Wrongful Death (24 page)

Dewar looked over to him. ‘I disagree because it would fit with a jealous wife who wanted it to look like something other than a crime of passion.’

Mike wrote quickly on the board, trying to keep up, and asked for just one point at a time before inviting Dewar to continue.

‘The surveillance unit lost Donna near Esme’s block of flats and she may well have Josh’s keys for the premises. Donna also suspected Josh of having an affair. These are all things that she never told DI Simms or us, for that matter.’

Anna turned to Dewar.

‘Hang on a second. To be fair, Donna was never asked about Esme’s flat when we spoke to her, or if she thought Josh was having an affair.’

Dewar, thinking Anna was challenging her opinion, folded her arms. ‘So you don’t think she was in any way suspicious or jealous of Josh?’

Anna sighed and everyone could feel the undercurrent between the two women.

‘I’m not saying you are wrong, I’m simply suggesting that Donna could have a reasonable explanation for—’

Dewar interrupted her. ‘It’s clear Josh was having an affair and Donna suspected that to be the case. Whatever way you look at it,
jealousy
is motive,’ Dewar said, plainly suggesting that Anna’s own comments stemmed from pure envy.

‘There is nothing on his mobile, laptop or e-mails to suggest he was having an affair,’ Anna said curtly, refusing to back down.

Mike could see that Langton was annoyed at their squabbling. He was about to interject when the DCS spoke up.

‘Let’s move on, shall we. DC Ross, surprise us all with your CCTV revelations,’ Langton said gruffly, making it clear he was yet again unimpressed with Dewar and Travis’s behaviour.

Ross walked over to the DVD player and put a disc into it, bringing up the CCTV footage on the large screen. He pressed Pause.

‘As you are all aware, I was given the enviable task of viewing a shedload of CCTV footage from the Savoy, where the Lynne Charity Ball was held. I have of course produced and edited this DVD on my own and I hope that you enjoy the—’

‘Get on with it, Ross!’ Langton barked.

‘This is the entry and exit barrier at the hotel’s underground car park and as you can see the time clock shows 10.05 p.m. on the fifth of November.’ Ross pressed play on the DVD.

The guard in the security kiosk could be seen watching TV, then, without looking, he raised his hand and pressed a button. The barrier moved upwards and a brown Mini Cooper appeared in the CCTV as it left the car park.

Ross paused the tape. ‘As you can see, the registration is DON4L and that plate is registered to Donna Lynne.’

Ross then played a further section of CCTV footage that showed the Mini returning to the car park at 11.50 p.m.

There was complete silence in the room as everyone took in the importance of what they’d just seen. Anna looked over at Dewar, who, she thought from the smile on her face, was revelling in the moment.

‘Aisa said that Donna drove her in the Mini to the hotel,’ Dewar said, raising her eyebrows at Anna.

Fearing the two of them were going to argue the point, Langton stood up. ‘Good work, Ross.’ He smiled and then nodded at Dewar. ‘It would seem that your suspicions about Donna Reynolds were right, Jessie.’

‘Thank you, sir, but I believe I was wrong about someone being hired to kill Josh. Donna’s clearly an accomplished liar who planned everything down to a tee and used the charity function as a cover to go and kill her husband.’

Members of the team nodded or voiced their agreement, although Anna felt Dewar was being self-righteous and milking the moment and wanted to comment on the fact that due to the reflection of light on the vehicle’s windscreen it was not exactly clear who was driving. But she held back, fearing any remark would just be seen as sour grapes.

Pete Jenkins came in and sat down, shifting uneasily as he noticed that everyone was looking at him.

‘Have I done something wrong?’ he asked.

‘Not at all,’ said Mike. ‘In fact, you are right on cue. We have evidence that Donna Reynolds lied. She left the hotel between ten and twelve the night of the fifth. So your crime scene report and blood distribution is now critical to the investigation. Do you want to share your findings with us?’

Pete stepped forward and said that he believed there was evidence to support the theory that Josh Reynolds was murdered and the scene staged to look like a suicide. The room filled with an air of anticipation, everyone eager to hear what the forensic scientist had to say.

Pete played a short animated video of what happens when someone is shot in the head, giving them all a running commentary.

