by Diane Saxon
‘There isn’t as much.’
‘Okay. Why do you think?’ Testing him, Jenna raised the young woman’s head higher to expose the gaping slash to her neck.
He leaned in closer, blew out a jagged breath, but held. ‘It’s nowhere near as deep, more superficial, as though it was just done for effect. He slashed her throat post-mortem?’
She nodded and glanced at Jim for his approval. ‘Possibly. What can you smell?’
Ryan had no need to draw air in through his nose, the acrid reek of bleach and blood already coated the insides of their nostrils, so Jenna knew it would be days before the remembered stench of it cleared.
‘Bleach.’ Ryan’s eyes widened as he turned to her, almost nose to nose. ‘He’s cleaned her down.’
‘Yes. It appears that way.’
With the same propriety she’d witnessed from Jim, she let the woman’s chin sink back and slid her fingers from underneath.
‘I think that’s something else we need to compare with the first victim. I can’t recall any mention of bleach used on the actual victim.’
Jim Downey shook his head in disagreement. ‘No, there’s definitely a similarity there, the first victim, Marcia Davies, was thoroughly washed down with bleach. Maybe a different brand because he’s used what they have under their own kitchen sinks, but he’s definitely used the same technique.’
Jenna straightened, her thigh muscles screamed their protest and a groan escaped her lips before she could stop it. All she could do was attempt to talk through it. ‘Why would he have used bleach, Ryan?’
Ryan bounced upright, showing no sign of any such aches and pains. He frowned, tugging at his top lip with his teeth as he studied the victim, a move so like his father’s, Jenna swivelled her head to check out both Downeys.
Ryan scratched the side of his nose. ‘To clean away his mistake.’ He took a step back, his eyes gave a slow sweep of the surrounding area. ‘He made a mistake and he wanted to cover it up. Or wash it away.’ Before Jenna could agree with him, he rushed on. ‘Of course, his success in that area all depends on the type of bleach he got hold of. He’s taking a big risk if he depends on using whatever they have in their houses.’
Wide eyed, Jenna stared at Ryan as he continued the lesson he’d evidently learned from his dad.
‘There are two types of bleach. Chlorine based or oxygen based. If he’s used chlorine based, there’s no amount of scrubbing is going to wash away evidence of blood because once CSI,’ he glanced at his father, ‘spray luminol, it’ll glow blue wherever there’s blood contamination. If it’s oxygen based, if the perp has done a good job, there’s no guarantee CSI will be able to find any traces.’
Jim’s solemn gaze met hers with approval. The lessons never stopped, no matter how long you were in the job. Teaching and learning. ‘Good work, son.’ He gave Jenna a respectful nod. ‘We’ll get the report back from the coroner before we use this kind of information. Right now, it’s supposition, but it gives you a ballpark picture while we wait.’
Jenna moved towards the door, stripping off her gloves as she went, tossing Jim a grateful smile as he held out his hand to take them from her. She’d wait until she left the house before she took the entire PPE off. ‘Do we know who the victim is?’
‘No.’ Jim shook his head. ‘I’ve not heard anything, but you’ll find out more in there.’ He gestured to the living room.
‘We’ll need to get back to the station, hand over what information we have to PC Wallis so she can data compare. Personally, I can’t see any physical similarities with the last victim straight off, so it’s not a look he’s going for, but let’s go and speak with the young lady who found her.’
She skimmed through the hallway into the messy lounge, assumed as CSI hadn’t taped it off, it wasn’t the subject of a burglary, although it could at first inspection be mistaken for one.
White faced, shocked, the young woman stared glassy eyed as Jenna stepped to one side to allow Ryan and Mason to squeeze through behind her.
Jenna kept her voice soft. ‘Hi, and you are?’
‘Julia Clements.’ Voice barely above a whisper, Julia’s russet coloured eyes flooded with tears. The smother of freckles stood stark against her pale, waxy skin. Her auburn streak of hair glowed like an ember around her head as the pale blue of her medical scrubs complemented her skin tone.
Jenna’s stomach gave a sharp contraction as she stared at the woman in front of her. Oh, dear God.
