Dubious Justice (Justice Series Book 11)

by M A Comley

  Lorne looked down at the charred offerings she was in the process of dishing up and chuckled inwardly. I think you might want to reconsider that once this is put in front of you, Charlie.

  Tony seemed a little sheepish when Lorne placed the meals on the table. His eyes drifted from plate to plate. “I guess I messed up again. Big time, eh?”

  Lorne and Charlie glanced at each other and burst out laughing. “Shall I get the takeaway menus?” Charlie asked, just barely succeeding to form the words in spite of sniggering uncontrollably.

  “I’ll get them.” Dejected, Tony left the table and returned with their usual selection of menus. He had the world’s significant culinary delights fanned out in his hands. “Any preference?”

  Lorne pushed her plate away and took the menus. “Anything edible is preferable to this.”

  “I don’t mind if you bar me from the kitchen in future,” Tony said, the twinkle resurfacing in his eyes.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say. Deliberate act, was it? Just so I don’t ask you to cook in the future, which by the way, I didn’t ask you to do tonight.”

  “Would I do such a thing?”

  “Hmm… keep doing things like that, and I’ll start to wish you’d gone missing on your stag night. Just saying.”

  Chapter Five

  The Lee case progressed slowly for Lorne and the team. For the week, they busied themselves with a few smaller cases since the clues were somewhat limited. Despite their best efforts to dig deep into Paul Lee’s background for any possible vendettas et cetera against the victim, nothing showed up at all. The CCTV footage had proven to be inconclusive, too. Yes, they had located Paul’s van on the cameras in the vicinity of the crime scene, but the number plate on the other car, which they were desperate to find leads on, had been covered at all times. Lorne came to the conclusion that something altogether far more sinister was going on with this case. She just didn’t know what—yet.

  The phone on the desk rang, interrupting Lorne’s train of thought. “DS Lorne Warner. How can I help?”

  “It’s the desk sergeant, ma’am. I have a chap at reception reporting that he’s seen what looks like a dead person in a vehicle. Can you come down and see him?”

  Lorne scraped her chair and tipped it over in her haste. “I’m on my way.” She slammed the phone down and ran into Katy’s office. “Sorry, I’m just going downstairs. A member of the public has spotted a dead person in a vehicle. I just wanted to give you the heads-up on it.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Nothing yet. I’ll go and see what he has to say.”

  Katy nodded. “Let me know if you think he’s genuine and not a crank, and I’ll get the relevant units to attend the scene. We need to be a bit cautious, though. They might think the person is dead, but the individual could be passed out or drunk.”

  “Yep, that was my first thought, too. Why didn’t he ring 999 instead of turning up here to report the incident in person? I’ll let you know.”

  Lorne sprinted through the incident room and down the stairs to the reception area. The desk sergeant pointed out the worried-looking man. “Interview Room One is free if you want to take him in there, ma’am.”

  “That’s great. Can you arrange a cup of coffee to be sent in?”

  Lorne opened the security door and introduced herself to the man. “Mr. Jordache, I’m DS Lorne Warner. Please come this way.”

  “Am I in trouble?” the man’s voice quivered.

  “No, it’s just far more private through here. Unless you want to run through what you’ve found out here? The choice is yours entirely.”

  “No, I’ll come. I can’t be long though. I have a dentist appointment in thirty minutes. All I wanted to do was report what I’d seen. I don’t want any trouble, miss.”

  “You’re not in any sort of trouble, Mr. Jordache.” Lorne showed the man along the narrow hallway and opened the door to the interview room. After they were both seated, Lorne took out her notebook and asked, “Now, can you tell me what you’ve seen and where?”

  “Right. I always take my dog for a walk in the mornings down by the river, weather permitting of course. No good going down there when it’s been pissing down. Oops… sorry, I meant to say teeming down. There’s a small car park down there. I suppose for fishermen to park—never really thought about it before. Anyway, Rosie and I got out of the car and walked past this parked car. Well, it’s one of those minivans, really. You know, the type solo tradesmen use, not the big vans—the little half ones.”

