Lucy Spires – The Blind Detective

by Peter Hamilton

  As she walked toward her car, a dark van pulled up, its windows blacked out. It parked. Three men in forensic overalls got out and brought a long black body bag from the back of the van. As she got into her car, she looked at the crowd in front of her and thought that this life was taken in the worst circumstances she could imagine. As she pulled on her seatbelt, she said to herself, “We have got to get this man before he does this again.” She had a picture in her mind of the girl’s face, her bulging eyes. She thought a terrible waste of a young woman’s life, regardless of her occupation.

  As she drove back to the police headquarters, she felt a little light headed. The meeting later that day and the extra work this new case meant the rest of the day would be stressful and manic. Around twenty minutes later, she was heading upstairs to her office to prepare for the briefing of her team on this latest crime. She already had the names of who would do what and how they would do it.

  She went straight to the main ‘Major Investigation Team’ office. Her notes in hand, she went through to a buzz of voices, which silenced when she neared two large whiteboards. She had her team’s attention. She looked at some of the faces. Some had been with her in the Major Investigation Team for several years and most knew what was coming their way. One of the detectives, DC Phil Henderson, appeared at her right side and handed her a coffee. She nodded in thanks. The team knew a little of the morning’s events, but were waiting for a full, comprehensive brief. Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Spires went on to explain from her arriving at the scene, to arriving back to headquarters. All the information needed to begin this investigation had been given in a short fifteen-minute briefing. More details would follow following the autopsy of the victim later that day.

  DCI Lucy Spires looked around at the individuals. Each had their strengths. She looked at a middle aged, round man; Detective David Evans. He looked as if his fashion sense was stuck in the mid-nineties. A softly spoken Welshman, married, with three small children. He’d been a loyal and dedicated team player for several years, and was very good with the leg work jobs.

  “Evans,” said Lucy Spires. “You know the area. Ask around. Who saw what, how did this young woman become a victim, how long has she worked that area, witnesses, the usual, please. Someone knows something, and we need to bring this man to book.”

  Another quick glance and her gaze moved to the gangly, gingered haired beanpole of a man, Detective Phil Henderson, her coffee bringer. Newly single, no fashion sense, but always smartly dressed. “Phil,” said Lucy Spires. “I need you to look at CCTV. Look at the area footage. The location is the back of a busy retail park. Look for vehicles coming back and forth to the site. Check with our colleagues in traffic, see what you can come up with. This could be the key.”

  Just then, DC Marie Booth appeared from the entrance of the office. “Ma’am,” she said. “We’ve had a positive ID on the victim this morning. A twenty-six-year-old single mother, has a daughter, will be five years old, Julie Anne Cooper. One conviction for shoplifting, stealing baby products. Received a community service order and fined.”

  Lucy Spires was lost for words for a second. DC Marie Booth went on to inform the team that family liaison officers had visited her address and spoken to her mother. They live in a council flat, mother is disabled, she has MS, and her own father lives in Scotland and is estranged. The father of the five-year old child is from Poland. He disappeared four months ago as he had a death in his family; he went back to Poland and never returned. State benefits claimed had stopped until the benefits agencies reviewed her applications. To make ends meet and keep her family under one roof and fed, she’d told her mother she was working in a taxi office, getting paid cash in hand. Sometimes she earned little, other times a lot. Her mother told her that when she comes in from working, she has a long hot shower. She tried to stay awake for her daughter finishing work, but she fell asleep as her daughter was late coming home last night.

  Lucy Spires nodded in thanks to DC Marie Booth. A little murmur went through the team as they all collected their thoughts at this news. Lucy Spires took a deep breath. Her eyes met Detective Vicky Wallace, a thin, short, blonde haired, thirty-year old attractive detective. “Vicky, please go and re-interview Julie Anne Cooper’s mother. Find out when she went to work, times, what she earned, what she wore when she went to work. How she got to where she was killed is vital. Was she picked up by car? We need to know everything about this girl. Did you get all that?” A very definite nod and she grabbed her long coat and mobile and was on her way out. Lucy nodded to the other members of her team, turned on one heel and returned to her office and closed the door.

