by L M Krier
‘He was a good worker. No trouble. Kept to himself and got on with the job, which was why he was missed. Otherwise I doubt we’d ever have got to hear about him going. Eventually, when there was still no sign of him, Uniform went round and gained access to the flat. No trace of him. But also no sign that he’d moved on or wasn’t planning on coming back. Food in the fridge, milk that had gone off long ago. And no sign of any disturbance hinting at foul play. There was a mobile phone in the flat which hadn’t had much use and told them nothing.
‘They tracked down the only known relative. A distant cousin living in Wythenshawe. She’d not seen or heard from him for years. They weren’t on bad terms or anything. Just never kept in touch a lot and then any contact between them had rather fizzled out. She was able to fill in a bit more background about him, though, some of it useful in terms of circulating the poster.
‘He wasn’t considered as high risk for any reason, so there was no major operation to try to find him. It was out of character not to turn up for work or contact them, but still not enough to red flag the case as anything other than someone who’d gone off somewhere of their own free will.’
‘Do we know anything about his state of mental health? We all know the figures for male suicides in particular are very high. He could simply have disappeared for that reason and not yet been found.’
‘Hold your horses, boss, I’m coming to that. Steve and me have been doing as much digging into his history as we could so far. You’re always telling us you don’t like coincidences, so don’t shoot the messenger. Our Mr Byrne was a bit of a little devil in his younger days. Nothing quite the wrong side of the law. Just kids’ stuff. But he sorted himself out after he had a nasty accident mucking about at a bonfire party as a teenager. He was trying to scare someone by chucking a lighted firework at them. But he got his timing badly wrong and it went off in his hand. He’s left-handed. He was lucky not to lose his fingers, but it left that hand and the forearm very badly scarred.
‘He also suffered serious injuries to his left foot. Part of the firework landed on it. He had cheap knock-off trainers from the market and they caught fire and melted. Again, surgeons saved all his toes but they, the foot and the lower leg were also badly marked.’
Maurice turned to look at the white board as he spoke again.
‘So we have a missing man in the right age-range for our body parts, and so far, our body’s missing its left lower leg and foot, as well as the left forearm and hand. The parts of Mr Byrne that are easily identifiable. Coincidence?’
‘Now make my day and tell me that Mr Byrne was on record and we have his DNA on file.’
‘No can do, boss. He was never charged with anything. Spoken to by police on a few occasions when he was younger and before he straightened himself out. There was talk of an official police caution over the firework incident. In the end, according to case notes at the time which Steve pulled up, it was decided it would be a bad PR move because of how seriously injured he was. So he just got another talking to and appears never to have put a foot out of line since then.
‘No pun intended there, boss, honestly,’ Maurice ended hastily.
‘Further details from the Professor, boss,’ Jo put in. ‘The fingers of the hand we found were amputated while the victim was still alive. She says there would have been considerable blood loss, not to mention shock. She’s not yet able to say for sure whether that could have been a factor in the cause of death. She said she’s not prepared to rule anything in or out at this stage without more evidence. But she did confirm that all the other limbs found to date were amputated post-mortem. All of which, of course, means we have no fingerprints to identify the victim by.’
‘So in one way we need more body parts for further information. And we need to find out for sure if this collection of limbs belonged to Mr Byrne. If not him, then who? And where is he? We are still talking about one victim here, are we, Jo? Was the professor able to confirm that?’
‘All from the same body, so that’s something.’
‘Boss, this is probably completely off the wall,’ Jezza began, unusually hesitant, for her, ‘but could there be any link with the arson case? Our possible victim having been involved in a fire-related incident in the past. I know it sounds crazy ...’
‘Hard to see how, Jezza,’ Mike Hallam told her. ‘If our body was in a freezer for up to six months, then that person can’t possibly have been involved in last week’s fire.’
‘Before we can consider any link we need to find Mr Byrne, if he’s still alive somewhere. And we also need to know all there is to know about the arsonist who’s serving time. William Warren. Who’s on that?’
‘Me, boss,’ Virgil told him. ‘I’ve not got all that far with it yet but I’m working on it. Warren became a suspect early on because of his link to the two boys who died. Several witnesses came forward to say there had been incidents between them and Warren had allegedly threatened the boys, although it was all a bit vague about what he had actually said. Some witnesses said it was nothing more than saying he’d put them in detention. Apparently Warren suspected the boys of having keyed his new car while it was parked at the school.
‘Warren didn’t fit the typical profile of an arsonist. They often start young. Setting fire to litter bins, garden sheds, empty buildings, that sort of thing. He had no criminal record at all. The only time his name came up was when he was in his early teens. A gang of lads at his own school tried to burn down the bike sheds when he was a pupil there. Some of them tried to blame it on him but he was younger than the others and played the “a big boy did it and ran away” card, so no further action was taken against him.
‘Also, arsonists often return to watch a fire they’ve set. There’s no evidence Warren did that, but – now here’s the interesting part – he was not far away from the scene of the fatal fire. He did live nearby, but he was closer than that.
‘The fire dogs aren’t allowed to be used to search onlookers but the dog handler was just taking his along the road to cock its leg as Warren was walking past. The dog showed heightened interest in him so the handler flagged it up to the police.
