping her with me, sir. I go where the action is so that
’
s the best place for her to learn and she might as well make herself useful.
’

‘
OK; keep in touch. We
’
ll go out for a pint when I get the chance.
’

The line went dead and Brookes got up and put his coat on. Walking into the main office, he saw Rose deep in conversation with Derek Short. The only other person in the office was Fred Middlemiss, who was on the telephone.

Walking over to Short
’
s desk, he said,
‘
Has everyone booked off, Derek?
’