  Lucy Spires felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach as she realised the full impact of this poor woman’s murder. She had gone on the streets to sell the last thing she owned to feed herself and try and look after her family. She was just about to ring social services to seek advice about the victim’s five-year-old daughter and help for her mother when her office phone rang. The time of the post mortem was scheduled for midday. The home office pathologist was due then. She hoped they would be thorough and be able to give details of who committed this deed. She rang DC Emma Harper to tell her the time of the autopsy. She was very keen to attend. She then rang her contact at Social Services to arrange for the latest victim and her mother to receive as much help as they needed, both emotional and financial support. She relayed the information about the circumstances of state benefits being stopped and how they may need urgent help to get the family back on their feet.

  Lucy Spires got out the files of two other cases of a very similar nature. One of three weeks ago, a sex worker called Elizabeth Jane Peterson, twenty-nine years old, heavily dependent on class ‘A’ drugs heroin and cocaine. Unlawfully killed in a very similar way at the Hopper Retail Park, twenty fourth of February. No evidence of DNA or fibres or hairs. There was evidence of sexual intercourse, but no matches of any DNA on the police database. The case was ongoing, but as the victim had lived alone, the case notes said she had worked the streets for several years to pay for her long-term addiction to drugs. Had been arrested four times, but had gone back on the streets the following day of prison release. Lucy Spires felt she had gone under the radar as a drug using prostitute. She still didn’t deserve to lose her life in this way and deserved to have her killer brought to justice. There were too many similarities to dismiss, including the earrings taken from her. Lucy Spires wondered why these had been taken and why not the money this girl made. Why kill these women in such a brutal way?

  The other file read along similar lines. An early twenty-three-year-old, white girl, drug user, a new sex trade worker, had lost a string of low paid jobs, caught stealing cash from a shop where she worked, was the last job she had, reported to the police, but the owner didn’t want to press charges because he had felt sorry as she was stealing to feed her habit. The way she was killed was again too similar to not be linked. Again no DNA, no fibres. Nothing linked these brutal murders apart from they occurred behind New Bridge retail park, at known sex trade areas and on different days during the week. One on Monday, one on Tuesday and this one on Thursday.

  Lucy Spires’ office phone rang. It was DC Emma Harper. She was bringing coffee and had further information about the case. Lucy Spires asked her to come straight to her office once she got to police headquarters. Ten minutes later, DC Emma Harper was in Lucy Spires’ office. Lucy Spires pointed towards the chair opposite her desk. DC Emma Harper sat down and looked at her confidently.

  “I interviewed a man called Robert Williams. He was the person who found our victim this morning,” said DC Emma Harper. She then got out her note book. “He at first stated it was the first time he’d been to this area, but I didn’t believe him. He said it was a short cut to an all-night supermarket. He was going to buy cigarettes and coffee. I didn’t believe this either. After pulling holes in his story, he told me he often visits the area to look at the girls doing their work. He is married with one child an
d another due in two months. He is a bit of a voyeur as he looks from a distance. Before he came across our victim this morning, he saw a car pick up a girl and drive away, leaving our victim by herself. He went to the all-night supermarket, bought cigs and a jar of coffee, came back fifteen minutes later. A black, very quiet motorbike was pulling out of the back of the retail park. He noticed it as it was free-wheeling, then the engine kicked in with a plume of oily smoke and was very quiet. He couldn’t see the girl anymore so went back to work. His job is to do orders for an internet company. They received orders from all over the world for at different times of the day and night. His job is to pick and pack the night orders. He went back out for a cigarette to where he’d seen the girl and spotted her lying in the rain and called us. He is to come in around five-thirty to do a statement. No information on the motorbike as it was too far away.”