  Lorne smiled at the man, whose fearfulness of being questioned in a police station was making him chunter on nervously. “Take your time. So, it was a small half-van, as I call it. And the man was where? In the driver’s seat?”

  “That’s the weird part. No. He was sitting in the passenger seat.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Jordache, how do you know the man was dead and not just having a sneaky forty winks?”

  “His eyes were wide open. Do you think it was the exhaust fumes that killed him?”

  Lorne’s attention piqued immediately. “Hold on a second. Are you saying the vehicle was running and there was a pipe leading from the exhaust into the front of the car?”

  “Yes. That was the scene exactly. I knocked on the window. I couldn’t see much smoke inside, but I think the guy was definitely dead.”

  Lorne shook her head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you ring 999 right away?”

  “Because I don’t have a mobile, and the station was just down the road. Thought it better if I reported the incident myself.”

  “Okay, I need to get some teams down there immediately. Can you hang on for five minutes?”

  The man looked at his watch. “Time’s moving swiftly, Sergeant. I’m going to have to leave soon.”

  “Can you call back after your appointment? Oh wait, that won’t work, I’ll be at the scene by then probably.”

  “No, I have to go on several errands after the dentist.”

  “Well, we’ll need to take a statement. All right if I send a uniformed police officer round to see you later on today? This evening, perhaps?” Lorne asked, eager to get on with organising the rest of the teams.

  “That’s all right with me. Would much rather give a statement at home than here.” He gave Lorne a tight grin.

  Lorne took down the man’s address and showed him the way back into the reception area. “Good luck at the dentist, Mr. Jordache.”

  “Thanks.”

  Lorne bolted up the stairs two at a time. Breathless, she barged through the door to the incident room and waved her notebook above her head. “I think we have another one, guys. It looks like the same MO.”

  Katy rushed out of her office. “Did I hear right? Another suspicious death? Where?”

  Lorne steadied her breathing before she spoke again. “In a car park down by the river. We need to get someone over there ASAP. Stephen and Graham, can you get down there now?”

  Katy nodded. “Yes, go. Let’s get SOCO down there, too.”

  “I’m on it.” Lorne rushed to her desk and rang Patti’s number. “Hi, Patti. Looks like we have another murder, similar MO to Paul Lee.”

  Patti exhaled loudly. “Why haven’t I been notified of this?”

  “I’m notifying you now. The witness has only just informed us. Katy and I will be at the scene soon. Are you going to attend?”

  “Of course. Give me the location.”

  Lorne rattled off the address and was surprised when Patti hung up on her. “I guess we’ll see you down there.”

  Katy’s brow twisted. “Everything all right?”

  “Yep. I think Patti might have got out of the wrong side of bed, that’s all. I’ll ring SOCO, and then that’s it. Are you ready to shoot off?”

  “Five minutes just to tidy up a few loose ends,
and I’ll be free.”

  When Lorne and Katy arrived at the scene, Stephen and Graham were busy cordoning off the area. “Was the engine still running when you arrived, boys?” Lorne called over the second she left the vehicle.

  Stephen nodded. “I opened the door to check for a pulse, but it was obvious the guy was dead before we got here. I switched off the engine and closed the door again.”

  “Can you see any other wounds on the victim?” Katy asked, slipping her small hands into a pair of latex gloves.

  “I only took a brief look, boss. Nothing too obvious from what I could tell,” Stephen admitted.

  Lorne put on her gloves, too, and approached the vehicle. She cupped her hand against the back window and peered through the glass. A tool bag and copper piping filled the rear of the van. “I’m thinking he’s a plumber,” Lorne suggested.

  “That would fit. First an electrician and then a plumber. A pipe running from the exhaust. It has to be the same killer, surely?” Katy scanned the area around them.