‘Notice as the bullet enters the head we get the back spatter of blood towards the gun and as the bullet exits so we get a forward spatter of blood away from the head.’

He brought up a picture of Reynolds’ body and, using a laser pointer, drew everyone’s attention to the bloodstained carpet by Josh’s right knee.

‘This blood is back spatter and I believe that someone was standing by Reynolds’ right side as the bullet entered his head.’ Pete superimposed an ‘A’ shape onto the carpet. ‘The area below the cross line of the A is a void, meaning that the back spatter blood landed on someone or something at the time the bullet entered Reynolds’ head.’

Pete next brought up a close-up picture of Reynolds’ right hand holding the gun. The room was silent as everyone absorbed the importance of what he was telling them.

‘As Agent Dewar correctly observed, there is no blood on the back of his trigger hand. This could however be due to the recoil from firing the gun, which can cause the hand to move upwards and away from the head.’ Pete demonstrated what he meant whilst holding his thumb and forefinger like a gun.

‘Wouldn’t that leave back spatter on the underside of his right palm and little finger?’ Langton asked, demonstrating his knowledge and experience of investigating gunshot cases.

‘It could well have done, but as there were no individual photographs taken of this area we will never know,’ Pete said, and Langton shook his head in disbelief at how poor the scene examination had been.

‘Reynolds’ right arm must have been moved so the gun could be placed in his hand by the killer,’ Langton remarked.

‘It’s possible, but having his hands up in the air at the time he was shot would also account for an outstretched right arm,’ Pete said.

‘So he was in effect executed?’ Langton asked and Pete nodded.

‘What about fingerprints and DNA on the gun?’ Langton asked.

‘Only found Josh Reynolds’,’ Pete informed him, and added that there was something else that was strongly indicative of the scene having being disturbed after death. He brought up an enlarged picture of the sofa showing the blood and brain debris that had spurted from Reynolds’ head as the bullet passed through.

‘The blood and tissue matter here is forward spatter from the exit wound. If you look at the upright of the settee there is blood on it and some across the front edge of the seat area. There is no staining between these two areas of blood, yet they physically align with each other,’ Pete said, leaving the team wondering how they could align when there was nothing there. It became clear what he was talking about as he slowly superimposed a moving image of blood spatter, which followed a linear path from the blood on the edge of the sofa to the staining on the upright.

‘At the time the bullet exited Reynolds’ head there was something on the settee that his blood spattered onto. I cannot say what it was but there was nothing submitted from the scene that would account for the void on the settee.’

‘Could it have been a money bag or something similar?’ Dewar asked.

‘It’s possible.’ Pete paused. ‘But my concluding observation is that, interestingly, the width of the void is the same as a piece of A4 paper.’

Everyone in the room applauded him loudly but Pete pointed out that if it weren’t for Dewar the questions about the crime scene and Josh’s death would never have been raised. The team all congratulated the agent who, as far as Anna was concerned, was revelling in the attention and looking at her rival as if to say, ‘I told you I was right.’

Barolli was next up to address the team and opened by saying that he and Dewar had spoken with Aisa Lynne, who was mixed race and had been adopted by Gloria, and seemed rather prickly about it. He reported how she was insistent that her sister had nothing to do with Josh’s death and had said Donna was at the hotel all night.

Mike Lewis asked if they thought Aisa was deliberately lying to protect Donna. Before Barolli could reply, Dewar said that although Aisa was rude and a spoilt brat, she didn’t think so as the younger sister, feeling ill, had left the ball after dinner and returned just before the firework display. Taking that into consideration, she would have been unaware that Donna had even left the hotel.

Dewar then related what had happened during the visit to the F1 Services garage, when they’d learned that Josh Reynolds had a tyre re-fit for a Maserati Quattroporte or Ferrari F430 registered between 2004 and 2009.

Langton asked Dewar how on earth she could narrow down the car from a tyre? Barolli, leaping to her defence, told them all that she had rebuilt a 67 Ford Mustang and was very knowledgeable about sports and classic cars, so much so she even left the garage owner speechless. Dewar blushed, smiled at Barolli and then emphasized that nevertheless it was just an educated guess that could help to narrow down the search until more reliable information was made available to them. She also added it would take in the region of £130 to fill either car with petrol.