  DCI Lucy Spires, inhaled slowly. “Well done. We have a witness who saw a great deal, but not a lot of help. We do however have precise times. Once we get back from the autopsy, get the CCTV from the supermarket to verify his story and piece together a time line of events as they occurred.” She was very impressed with the new member of her team. Not for the first time had she felt this young woman was a young version of herself, very committed with a keen eye for small detail. DCI Lucy Spires had never seen an officer make as many detailed notes. She never relied on her memory, in case any detail was missed.

  With that, she glanced at her watch; it was eleven-twenty. “We need to get a move on. The home office pathologist won’t wait for us,” said Lucy Spires. With that, she spun her coat over her shoulders, drank the last of her coffee, picked up her handbag and they were off to watch the autopsy of Julie Anne Cooper at the Queen Ann hospital. Lucy Spires had bad memories of this hospital as both her parents had passed away there. At least they were going to the mortuary entrance, away from the bustle of public parking and traffic lights.

  The ten-minute journey went smoothly, although in her windscreen mirror, Lucy Spires noticed a white transit van speeding up in the line of cars, and whenever there was a gap, the van would illegally overtake. Lucy Spires, in her unmarked police car, hated bad driving; impatient drivers taking chances was her pet hate.

  The entrance to the hospital morgue was at the rear of the hospital, accessed by a service road, and used for deliveries to the main kitchens and medical supplies. A right-hand turn, off the road was on a blind bend. The traffic coming toward them slowed for the bend in the road. Lucy Spires pulled into the service road, parked near the entrance, put her ‘Police on Duty’ sign on the inside of the windscreen. DC Emma Harper was out of the car first. She looked a little pale. Lucy Spires looked at her and told her to keep quiet during the autopsy and if she felt faint or worse, to go outside in the fresh air, come back when she was ready and still be quiet. She explained there was no shame in feeling unwell on any autopsy, let alone the first one.

  The home office pathologist had started. An assistant showed the two women to a row of seats behind thick clear glass, above the table the pathologist was working at. They sat quietly listening to Professor Richard Bradbury, home office pathologist’s voice as he described the way in which he felt she was unlawfully killed. He went on to demonstrate how the offender strangled the girl with very powerful, strong hands, a very deliberate act of pre-meditated murder. There were traces of leather fibres under her small fingernails, and no traces of sexual activity. He went on to say there was no appearance of intercourse, no trace of male semen. He went on to demonstrate as he viewed it, the victim was kneeling in front, probably performing oral sex. He stopped and stood up straight. “I would suggest he wore a condom. This would negate the presence of semen. The bruises around her face show she tried to force his hands away from her. The pressure he used almost flattened her trachea. She would have remained conscious for less than thirty seconds. The falling blood pressure and lack of oxygen would have made her pass out. After that, death followed quickly. She would have been in no more pain.” He paused for a few seconds. Lucy Spires was concentrating so hard she hadn’t noticed DC Emma Harper was making notes as the Professor gave his detailed information.

  After a further fifteen minutes, the Professor concluded his examination. He finished off by telling his small audience this was the third unlawful death on which he had performed an autopsy. He looked at the faces behind the glass and said, “I can only give you the facts, but this is now the third female victim unlawfully killed in this way I have examined. I can only hope the police force are doing their utmost to make this the last time I am called in.” With that he turned in towards the body, peeling off his long, thick, blood stained gloves, then his plastic apron. The two women picked up their handbags. DC Emma Harper frantically finished off her notes, put her pen back into her bag and zipped it up.

  “Well.” said Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Spires “How was your first time here?”

  DC Emma Harper, breathed in slowly, considering her answer. “Ma’am, the man who did this is an animal! We must stop him. I would hate to do this again, especially if the victim is a desperate single mother trying to make ends meet and feed her child.” She stopped herself from adding to that as she felt a wave of anger against this man. The lights in the room were quite dim. As they came outside the bright daylight made them both take a few seconds to adjust to it.