From the corner of her eyes, Jenna caught Ryan’s shoulder slump and made a slow, cautious head turn in his direction to shoot him a silent question.
Face in frozen impassiveness, Ryan’s eyes danced with desperate communication, intense enough to send Jenna’s heart spiralling in a downward rush.
With a barely distinct inclination of her head and slow blink to acknowledge him, Jenna turned away and lowered herself into the sagging seat cushion next to Julia on the sofa.
‘Julia. I’m DS Jenna Morgan.’ She skimmed one hand, palm up towards her officers as she held her badge in the fingers of her other hand. ‘This is DC Mason Ellis,’ She kept a close watch on the young woman next to her on the sofa. ‘And DC Ryan Downey.’
A flicker, nothing more. It would keep for now. She touched a hand to Julia’s where it rested on her leg. Kept her voice soft.
‘Can you tell me what happened, Julia?’
‘I don’t know, I don’t understand.’ Tears rolled down her face and Mason passed a box of tissues over from the small, occasional table stacked high with magazines and used coffee cups.
Julia accepted a tissue, made a pathetic dab at her nose with fingers that trembled so hard, Jenna was surprised she managed to locate her face.
‘I came home from work. I was on days. I finished at 6.30 p.m. She was there.’ She flicked the tissue at the kitchen. ‘Just there.’ She swiped the tissue over her eyes and smudged mascara in a thick streak along her cheekbones. ‘I have no idea what she was doing in my house.’
‘Do you know her?’ Jenna steered clear of calling the woman a victim as she needed to keep Julia’s mind away from the death and focused on the actual person.
‘Karen Prestwich. She’s my neighbour.’ A pained sob escaped Julia, sticking in her throat before she hiccupped it away.
Jenna pulled on the thin thread of connection. ‘Did she have a key?’ It wouldn’t be unusual. Neighbours often did.
‘No, she didn’t.’ Confusion flitted over Julia’s face. ‘There was a key in the door when I arrived. She raised her fingers to press them against her wrinkled forehead. ‘I assumed my mum had been around and accidentally left it in the lock. I’m sorry. I never mentioned. I never thought, in all the…’ She fluttered her fingers. ‘confusion.’
Jenna glanced at Mason. They’d circle around to the key again, but right now, Jenna needed to get the big picture.
Julia lowered her hands to her lap, balled up the tissue in her fingers, then started to shred it, guilt hovered in the depth of her tear drenched eyes. ‘Karen didn’t have a key though. We didn’t get on.’ She threw the shredded tissue with the rest of the mess onto the table. ‘I don’t know why, but we never hit it off from the start.’ She reached over, took another tissue and blew her nose, this time with less finesse and more desperation. ‘I work shifts. She always played her music so loud. Her dog barks. I threatened to call the police.’ She shrugged. ‘I never did, of course.’
This time, when she balled the tissue, her hands stilled, and she stared at the far wall as though she could see through into the other woman’s house.
‘I complained to her when her dog pooped on my front lawn. We fell out. She didn’t see the harm in her dog using my lawn as his toilet. She never picked it up. After that, she’d park her car just enough across my parking space, so I struggled to get in. Never enough to block it completely, but just enough to irritate. We’re the last two houses in the street, so our parking spaces are next to each other, here.’ She gave a vague wave at the righ
t side of her house where Jenna had parked the unmarked police vehicle, leaving the blue lights flashing. ‘It was as though she gained pleasure in pushing the limits to see how much she could get away with before I broke.’
Knuckles white as she squeezed her tissue, she dropped her gaze to the floor and Jenna let her run with the guilt explosion. They’d get more from her if Jenna allowed her to purge herself and it may help Julia to talk it through.
‘She had to walk down the path from her parking space, past my kitchen window to get to her house.’ She raised her clenched fist to her mouth, pressed it against trembling lips. ‘She’d look straight in the window, every time, and stick her middle finger up at me.’ Her breath hitched as she drew it in. ‘We really hated each other.’ She gazed around at each of them in turn. ‘Not enough to murder her though. I couldn’t have murdered her.’
Jenna already knew that.
As though she’d suddenly dried up, Julia fell silent.
