by Emily Selby
'I see,' he said quietly, working his jaw back and forth. 'So, we agree, we're relying mainly on our knowledge of human nature here. And this is the main problem. For a police investigation, I need a little more. I need hard evidence I can present in court. I need a motive, and I also need a suspect. To accuse someone of murder, I need a little more to support it than saying this person had "murder in their eyes."'
'Totally agree,' Katie replied. A hot wave spread over her body. Conflict wasn't something she dealt with easily, even when convinced she was right.
She needed a little more than hunches. She also needed little things like, evidence and a suspect.
'I can see why to you, it looks like I'm jumping to conclusions on a hunch,' she said, keeping her voice steady. 'I'm working to back up my gut feelings here. Give me a chance, okay? Give me a little more information.'
'Fine. What do you need to know?'
'What was in the letter?'
'I don't think I can share it with you. I'm afraid it might be the matter of professional confidentiality,' he added, pointing to the envelope. 'I'm sorry. But this might explain why the practice manager sent Mr Blackburn to see a different doctor.'
'Can’t you tell me what happened? What did he do to deserve being transferred?'
Jack smiled. 'Sorry, Katie, but there are things I'm unable to share with you.'
'I know,' she said, ignoring the knot tightening in her throat. 'I am just a civilian. A police clerk,' she croaked.
She would have to use her own methods to find out what might have happened. On another note, she might spend some time over the Christmas break checking university courses.
What did Jack suggest last week? A forensic profiler? Yes, she was definitely getting ready to look into it.
'One more thing bothers me in this case,' Jack said, his voice cutting through the silence. 'I'm talking to both of you. Chris, I've noticed you also consider this is a murder.'
Chris' freckled face turned a tone pinker than usual.
'What?' Katie and Chris asked almost simultaneously.
'We've been talking about the opportunity and the means, but what about the motive?'
He left the question hanging. The silence dragged out until Katie spoke. 'This is where I've got stuck,' she admitted. 'Did anyone benefit from his death?'
'He didn't leave a will, but he didn't have much to leave either. A bike, a few technical books, a shade over two hundred pounds in the bank, and a very modest pension. He lived from hand to mouth, sometimes doing freelance proofreading. Everyone we’ve interviewed so far said nothing but good things about him. Unless they all lied. Would they, Chris?' Jack turned towards Chris, whose face now the colour of the red folder he was holding.
'I still haven't talked to everyone, sir,' Chris said in a formal tone. 'I've booked an interview with the librarian this morning. Just preparing myself.' He put the folder down and grabbed his jacket.
'So, what are people saying about Archie, Chris?' Katie asked, keen to learn.
'Everyone’s saying pretty much the same thing,' Chris answered. 'A nice man, polite, but a little socially awkward. He didn't bother anyone. They saw him on his bike coming and going. He would try to have a bit of a chit-chat with people he met. Although he didn't have many friends, he definitely didn't have enemies either. Didn't argue with anyone. Didn't owe anyone money.
'What’s more, nothing seems to have gone missing from his room. We found his mobile phone on him, but he didn't use it much. There are no recent calls made or received. In fact, the only incoming calls registered since his death were those made by Mrs Weatherspoon.'
Lonely man...
'He had a phone on him and couldn't call for help. How awful,' Katie said, a wave of sadness grasping at her throat. 'What about his daughter?' she jumped to her next question. 'According to Mrs Weatherspoon, she was angry with him when she was younger.'
'I've talked to Ms Blackburn,' Jack said. 'She admitted her relationship with her dad had not been good in the past. She might have hated him when her parents divorced, but that was a long time ago and she was at an age when most people hate their parents. Now, as an adult, she felt sorry for her dad. She wanted to reconnect with him but didn't know how, because he was so awkward socially. According to Erin Blackburn, she was happy when her father invited her to his birthday. She claimed to be looking forward to rebuilding their relationship. Apparently, she planned to invite him to her wedding next year.'