  Lucy Spires and DC Emma Harper looked at each other; both nodded they were okay. They came out of the building into the welcome fresh air. The smell of disinfectant seemed to cling to their clothes and in their nasal cavities. Both got into the car. Lucy Spires looked across at the young DC. The paleness had gone and she felt she had a new look of confidence about her.

  “Well DC Harper,” said Lucy Spires. “That was not a pleasant experience. After many times here, I still leave feeling humble and determined to solve each case. The hard work starts here. We need to collate every piece of this jigsaw, put it together and get this murdering bastard!” DC Emma Harper was taken aback. She had never heard her boss swear. As Lucy Spires drove to the edge of the junction, the traffic was heavy and fast moving.

  A split second later, and before Lucy Spires could react, a headlight flashed her eyes. A second later, she heard a deafening noise as her car was lifted, twisted and pushed into the air. DC Emma Harper started to scream at the top of her voice. There were sounds of glass breaking, metal scraping and twisting. She felt a sharp pain in her right leg, above her ankle. She instinctively tried to move it, but it was jammed. A split second later a similar pain in her arm and her side made her feel like her body was on fire. During all this, the steering wheel airbag had activated. She had seen the white balloon flash into her face, then felt her head spring back as a piece of a metal came through the door window, smashing it into thousands of pieces. All went quiet. Lucy Spires tried to move and felt trapped. She tried to take a breath. Her chest was tight and she tried harder to take a breath. It felt even tighter. She felt an over whelming desire to sleep. She could taste blood. She slipped away as the need to sleep had taken over. Within a minute, a huge team of nurses and doctors were at her side. What they found was not pretty. Their extremely fast reactions saved her life, but at a massive cost.

  Chapter 4

  It was 35 days later when the hospital began to bring Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Spires out of her induced coma. She slowly began to wake up. The team of surgeons had just managed to save her life. The list of injuries included damaged internal organs, broken ribs, punctured lung, broken right wrist and broken right tibia. Bruises across her whole right-hand side. These were injuries surgeons could deal with and repair, the doctors could see them heal. The biggest and most complicated injury was a fractured skull. Pushing pieces of her skull into her brain, there was also a bleed on her brain. Until she was fully awake, the full extent of her head injury would not be fully understood.

  Over the next few days, Lucy Spires began to breathe by herself, the oxygen mask was removed. She could feel he
r senses returning. She could hear a great deal of noise, voices, different male and female tones. She tried to move and sit up, but the hands of a nurse gently held her down. She spoke softly, “Welcome back Miss Spires, you will never know how lucky you are. Do you know where you are?”

  Lucy Spires tried to speak, but her jaw was very, very sore. Her mouth was so dry. She felt something on her lips and a straw went between her lips. She sucked and felt tepid fluid wash into her mouth. She tried to swallow; it hurt a great deal. She craved more of this weak orange juice, but heard a male voice telling her to slow down as she had not taken any fluids since her accident.

  From her left side, Lucy Spires heard a deep, Indian sounding male voice. “How do you feel young lady? You have been incredibly lucky.” He gently picked up her left lower arm to feel her pulse. He continued, “My name is Mr Harsha Singh. I’m one of the surgeons who saved your life. If you are involved in a major RTC, have it fifty yards from an Accident and Emergency department of a major hospital.” He had a cheerful voice, Lucy Spires thought.

  Lucy Spires took a deep breath and said, “Why is it so dark?” Immediately she could sense something was wrong, very wrong. Mr Singh placed her wrist gently down by her side. She could feel his breath near her face, his gentle hands moving around her face and touching her head. He moved his hand to the back of her head.

  “Miss Spires.” he spoke again, the tone of his voice now a little slower and sombre. “We need to do some tests, but I’m afraid there was damage to your head, specifically to the back of your skull. The vehicle smashing into your car caused your skull to be broken and fragments of bone went into your brain. This caused a bleed.” He paused as he could see the change in Lucy Spires. He continued in the same tone, “There is no other way to explain this, we have tests to do. A lot of tests, so until we have completed them and had the results, nothing is certain.”