  “Both victims found in public car parks, too. Obviously, the killer—or should I say killers, as in the CCTV footage—don’t mind taking risks, judging by the brazen attempt to get rid of the bodies.”

  Lorne began to circle the vehicle, her eyes cast down at the gravelled ground beneath her feet, searching for clues.

  “Come on, Patti. Get a wriggle on,” Katy grumbled impatiently.

  It was another hour or so before the pathologist and the SOCO team graced the scene with their presence. By that time, Katy had sent Stephen and Graham back to the station to begin the preliminary enquiries into the man’s ID. She hoped they could get a head start by using his number plate since protocol had prevented them from touching the body before Patti arrived.

  “Don’t start on me, ladies. Blame the London traffic. One accident after another we’ve encountered on the journey over here. Right, what do we have here?” Patti placed her black bag of equipment on the ground.

  “Looks like a similar crime to Paul Lee’s murder. Initial checks show that he’s possibly a plumber. No formal ID—we were waiting for you to arrive to establish that. If you can make that your first priority, Patti, we’d appreciate it.”

  “Sure. Let me dive in there and see what I can find. John, take photos of the corpse before I have to move him, please.”

  One of the assistants, dressed head-to-toe in a white paper suit and armed with an expensive camera, stepped forward to take numerous shots of the victim.

  “We need to know if he has any other injuries on him, Patti,” Lorne stated.

  “I know my job, Sergeant. Let John carry out his job first, and then I’ll get in there and examine the victim for possible wounds as well as try and find some elusive ID for you folks.”

  “Sorry for stating the obvious,” Lorne apologised, her mouth twisting into a grimace.

  Ignoring Lorne, Patti opened the passenger door to the van. Talking into her Dictaphone, she commenced her assessment. Katy and Lorne took a few steps back, aware that if the pathologist found anything significant she would call them to relay the news.

  “Bingo. Lorne, Katy, here a sec,” Patti shouted.

  “What do you have?” Lorne asked.

  Patti turned the victim’s head to the side to reveal a bloody opening in the rear of the man’s skull.

  “The same as Paul Lee’s,” Lorne said, moving in for a closer look at the wound.

  “That gives us what we need to combine the two victims then,” Katy said.

  “It would appear that way,” Patti admitted. “This man has defence wounds on his right hand, whereas Lee didn’t. I suggest he had an inkling he was about to be attacked but could do little to prevent the incident. I’ll know more after the PM. Let’s get you a formal ID on the man, shall we?” Patti twisted behind the corpse to search the back pocket of his jeans and withdrew the man’s wallet. After flipping open the leather flap, she pulled out his driving licence. “Victor Caprini.”

  Lorne jotted the name down in her notebook. “I don’t suppose there’s an address in there somewhere?”

  “Yep. According to this, if he hasn’t moved house and neglected to inform the right authorities, it’s 55 Tollpuddle Road.”

  “Okay, we’ll get over there now; see if we can find any relatives at home. He looks around twenty-eight to thirty, yes?” Katy suggested.

  Patti nodded. “I’d put him around that age, yes. I’ll finish up here and get the body moved. My day is pretty clear. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to fit in the PM this afternoon.”

  “The sooner, the better, as always, Patti. You’re a star.” Lorne patted the pathologist on the back before the two detectives headed for their car.

  Katy let out a huge sigh once they were seated and buckled up. “Damn waste of a young life, for what?” She started the car and exited the car park.

  “I agree. I doubt this will be the last, either. Two bodies in a matter of days doesn’t bode well. If the killers are getting off on killing these men, who’s to say where their game will end? Do you think it’s sexual?”

  “Where did that come from, Lorne?”

  She shrugged. “Not sure. We’re presuming from the disc footage that the two assailants were male. What if one of them is a woman? Supposing they were enticing these men into their homes with the intention of killing them? I don’t know—pure conjecture on my part, of course.”

  “Maybe you’ve just got a warped mind,” Katy admonished with a chuckle.