Mike was starting to wind up the meeting, telling them that the new evidence that had come to light was down to everyone’s hard work and diligence and had cast strong doubt on the Coroner’s verdict of suicide. DC Ross’s discovery of Donna leaving the hotel in her car showed that she was lying and her alibi was a lie. Mike promised that she would be arrested but not until the following day as there were a couple of loose ends that he wanted tidied up that evening.

DC Ross asked if that meant there would be some overtime for working late.

‘Against my better will and judgement, but because the investigation requires it, overtime authorized,’ Langton said with a smile, causing a cheer round the room.

‘Okay, everybody let’s keep up the good work,’ Mike said enthusiastically. ‘DC Ross, I need you to continue viewing the CCTV footage and find out what time Donna left the hotel in the morning. Me, Barbara and Agent Dewar will execute a search warrant at Esme Reynolds’ flat,’ he continued. ‘Pete, would you mind coming along, in case we need your expert advice?’

Mike wanted a quick team meeting at six a.m. the following morning, but before that they were to sort themselves into two surveillance groups, one to watch Lynne House and the other the Foundation offices. Mike then made it clear that if possible he wanted Donna arrested in the street, well away from Gloria the volatile mother hen. Langton said he would inform Deputy Commissioner Walters of the evidence against Donna and the necessity of arresting her and searching Lynne House.

Mike glanced over at Barbara, who was checking the time as she was going to miss her hair appointment.

‘Barbara!’ he shouted, making her jump.

‘Go to the magistrates’ court and get search warrants for Esme Reynolds’ flat and Lynne House.’

Langton suggested that Agent Dewar go with her and get an insight into the process used to obtain the warrant and then asked to speak with Mike Lewis and Anna in Anna’s office.

Langton reminded Mike that Travis’s last full working day would be tomorrow as they were flying out to Washington on Thursday morning. Anna assured him that she and Barolli could deal with Williams tonight and then she would be free for the arrest and interview of Donna Reynolds tomorrow morning.

‘I’m sorry, Anna, but I want Barolli and Dewar to interview Donna,’ Mike said.

‘I really think you’re making a mistake, Mike,’ Anna protested, clearly upset. ‘Dewar is already convinced Donna is guilty and will approach the interview from the wrong angle.’

‘The interviews with Donna will need continuity and I don’t want to chop and change the interviewers,’ Mike explained.

‘Well, let me do the first one with Dewar then,’ Anna suggested.

Langton gave a sigh as he shook his head in frustration. ‘You are allowing your feelings towards Dewar to cloud your judgement. Mike is right and anyway you’ve got Williams to deal with.’

‘There’s no evidence against him for murder now we know about Donna—’

Langton raised his hand for Anna to stop. ‘A night in the cells will teach him not to lie in future. If we’ve nothing on him, get the vice squad in to deal with him in the morning.’

‘I can call them now then I’d be free to deal with Donna’s arrest,’ Anna said, becoming even more impatient.

‘If you want to arrest and interview Donna, then fine,’ Langton said calmly, then paused just long enough to make Anna feel that he was agreeing with her. ‘But you stay here in London and see the job through to the end. You can also explain to Walters why you have thrown away the opportunity of a lifetime and wasted thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money.’ Langton glared at her.

For a moment, she sat in stunned silence, realizing that he was being deadly serious, before gathering her things and storming out of the room.

Langton was in two minds to follow after her. He knew that it wasn’t just her feelings towards Dewar that influenced the way she was thinking. She was so dedicated to the job and her team that sometimes she just didn’t see the wood for the trees. Mike Lewis could sense that although the DCS was annoyed, he didn’t really enjoy going head to head with Anna. He knew that she had always been Langton’s protégée, but the problem was that many of the master’s traits had rubbed off on the pupil.

‘Have a look in Travis’s filing cabinets and see if she’s got any Scotch,’ Langton said to Mike, before slumping back in his chair.

Mike searched through the cabinets and found some glasses and a nearly empty bottle of Scotch.

‘I’d say there’s enough for a couple of large singles here,’ Mike said, holding up the bottle and handing Langton a glass.