‘When officers went to his house to talk to him they found him in his garage, where there was a half empty can of petrol. He drove a diesel car. It was a diesel/petrol mix used to start the fatal fire. His story was that he’d bought petrol because he was going to mow the lawn of an elderly neighbour. There was an electric mower in the garage for his parents’ home, where he lived. The person he named was a bit away with the fairies and denied all knowledge.
‘Warren had no luck at all with elderly witnesses. His alibi for the time of the fire was that he was at home with his parents. But his mother had dementia and his father drank to deal with it. The mother couldn’t be spoken to and the father claimed to remember very little about the night in question, so the alibi was flaky, at best.’
‘At some point one of us needs to talk to Mr Warren. The parents, too, if they’re still around. And to the prison staff to find out who he’s had contact with. It’s bound to be a long list if he’s a lifer. Where’s he serving his time?’
‘Right on our doorstep, boss. In Manchester. So that part’s easy enough. And he’s still singing the same song of innocence and wrongful conviction, by all accounts.’
‘So as the title says, Joey, as a Listener, I’m here for you to talk to. Anything you say to me is confidential and stays between you and me. Unless, of course, you ever want to take any of your concerns further. In which case I will do what I can to help you take whatever troubles you to the right person. But you can trust me. With anything.’
‘Fanks, Mr Warren.’
Joey looked no more than a boy. Far too young to be serving time in a prison for adult males. His speech impediment didn’t help with the image, making him appear even more childlike. It was no wonder the chaplain had referred him to Warren as at risk.
‘You really are very welcome, Joey. It’s what I’m here for. I imagi
ne that, like me, you take some comfort in your faith?’
‘Oh, yeah, Farver Archer is okay. He’s been well kind to me.’
‘He’s always there to offer the spiritual hand of guidance, isn’t he? A kind touch, a gentle gesture. Sometimes it’s all we need, isn’t it? A little physical contact with someone. To tell us we are still loved, despite our sins.
‘But, you know, if ever that comforting hand were to concern you in any way ...’
He locked his grey eyes into those of the younger man and saw him shift slightly in his seat.
Bingo! He knew he’d hit home with his first shot at goal. This one was going to be easy.
Probably the easiest one yet.
Chapter Seven
‘Who the bloody hell is this twat Mercado and why’s he got it in for us?’
It was DI Josie Balewa’s angry voice in Ted’s ear via his mobile, with no form of greeting before she launched into the tirade.
‘As if this case isn’t hard enough without the shite he’s been pumping out. I had to put a lead on Jock to stop him driving over to Gibraltar as soon as he heard about it and giving him a serious going over.’
‘With any luck it will all blow over soon. The ACC’s sorting it. Sending him a statement.’ Ted tried to sound reassuring. He knew Josie’s DS, Jock Reid, was her self-appointed guardian and protector. He could imagine how angry Jock would be at any slight on the boss he clearly held in high esteem.
‘Easy for you to say. My gaffer’s a right knobhead. Our regional scandal-sheet has got hold of it somehow. I suspect Mercado passed it to them. They’re threatening to run with it. They phoned my gaffer for quotes, so now I’ve got him pecking my head while I’m trying to get on with my bloody job here and wrap things up.
‘Anyway, what I was really phoning you for was to tell you that me and Jock are about finished over here. At least with our case. It’s mostly down to the Met from here but finally we’ve got closure on little Storm, poor kid. The DNA on one of the bodies linked positively to samples found at the crime scene from when her mother was murdered. So at long last she can get a decent burial and that’s something we can tick off on our books.’
‘Were you able to get IDs on the other bodies? What was the final count?’
‘Four in total. All little girls. Two others were identified. They’d disappeared from different holiday resorts along the coast. The fourth one is still unknown. According to Ramon, the feeling locally is that she could have come from a traveller family passing through the area. They wouldn’t have been likely to report her disappearance to the authorities, so we may never find out who she was, poor little bugger. He also said there’s just a chance the parents sold her to someone. Apparently it’s not unknown for shit like that to happen.
‘So me and Jock should be back this weekend, or early next week at the latest. We should have a debrief together, I reckon. Don’t you? Have you got much on?’
‘Sounds good. We have someone littering our patch with body parts. And an arson with the identical MO of someone who’s inside doing life. The team’s on top of both of them, so I can come out to play. Do you want me to come up there?’
‘No, we’ll come to you. Like I said, I get a lot of earache from my boss, so it’s a case of any excuse to get out of the office when I can. I hope your body isn’t another kiddy? I’ve had about a bellyful of murdered children. Enough for a lifetime, I think.’
‘No, it’s a middle-aged man, as yet unidentified, although we’re working on a possible.’
‘Well, if it turns out to be my gaffer, at least Jock and I have a solid alibi here in Spain. And the press have conveniently confirmed it. For me, at any rate. I didn’t hire a hit man, either, although I’ve thought about it often enough.
‘Sorry your Trev got dragged into it all. And sorry that the video shows me unashamedly groping his bum, but you can hardly blame me for that, can you?