Katie heaved a sigh. She already knew all that... and wouldn’t let it slide. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, 'A loving daughter, who didn't bother to visit him for years? Nice neighbours, who didn't know him at all? Thoughtful friends offering dodgy jobs? And a supportive landlady, who ticks all the boxes, might have well had a motive and has an iron-clad alibi?'
Jack stared at her with confusion on his face. Chris' bushy eyebrows shot up.
'Sorry, you've missed a step, I think,' Jack said.
Katie bit her upper lip. 'Did I?' she said trying to uncover how she arrived at it all.
Jack cocked his head. 'I can see the logic behind your thinking, except for Mrs Weatherspoon’s iron-clad alibi. Why do you think she couldn't have done it?'
Katie looked away, trying to identify the reasoning behind her hunches. She had to find that bloomin' book on logical thinking!
'Of course, her health would have been a major obstacle, but she could have had an accomplice.'
Yeah, the last case was all about a sick woman who could have done it, if she'd had an accomplice.
Katie waved her hands. 'All right then. Although I can’t find a reason she might have wanted him dead, I don't think I can exclude Mrs Weatherspoon from my suspect list yet.'
Jack nodded slowly, watching her through narrowed eyes. 'Interesting points. I'll keep that in mind, too. Thank you for sharing. Anything else you'd like to know?' he asked.
Katie closed her eyes to focus better. There were still many things bothering her about this case.
'How did Mr Blackburn get into the yard and the house?' she asked, looking at Jack again.
'He had the keys,' he replied.
'From whom?'
Jack shrugged.
'Have you checked with the owners?' Katie asked.
With such an obvious question and a trail to follow, she couldn’t believe they hadn’t considered it themselves!
'About to do that.'
Katie relaxed a little. Okay, Jack was checking it.
'So, what are you two up to?' Jack asked, shifting his gaze from Katie to Chris.
'Library, sir,' Chris replied without hesitation. 'As I said.'
'My office, as I have a job to do,' Katie said sadly. 'I'll spy on Mrs Weatherspoon a little later,' she added. And visit the bookshop on the way home. 'And you?' she asked, staring straight into Jack's eyes.
The corners of his mouth curved up, just a tiny bit, adding a touch of warmth to his serious face. 'I need to talk to a practice manager and a doctor,' he said and tapped his finger on the envelope.
Ah, she hadn’t forgotten about the letter. The next thing she needed to do was find a way to gather her own intelligence on the matter. Should be easy enough with all her local contacts.
She smiled to herself and hurried to her closet-sized office.
10
Katie retreated to her office. Jack's refusal to share the information with her hurt, but on the other hand, he’d already been generous in sharing so much with her. There were, of course, boundaries to what she could be made privy to.
But then, as usual, she had access to the village grapevine.
Katie pulled out her phone and found the number for Emily Robbs, the daughter of one of her friends and a young doctor, who had a pivotal role in solving a previous murder case.
Emily would be certainly busy now, either at work or with her 10-month old boy, which was handy, as Katie didn't want to become entangled in another web of cover stories.
After opening with the usu
al greeting, Katie got straight to the point and typed, "Why would a practice manager direct a patient to a different GP rather than the one they’d seen before and were happy with? What are typical reasons why people complain to the management about their consultations with their doctors?"
She pressed 'Send'. If Emily answered, it would at least provide a path to explore.
Katie’s phone rang before her computer had fully booted up. She let the computer update itself and picked up her mobile.
Emily! But was Katie ready to handle this conversation? Well, she’d have to. If she ever wanted to become a proper police officer, a lawyer, or a forensic scientist, she’d have to learn to handle difficult conversations.
'Hi, Emily, what's up?'
'No, what's up with you? I've got your message. These are unusual questions. Why are you asking?' Emily sounded on the verge of suspicious.
'I was just wondering,' Katie said as lightly as she could.