Jenna touched the back of the other woman’s hand. ‘You’re not a suspect, Julia. You’re a victim too. The crime has happened in your house. Your home. Believe me, we’re not looking at you for this.’
Mason moved a pile of magazines and settled himself on the battered armchair opposite. He kept his voice low and smooth as he leaned forward to direct her attention to him. ‘Julia, can you tell me of any reason you can think of why Karen would be in your house?’
She raised confused eyes to him. ‘None whatsoever. I have absolutely no idea why she would be here.’ As much at a loss as them, Julia spread her hands and let the tissue drop on the floor. ‘Why was she here? She had no reason to come in.’ Her brow rippled in deep furrows. ‘Did she break in? Why would she do that?’
As Jenna hadn’t yet checked with CSI whether or not there had been a forced entry, she shrugged her shoulders. ‘We don’t have that information yet, Julia.’
Ryan leaned against the wall, his gaze stuck on Julia as he gave a soft cough. Jenna raised her eyebrows at him, gave a slight inclination of her head to give him permission to speak.
‘Julia.’
She whipped her head up, narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Do I know you? I feel I should.’ Slow, dawning recognition slid over her face and her pale, freckled skin flushed florid. ‘Oh, dear God.’ She ducked her head and her ears pulsed a deep crimson.
Jenna touched Julia’s knee to pull her attention back in. ‘How do you know DC Downey, Julia?’ Aware of Mason frantically scribbling in his notebook, Jenna made a conscious decision to keep her attention on Julia. Rather than allow herself to be distracted by taking notes, she kept her notepad in her pocket. Mason was more than reliable.
Julia raised her head and cupped her glowing cheeks with white fingers. ‘I’m on a dating app. Y’ello.’ She shot Ryan a quick glance. ‘We’ve been talking.’ She glanced at Jenna. ‘Does this complicate matters?’
Aware of Ryan’s discomfort, Jenna shot him a quick glance. They’d discuss the dating app further when they got back to the station, but Jenna needed to keep Julia focused at this point.
‘I can’t see why it should. Do you speak with anyone else on this app, Julia?’
Almost choking with embarrassment, Julia nodded her head.
‘Who else do you speak with?’
Julia covered her mouth and shook her head, tears forming in her eyes again.
Jenna brought her face level with Julia’s, her gaze intense, urgent. ‘Many?’
‘Around forty. Maybe more?’
Jenna caught the flash of shock on Ryan’s face before he disguised it. Mason’s head remained lowered, but his pen hand stalled before continuing in a move no one else was likely to have noticed.
Judgement was not her entitlement, but how the hell did anyone manage to talk to forty plus people on a dating app and keep them all straight? Curious to know how many women Ryan spoke with through this app, Jenna parked that question for later. It may be relevant. It may not.
She made a mental note never to use a dating app, no matter how tempting the idea seemed. She’d never been enamoured with the thought, now she was downright scared by it. She pushed the thought aside. They’d come back to Y’ello at another time, although it seemed there may be a recurring theme.
Right now, she needed to bring Julia back on track.
‘Okay, Julia, can you walk me through what happened when you discovered Karen in your kitchen?’
Julia drew her hands away from her face and sucked in a long, slow breath, her eyes losing focus as she took herself back in her mind’s eye.
‘I came home from work. I was late. Again. My shift had run over, and I just wanted to come home, eat, crawl into bed.’ Her eyes reddened again, and she blinked. ‘I cursed her for leaving her bin across my pathway again. Inconsiderate cow bag I called her.’ A short sob escaped her, and Julia swiped the smear of liquid snot from under her nose with the back of her hand.
Mason reached out the box of tissues and let her take another one. She blew her nose, a lost look in the depths of her eyes.
‘My hands were full, I’d just been to the supermarket. I lugged three carrier bags and I had to move her bloody bin again.’ She shook her head. ‘I walked into the kitchen and she was there, naked. Slumped, asleep I thought, in one of my chairs, like she was waiting for me.’ She raised her hand to tuck a stray lock of auburn hair behind her ear. ‘But she wasn’t waiting. She was dead. I knew it straight off. The way her body collapsed, broken. Lifeless. But I had to check.’
