Deadly Reprisal (Detective Zoe Finch Book 5)

by Rachel McLean

  “Good,” Mo said.

  Rhodri was making notes on the board: time and nature of Jenson’s death. He drew a line between the photos of Jenson and Kayla.

  “Rhod,” said Zoe. “You get to the post-mortem. I’ll call Adi, tell him he can reach me on my mobile. Mo, you come with me to the house.”

  “Sure.” Mo grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and stood up.

  “Good.” Zoe looked back at Mo, but her vision was clouded. Seeing Lesley like that had thrown her. “Come on.”

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Zoe drummed the steering wheel with her fingertips as she waited for the lights to change and let her onto the Bristol Road. She came through this junction every day; Jenson’s house was only two streets away from her own.

  “There’s something we’re missing, I’m sure of it,” she said.

  “Something at the scene?” Mo replied.

  “Adi went over both of them, if there was anything else he’d have found it. It’s the relationships. We’ve got Laurence raping Becca—”

  “Allegedly.”

  “Whatever. Then we’ve got Becca telling Jenson about it, him reporting it to the warden, her investigation. Then there’s Kayla and Lin finding Laurence, and the fact that Kayla’s sleeping with Jenson. It all feels too cosy. Too tight.”

  “That’s why you think the two deaths are connected.”

  “I don’t know. But what I’m wondering is whether Jenson’s death has got anything to do with the fact that it was his girlfriend who found Laurence. Not to mention his involvement in the investigation.”

  “You think he knew something about Laurence’s murder? Kayla told him something?”

  “We’ve interviewed her twice. Her story tallies with Lin’s, and we got the two of them alone before they’d had a chance to confer on Tuesday morning.”

  Zoe drove into Umberslade Road. The cordon had been reduced and no longer stretched across the street but surrounded the pavement in front of Jenson’s house. A white-suited tech emerged from the house and put a bin bag in the boot of a car.

  “Maybe we should talk to the girls again,” said Mo.

  Zoe shook her head as she scanned the street for somewhere to park. “We know Becca didn’t do it, Rhodri established her alibi. But I think the whole thing goes back to what happened between her and Laurence. And the fact that Jenson knew about it.”

  “OK. You want me to talk to Becca, you talk to the warden again?”

  “We’re going to have to see the warden again. One of her postgrads is dead and she’ll know more about him than she’s told us, I’m sure of it.”

  “Maybe his housemates can shed some light.”

  “You’d think so,” Zoe said. “But I’m not holding out much hope.”

  She found a space that had been marked with police bollards and sat back in her seat after turning off the ignition. “OK. Let’s do this.”

  “You’re worried about the DCI.”

  Zoe nodded. “Still got a job to do. Come on.”

  She strode to the house, flashing a smile at the constable on duty along with her warrant card. Mo followed behind, exchanging pleasantries with the man.

  Two students stood in what passed for the front garden. One male, one female. The man was white, in his early twenties, with skin so pale Zoe thought she might see right through him, and a patchy beard that made him look like a vagrant. The woman was black, younger than him, with dreadlocks down to her waist.

  Zoe showed them her ID. “I’m Detective Inspector Zoe Finch. This is Detective Sergeant Uddin. Thanks for waiting.”

  “When are we gonna be let back into the house?” the man asked.

  “Our forensics team are working through it right now. We’ll let you back in as soon as they’ve finished.”

  “I’ve got books in there I need for this afternoon,” the woman said.

  “Tell us what they are and someone will fetch them for you.” Zoe told her.

  “I can’t remember, can I? Let me in there for five minutes and I’ll get them. I won’t touch anything.”

  “I’m sorry, we can’t do that. While we wait, can you let me have your names?”

  “I’m Shonda,” the woman said.

  “Surname?” Mo asked. He had his notepad out.

  “Taylor.”

  “Thanks.” Mo looked at the man, a question on his face.

  “Will Bulmer.”