  “Seriously, though. Maybe I’m just assuming that after what we’ve encountered over the years.” Lorne pointed into the air and continued, “Look at that case involving Jade’s psychiatrist a few years back. He virtually brainwashed the killer to do his murdering for him, didn’t he? That was sexually motivated.”

  “You’re right, as always. How is Jade, by the way? Has she got over your father’s death yet?”

  “Sometimes she’s back to her old self, and then other days, she sits around crying all day. My heart goes out to Luigi and the boys. Walking a tightrope like that day in and day out can’t be easy.”

  “Does she work? Maybe if she had something to occupy her mind every day, she wouldn’t be in such a dire situation.”

  “Not really. She does the odd day of volunteer work now and again, nothing major. Luigi insisted that she should stay at home and raise the children herself.”

  “Yikes, that’s not something I would like to do. I’d rather take a leaf out of your book about how to rear kids if having children ever cropped up on my agenda.”

  “Hmm… well, I wouldn’t like to suggest to anyone how they should raise their kids. Hey, no one is more surprised at the way Charlie turned out than me. Especially after all she’s had to contend with during her young life.”

  “She’s strong, has your fighting spirit running through her veins. She’s a credit to you, Lorne. Not many twenty-year-olds can shout loud and proud that they run their own successful business.”

  “Successful? As in bringing money in? I don’t think we can label the rescue centre as being a grand success just yet,” Lorne pointed out.

  Katy followed the directions the sat nav voice issued and crawled along the road until she spotted number fifty-five. Lorne could tell that the area was well cared for by the way each of the gardens looked maintained. They walked up the path of the semi-detached house, and Lorne knocked on the door. They had to wait a few moments before a blonde woman in her mid-twenties opened the door to them.

  “Hello, can I help you? And no, I don’t need windows or my ears bashed by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Thanks all the same.”

  Katy and Lorne produced their IDs. “Sorry, we’re not sure of your name, miss, but we’d like a chat with you about a Victor Caprini. Do you know him?” Katy asked.

  “Police? Yes, he’s my fiancé. Is he in some kind of troub
le?”

  Katy glanced over her shoulder at the road. “If you don’t mind, it would be better to discuss this inside, in private.”

  Shaking her head in puzzlement, the woman stepped into the house, leaving the front door open for Lorne and Katy to follow her.

  Once the three of them had travelled the length of the house and were in the kitchen, the woman sat at the round onyx table and motioned for them to join her.

  “Okay, you’ve got my attention. What’s this about? Should Victor be here with us? I could call him.”

  “No. This is very hard for me to say, Miss…?”

  “Please, call me Tammy.”

  “Tammy. It’s with regret that I have to tell you Victor’s body was discovered this morning in his van.”

  “Body? I don’t understand?” Her trembling hand swept over her face.

  “He’s dead. I’m sorry.”

  “What? How? Where did the accident occur? When?”

  “The thing is, Tammy, Victor’s death is suspicious. It wasn’t an accident—at least we don’t think it was,” Katy informed the distressed young woman.

  Lorne’s gaze drifted to the large fridge behind the woman’s chair. A number of crayon pictures adorned the door, stuck up with multi-coloured magnets. Shit! Another bloke with a young family.

  Tammy gasped and covered her face with her hands. In between heavy sobs, she asked, “I don’t… understand… are you saying… he was killed by someone?”

  “Is there someone we can call to be with you?” Lorne butted in and asked.

  Katy gave her an apologetic look for not thinking to ask the woman that herself.

  “My mother. Can I ring my mother?”

  “Of course, or I can do it for you,” Lorne volunteered.

  The woman reached for the mobile phone lying on the table and punched in a number, then she handed it over to Lorne.

  “Hello, darling. I was just doing my housework, and then I was going to give you a ring.”

  “Sorry, um… this is DS Lorne Warner. We’re with your daughter at her home, sharing some bad news. I wondered if it would be possible for you to come over to be with her.”