A little sharper than she intended, Jenna interrupted. ‘You touched her?’
With a visible jerk, Julia sat upright. ‘I did. She was flopped in my chair, she wasn’t wearing any clothes. I wondered what she was doing. “What the hell?” I said. “Are you fucking drunk?” But something inside me told me she wasn’t. I’m a trained nurse for fuck’s sake.’
‘A nurse?’ Another piece of the puzzle slipped into place.
Oblivious of Jenna’s line of thought, Julia continued, ‘Yeah. I know a dead body when I see one.’ Raging, she turned to each of them in turn, finally settling her desperate gaze on Jenna. ‘Only I didn’t. I just thought there was something wrong; she’d taken drink, drugs. She seemed to party a lot. I had no idea she was dead until I touched her shoulder and she fell further forward.’
The sound of a pained animal strained from her throat as she covered her face with her hands, soft sobs escaping from between her fingers.
Jenna kept her voice gentle, so Julia didn’t turn defensive, but she needed to know every aspect, straight away while the detail was fresh. ‘Did you move her?’
Julia dropped her hands to her lap, shook her head and blew out an anxious breath. ‘No. But when I touched her, her shoulders slumped forward in the chair.’ She demonstrated, rolling over from the waist. ‘Her head dropped lower on her chest. That’s when I knew for sure. I pressed my fingers to her neck to find a pulse. Her skin was already waxy, no sign of life. Minimal rigor mortis at that stage. Her neck was still a little loose, but not entirely floppy.’ She closed her eyes and her nostrils flared, turning white at the edges. ‘My fingers slipped into the laceration there.’ Julia blinked away another wash of tears and stared out of the window. ‘Someone killed her. In my house. They tied her body to my chair, and used my dressing gown tie, I think it’s mine. Navy blue.’ Her voice escalated to a pained wail. ‘Why did they kill her in my house?’ Almost begging for an answer, she turned her confused expression around the room.
If Jenna had the answer, she’d have already made the arrest. The sinister connection already made, but she wasn’t ready to discuss it with Julia. What she did need to do was make sure the woman was safe.
‘Julia, do you have someone you can stay with for a few days? A friend, family?’
Julia’s eyes shot wide, as though the prospect of her being the intended victim only just occurred to her. ‘It could have been me. He might have killed me instead of her.’ She shot to her feet and stood poised, as though she was ready t
o run.
As casual as she could, Jenna stood, reached out a hand and touched Julia’s arm.
The woman whipped her head around and stared at Jenna. ‘Oh God, I can’t stay here. I don’t want to stay here.’ A fine line of sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip as she pulled in rapid breath after breath. ‘Oh God, how am I to live here now, knowing that poor woman was murdered in my house?’ A fresh wave of sobs wracked her body. ‘And it could have been me. It’s possible he could have been after me.’ She wrapped her arms around her own slender waist and bent almost double as she sobbed. ‘I didn’t like her, but I’d never have wished this on her. Not this.’
30
Sunday 9 February, 22:45 hrs
Jenna cradled her head on one hand while she scanned through the file before she tapped the keyboard and sent a 360 degree image of the crime scene to the large white screen behind her. Her mind buzzing with the sheer volume of information, she stepped through each piece of evidence, carving out the picture while she waited for the assembled team in the incident room to settle. She had so many balls in the air, she needed to get the team briefed, so each of them could make a start on their allocated tasks.
‘He wasn’t after her. Not Karen.’
She peered at Ryan through her fingers and could do nothing but agree. At this stage, purely an assumption, an instinct, one she knew Ryan had already developed.
Without disillusioning him, she needed to ensure he didn’t run off at a tangent. He needed to stick to the physical evidence they had without jumping down a rabbit hole on a whim. That entailed waiting for forensic evidence.
Did they have a copycat on their hands? There were so many similarities to Marcia Davies’ murder and yet so many differences, they couldn’t jump to the conclusion that the perpetrator was the same person. They needed facts. Forensics.
‘That’s a possibility.’
Ryan opened his mouth, but all it took was a raised eyebrow from her and he closed it again. He knew the value of hard evidence against circumstantial.