‘Anyway, I’ll keep you posted when we’re coming back and we’ll get together.’
Ted was in work first, as he often was. The team members were starting to file in now. Jo came to find him before the team briefing.
‘And another one to start the day, Ted. Found in woodland next to a park late yesterday evening. Bunch of kids messing about down there but luckily they did the right thing and phoned in to report it. Probably because one was a copper’s son. My eldest, George. Who is now in serious trouble and grounded for the foreseeable future, because he was meant to be round at a friend’s house while they did homework together. Not hanging about in the woods getting up to goodness knows what.’
‘Do we know yet which body part it was this time?’
‘We do and it’s a bit grisly. According to my George, it was in the usual black bin liner wrapping and had clearly been there some time because it was stinking to high heaven. That’s why the lads went to investigate. One of them poked at the wrapping with a stick and it split. When they saw what was inside it a few of them threw up but George was actually pretty switched on. He made all the others stand well out of the way while he phoned it in. That might just redeem him a bit, but I haven’t said anything to let him off the hook yet.
‘Forensics report it was the lower half of a human trunk, from the top of the hips down to where the legs join. And here’s the grisly part. It’s very clear that the dangly bits had been removed, once again with loppers or bolt cutters. So I hope to god that wasn’t done while the poor sod was still alive.’
‘We need to continue treating each of these various dump sites as individual crime scenes, which is where we’re going to risk running seriously short of people to cover them all. Unless Jim comes good on his promise to find us some reinforcements. Have you sent anyone to this latest one yet?’
‘Not a lot of point last night, in the dark. I thought I’d send Mike this morning. We’re still trying to catch up on all of the other sites.’
‘I might just tag along with Mike. I feel the need to get out from behind my desk for a bit.’
‘Yes, I heard about the grief you’ve been having from this so-called journalist on his website, over the Spanish case.’
Ted stared at him. ‘Are there no secrets in this place?’
Jo laughed. ‘You should know better than that, Ted.’
‘Well, because of all of that crap going on in the background, I want to get away at a decent time tonight to go to my judo club. And tomorrow for karate. Possibly again on Friday for Krav Maga, if I can. I’ve already murdered one waste paper basket this week and if I don’t let off some steam, I can’t guarantee that will be my only victim.’
Ted was about to follow Jo into the main office when his mobile phone rang. He glanced at the screen and told Jo, ‘Jim Baker. You start, I’ll come in and join you shortly.’
‘Don’t say I never do anything for you, Ted,’ Big Jim said by way of greeting. ‘I’ve got you two temporary new officers. One’s coming later today, the other one you can have from tomorrow. Don’t get too fond of either of them, though, like I said. They’re definitely temporary loan only. You can’t keep them long. Just until you make some headway on the arson and the body parts. I’m also going to suggest to Kevin that he gives you someone from Uniform, on a long-term loan until you get on top of things.’
‘Kev’s not going to like that. He’s already struggling for numbers.’
‘If he doesn’t like it he can bloody lump it. I’ll speak to him and square things. So, first off, coming today. Amelie Foster.’
‘Emily?’
‘No, Amelie. With an A. Looks about fourteen to me but you know what an old dinosaur I am. Fresh in, direct entry. Knows all the theory and the regs inside out and back to front but very green on practical experience. But she’s keen. Bloody hell, she’s keen. For a horrible moment I thought she was going to hug me when I accepted her for your team. You know I always like to see them for myself, rather than rely on reports.
‘The second one I didn’t need to see as I know her from way back. Mart
ha McGuire. A DS and a bloody good one with a shitload of experience ...’
‘I’m sensing a but,’ Ted put in.
‘Only a small one. It shouldn’t be an issue. She took quite a long career break to have a child and she’s recently back. So she may not be entirely up to speed, especially with procedural stuff. She’s recently finished her return to work programme and she’s raring to go. I think she’ll be an asset to you. She’ll make a good Maurice replacement, in a sense, as she was always the mother hen of a team, even before she had her own kid.’
‘And I’m guessing this is Hobson’s choice? These officers or no one?’
‘Got it in one, Ted.’
‘Right, boss. Well, at the moment, I’ll take anyone you can spare. We’ve had another body part find. I’m going out to look at the scene myself shortly, with Mike. I need a bit of hands-on. To see if I can’t get a feel for what’s going on.
‘Oh, and I spoke to Trev. He’s more than happy to help you. Not tonight, it’s judo, nor tomorrow, which is karate, but whenever you’re free after that.’
‘What about Friday, after work? And I want you there as well, Ted.’
Ted laughed. ‘For goodness’ sake, Jim, he’s not going to make a pass at you. You’re seriously not his type. I was going to go to my Krav Maga club on Friday. But I’ll try to be there for your lesson if you want me to.’
‘I don’t just bloody want you there. I’m ordering you to be there, as your senior officer.’
The uniformed officer at the entrance to the park knew both Ted and Mike by sight but Ted still held up his ID as the car Mike was driving was waved through. They’d been told the road was currently closed to all traffic except anyone involved in the case. They could drive down to a parking area and walk the short distance from there into the woods, where the latest body part had been found.