  “Right. Give me a moment and I’ll find out how long they’ll be.” Mo turned to Zoe. “Boss?”

  “That’s fine.”

  Mo went inside and Zoe faced the two students. “We’ll need to talk to each of you separately, so we have independent statements. Were you both here last night?”

  The woman nodded. She grabbed the man’s hand. “Will came round for the night.”

  “Good.”

  Mo emerged. “You can go in. You’re in the front room, downstairs?”

  The woman frowned. “How d’you know that?”

  “There’s a photo of your boyfriend next to the bed.”

  She blushed. “Oh. That.” She tightened her grip on Will’s hand.

  “Right,” said Zoe. “Will, Sergeant Uddin will talk to you out here. Shonda, let’s go inside.”

  “You can’t go past the front room,” Mo said. Shonda looked worried.

  “We won’t,” said Zoe. She gestured for the woman to follow her.

  Zoe stepped inside the house, aware of faint voices from the kitchen at the back. Adi had the most important items of evidence, but they would be checking all the surfaces, just in case. She held out a hand, gesturing for Shonda to go into her room. The girl slipped inside and Zoe closed the door.

  Inside, the double bed was unmade, a duvet piled up in its centre. In the window sat a graffitied wooden desk and an uncomfortable-looking chair.

  “Mind if I sit down?” Zoe asked.

  “Er, yeah.”

  Zoe took the desk chair. Shonda sat on the bed, tweaking the duvet to tidy it a little. She looked embarrassed at the state of her room. On the opposite wall was a bookcase, most of the books on the floor in front of it. Shonda had been right; there was no way one of the techs would have been able to find the right book.

  “Shonda,” Zoe said. She gave the woman a smile. “Thanks for talking to me. I’m sure this is all a nasty shock.”

  Shonda nodded. She shuffled on the bed.

  “How much do you know about what happened to Jenson?”

  “Only what your guys told me. He died last night.”

  “You know how he died?”

  A shrug. “An overdose?”

  Zoe leaned back. “Was he a habitual drug user?”

  Shonda stiffened. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “It’s OK,” Zoe said. “It’s not like you’re going to get him into trouble.”

  “He did smoke sometimes, yeah.”

  “You know what he smoked?”

  “Not sure.”

  “OK.” Zoe was sure the techs would uncover more of Jenson’s supply in his bedroom. “Did you see him dealing?”

  Shonda’s eyes widened. “No. Never.”

  Zoe sighed. “Again, you can’t get him into trouble. I just need to know where the drugs came from.”

  “Look, I don’t know. He might have been. I think he had a few mates he shared it with. I don’t know if he was dealing, though.”

  “Did those mates pay him for the drugs he shared with them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You lived in the same house as him. Surely you’d have seen what he was doing.”

  Shonda shook her head. “He was hardly here. He’s got a flat on campus. To do with being a postgrad.”

  “So how often was he here?”

  “He used to come nights, mostly. Sometimes in the afternoon. Never before 3pm.”

  “3pm?”

  “Normally he was here later, but sometimes I saw him here then.”

  “Did you talk to him, when he was here?”
/>
  “He kept himself to himself.”

  There were a lot of people doing that round here, Zoe thought. “He stayed in his room?”

  “Mostly.”

  “Did he use the kitchen? Did he eat here?”

  “Not much. He went in there sometimes for coffee, but I never saw him eat here. I think he got free meals at Boulton Hall.”

  Zoe nodded. “Did you see him last night?”

  “I saw him early evening, before me and Will went out. He had a visitor.”

  “What kind of visitor?”

  “A copper, by the looks of him. It made Will jumpy.”

  “Why would it do that?”

  Shonda looked like she’d put her foot in it. “Nothing like that, Will’s not broken the law. Just, it’s a bit odd having a copper come in your house.”

  “Can you describe this man you thought was police?”

  “Tall, skinny. Mousy hair. Welsh.”