'There is never, "I was just wondering" with you, Katie,' Emily said and paused, clearly expecting Katie to provide some sort of explanation.
'I've heard some gossip and don't know what to make of it,' Katie replied smoothly. It was close enough to the truth and hopefully enough to allow Emily scope to provide her with some reasons.
'And you can't share the gossip with me?' Accusation crept into Emily's voice.
'Sorry, no,' Katie said meekly. 'I'm sure you'll hear about it if it's worth spreading.'
There was a groan on the other end of the line. 'Okay,' Emily said finally. 'I'll try to answer, but I have to say this isn't something that happens routinely. It's not pleasant for anyone involved, and it's always individual. A lot depends on the context. I'm assuming you're talking about a situation where the patient has seen a doctor for some time and then they are not allowed to see them again.'
'That's right.'
'So, the reason people are asked to see a different doctor against their own wish might be because the doctor doesn't feel he or she has the expertise to deal with the patient's problem. It's happened to me a couple of times because I'm still quite junior. Or, it may be because the doctor is a close friend, a relative or a colleague of the patient's new partner. Or during one of the previous consultations, the patient behaved inappropriately, towards that doctor, which is what happened to a friend of mine.'
'How is the patient informed? Are they given the reason?'
'Again, it depends. Usually, the practice manager will write to the patient telling them they're not allowed to see their doctor, or they will be seen by another doctor because of such and such reason.'
Katie took a deep breath, carefully considering her next words.
'What about a consultation that didn't go very well? When a patient is unhappy about something.'
'In that case, the patient can always request to see a different doctor. They would usually need to write or talk to the practice manager or to the specific doctor in case. But it's not a valid reason to direct the patient to see a different clinician.'
'Why are people unhappy about their doctors?'
'Sometimes it's a personality issue about feeling you're not getting on with your doctor. Sometimes doctors have to offer treatments or recommend further investigative decisions patients don't like. Most commonly, it's because the doctor refuses to prescribe a drug requested by the patient, because they don't think it's necessary or it is a drug of abuse.'
Katie nodded to herself. Interesting.
'Those cases when a patient behaves badly towards a doctor,' she said, 'How bad does it usually get?'
'Most often it's about them being aggressive towards the doctor or making threats or inappropriate sexual comments,' Emily explained patiently.
Katie chewed on her lower lip. It didn't make much sense unless Archie Blackburn indeed had done something bad. But that didn’t sound like the sort of thing Archie Blackburn would do.
'Are you there, Katie?' Emily asked. 'Have I answered your questions?'
'Thank you, Emily, that's helpful.'
Katie put her phone down. She didn't know much more, but at least she could hypothesise. From what Mrs Weatherspoon had told her, Archie Blackburn had been directed to see another doctor, which meant that something he had done or said to the doctor led the surgery to decide that. On the other hand, his behaviour following the last appointment and the subsequent letter could have meant he hadn't been happy with the consultation, and - or the doctor either. As the result, both the doctor and the patient were so unhappy they didn't want to see each other again. What could have happened? Where could she find more information on the victim?
Didn't Mrs Weatherspoon say Archie Blackburn often visited the garden centre?
And of course, there was the issue of the wreath.
Not wanting to appear as though she was spending her work time conducting a private investigation, Katie completed a few simple work tasks in case someone walked in on her.
With the scene prepared and a good cover story in mind, she dialled Dorothy Ravencroft's number.
'Hi, Katie,' Dorothy greeted her warmly. 'Sorry I can't talk too long. I'm at work. How can I help?'
'I need a Christmas wreath and a little chat,' Katie said simply, knowing her friend would read between the lines.
'I'm not up to date with- Hang on a sec.' A note of excitement crept into Dorothy's voice. 'This is about our Archie, isn't it? You're doing your own little investigation?' Her voice now lowered into a whisper.
'Aha!' Katie said.