  Zoe suppressed a smile. “DC Hughes. He’s a member of my team.”

  “Why was he here?”

  “We’re investigating a death at Boulton Hall.”

  “Laurence.”

  “You knew Laurence?”

  “Only by reputation.”

  So Laurence’s reputation had spread beyond Boulton Hall.

  “What kind of reputation?”

  “He raped a girl, she never went to the police, but everyone knew about it. Then there was Jenson’s girlfriend. Well, I say girlfriend. It was a pretty toxic relationship, if you ask me.”

  “Kayla? In what way toxic?”

  Shonda shook her head. “He was her tutor. He shouldn’t have… I heard her complaining sometimes. It sounded like he… maybe not forced her, but coerced her.”

  “To have sex?” Zoe asked.

  “What else?”

  “You mentioned Kayla when I asked you about Laurence.”

  “I’m not s’posed to tell anyone.”

  “This is confidential, Shonda. I need to know. What happened to Kayla?”

  Shonda licked her lips, her eyes on Zoe. “Laurence assaulted her. She came to see Jenson after it happened. He was out, I was here.”

  “When was this?”

  “Last term. Around Bonfire Night, I think. Yeah, it was two days before Bonfire Night cos Will was building a guy in the garden and Kayla kicked it to bits.”

  “When you say assaulted, did Kayla accuse Laurence of raping her?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “She got away. He never got the chance.”

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Zoe’s phone rang as she slumped into her car.

  “DI Finch.”

  “Ooh, that doesn’t sound good.”

  “What’s up, Adi?”

  “You OK, Zoe?”

  “The DCI’s been taken to hospital. What can I do for you?”

  “She going to be OK?”

  “I don’t know. Sorry, Adi, I don’t feel up to chatting right now. What d’you need?”

  “I got a lead on the Magpie forensics.”

  Zoe thought back to the conversation she’d had with Lesley. Clearly Adi hadn’t got the memo. “Go on.”

  “There’s a match to one of the passports we picked up in the hotel in Hall Green.”

  “The Hotel Belvista. Where Trevor Hamm’s people were keeping those women.”

  “That’s the one. Anyway, one of my team found a hair stuck under a stamp in one of the passports. In the name of Alina Popescu, not been matched to any of the women your guys found there yet.”

  “Half the passports we found haven’t been matched up.” Zoe didn’t like to imagine what might have happened to the women they hadn’t tracked down.

  “I heard. Shall I send you a photo of the passport?”

  “Does it look like the bomber?”

  “Not really. She changed her hair, and she was wearing a headscarf in that selfie she sent. But the forensics don’t lie.”

  “Is that the only passport with matching DNA?”

  “It is. They’re all covered in Adam Fulmer and Kyle Gatiss’s prints, so they must have taken them from the women. But this hair definitely doesn’t belong to either of them.”

  “Thanks Adi. Send it over.”

  Zoe hung up. What would she do with this information? The best thing would probably be to give it to DS Sheila Griffin. She was in a separate team, not involved in the politics of Force CID.

  She checked her phone: no email from Adi yet. She’d wait till she had that, then give Sheila a ring.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Rhodri wriggled his fingers inside his pockets, trying to distract himself from the nausea playing at the pit of his stomach. He’d promised himself he’d hold it together this time, that his guts would obey him. But the sight of Jenson Begg’s insides opened up to the world was making him feel iffy.

  “Right,” said Dr Adebayo. She looked at him. “Oh hell, Constable, I thought you’d be able to hold it together this time. Here.” She put a hand on his elbow and steered him away from the body. She stopped next to a metal trolley holding jars containing items Rhodri would rather not dwell on.

  “I conducted blood tests and examined his liver and kidneys,” she said. “Unlike your last guy, this one had been using for some time. There were traces of cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine in his blood.”

  “D’you know which one it was that killed him?”

  “The methamphetamine. There’s ten times what you’d expect based on a normal dose.”

  “Can you tell when he took it?”