'How about you popping for lunch? I'll see you in the cafeteria just after 2 pm.'
Dorothy ended the call. With another prospective source of useful intelligence, Katie felt miles better. She returned to her tasks with much more enthusiasm.
11
Unfortunately, the enthusiasm to work didn't last too long. The bitter taste of not being a proper police officer or being part of the official investigation crept back in. Katie abandoned her current task and started searching the Internet for the information on policing and forensic science related university courses in the country.
'Hey, what are you doing, lass?' Chris's voice made her jump in the seat. She was so engrossed in her search, she didn't notice when he walked in. Her hand jerked to close the browser, but it was too late. Chris' tall, broad-shouldered body was already leaning over her.
'Ah, checking the courses, are you?'
Katie's cheeks burned. For goodness’ sake, why should she be so embarrassed about it? There was nothing wrong with wanting to return to university.
Except for your colleagues teasing you about it. Again.
Katie forced her shoulders to shrug. 'Only checking,' she said lightly. 'It doesn't mean anything, and it doesn't cost anything to check.'
'No, it doesn't,' Chris said. 'Besides, I honestly believe you should go back to university. I've told you several times. I think you would make a good investigator. You're good at picking on the right things.'
Katie grasped this opportunity of shifting the focus as well as checking for new updates. 'Which of my hunches were correct? What's the news, Sergeant Fox? What did you learn at the library?'
Chris stepped away and leant on the wall. 'The librarian confirmed what we've already known. Archie was an eccentric with very predictable behaviour and anxiety problems.'
'Anything else?'
'I've had another chat with your old friend, Roy Dunbar and the Peters family next door, about the cars.'
'Cars? I thought there was only one that left tracks on the grass bank.'
'Ah, yes. We're looking at the tracks.' Chris' face beamed. He seemed to be enjoying the investigation. 'Unfortunately, they're barely visible now. But Mr Peters vaguely recalled seeing a car passing by on Monday evening. He says it was a bit bizarre. He thought he heard two cars, but only saw one set of lights.'
'It was on the day of Archie Blackburn’s death, wasn't it?'
'Yep, that's right.'
'What about the day before?'
&
nbsp; 'The Peters were away all day on Sunday, and only returned in the evening.'
'Did Mr Peters notice anything else about the cars on Monday?'
'Not much. One car passed by earlier about the time they were getting back from work shortly after five. It sounded like an older utility vehicle, maybe a van. This one showed lights, but a second went past but that was without lights. It was quieter. He thinks it parked somewhere nearby. Which could explain the tire marks Roy saw the following day. We also found a place where another car must have parked - these marks are more visible, as the bank was softer there. It's on the left-hand side of Stream Drive, twenty yards or so away from the entrance gate to Number 1, Stream Drive.'
'Can you identify the make of car from the tire marks?'
Chris' face lit again. 'Definitely the ones opposite the old house. These are still pretty clear and quite interesting. The forensic team suspect it was a panel van. An old and well-used one. Or maybe just the tires were heavily worn.'
'It sounds like a real forensic investigation,' Katie clasped her hands. 'Any other evidence like that? You know, cigarette butts, clothes ripped on the fence.'
Chris laughed. 'No clothes ripped on the fence, which is, if you ask me, a bit strange, because the fence is really dilapidated.'
'Lord, I'd love someone to fix it,' Katie moaned, thinking back to her workshop and the idea of making it into a crafts shop. 'But the gate was open, so the criminal wouldn’t have needed to jump over the fence.'
'Good point,' Chris said. 'I see you share my suspicion this is a murder?' He looked at her attentively.
'I do. We're still outnumbered, though.'
'Yeah. But he'll come around. Don't worry. You know what he’s like. He really needs to be convinced by logic and evidence. Anyhow, I almost forgot to tell you, we did find some cigarette butts on the grassy bank opposite the old house. Of course, they might have been dropped by anybody.'