  “Hard to be sure. But I also can’t be sure he did take it, voluntarily, that is, or if it was forced on him.”

  “I thought there wasn’t any evidence of that.”

  “Follow me.” Adana gave him a wary look then walked back to the body. Rhodri focused on the man’s head, which was intact. At least, it looked intact.

  The doctor placed her gloved hand inside the mouth and pulled it open, wider than Rhodri thought a mouth could be opened. He wrinkled his nose.

  “I didn’t spot it at the scene, but there’s damage to his epiglottis.” Dr Adebayo spotted Rhodri’s expression. “The flap at the top of his oesophagus, stops food and anything else going down when you breathe. It’s less obvious than last time. To be honest, if I hadn’t been looking for it, I’d have missed it.

  “Have you swabbed it for DNA?”

  “I have. I’m not so sure you’ll get any this time round, though.”

  “Why not?”

  “The scratching isn’t so pronounced. The skin hasn’t been broken.”

  Rhodri swallowed. His stomach gurgled.

  The pathologist shook her head at him. “You’ll get used to this eventually, Constable. Zoe make you come?”

  “Actually, I volunteered.”

  She laughed. “Well done you. You surprise me.”

  He felt heat creep into his cheeks. “Has the swab gone to the lab?”

  “I thought I’d keep it here, maybe display it on my desk as a keepsake. Yes, of course it’s gone to the lab. Should be back tomorrow.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Only doing my job.”

  “Yeah. Anyway, cheers.”

  “Anything else you need from me?”

  “The written report…”

  “Already winging its way to your DI. The damage to his epiglottis had to be caused by some sort of object. You could never get your fingers in this far.”

  “You know what kind of object?”

  “Not sharp. There are no fragments. Sorry.”

  “OK. Ta.”

  “You keep saying that. You got a stuck needle or something?”

  Rhodri opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it. He left the morgue, glad to escape.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Kayla looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. She’d skipped her lectures and locked herself in her room. That policewoman had treated her like she was a suspect. Surely they couldn
’t think she’d kill Jenson?

  “Go away.” She slumped onto the bed and pulled her pillow over her head. Her eyes were sore and her stomach ached.

  “It’s Gina. I came to see how you are.”

  Kayla propped herself up. God. It was probably all over campus by now.

  She heaved herself up and unlocked the door. “Come in.” She trudged back to the bed and let herself drop onto it.

  Gina closed the door and stood by the window. “I thought you might want to talk about Jenson.”

  “I bet everyone is, by now.”

  “You were close to him.”

  Kayla shrugged. “Yeah.”

  Gina perched on the end of the bed. She put a hand out but didn’t make contact. “How are you?”

  “How d’you think I am?”

  “It’s been a rough few days for you. First Laurence, then this.”

  Kayla gulped in a breath. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  She shrugged. She didn’t much care what she looked like.

  “He was bad for you, you know.”

  Kayla felt her muscles clench. “You don’t know.”

  “I heard… rumours… about him.”

  “He was a good man. He helped people.”

  Gina put a hand on Kayla’s foot. Kayla tensed but didn’t pull away.

  “He preyed on undergraduates, Kayla.”

  Kayla jerked away from Gina’s touch. “What are you talking about?” She sat up, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

  “Tell me how you got involved with him.”

  “I wasn’t involved with him. I was his girlfriend.”

  “Did you ever go on a date? Did you go anywhere together outside his room?”

  “I went to his house in Selly Oak.”

  “Did he ever come here? Did you sit together in the canteen?”

  “He was a tutor. He had to look like he was available, to talk to people. He couldn’t…” Kayla drew a hand across her cheek. Shut up, she thought. She wished she’d never answered the door.

  “So you were never together in public.”

  “He wasn’t ashamed of me, if that’s what you mean. It wasn’t a secret.”

  “I’m not saying that, Kayla. Just… I’ve known men like him. Fuck, I used to go out with one.”