Unholy Murder

by Lynda La Plante

  Stanley nodded. ‘Whoever did this was clearly determined to kill her.’

  ‘Will you be forming a murder squad?’ Boon asked brightly.

  ‘It’s not up to me, Boony. DCS Barnes will decide if a squad should be formed and who will be on it.’

  ‘When will you be speaking with him?’ Boon asked.

  ‘I already have. He wants to wait until the full post-mortem is completed and speak with the coroner before making a decision.’

  ‘From the injuries detected on the X-rays it’s pretty clear we’re talking murder here,’ Pullen remarked.

  ‘If DCS Barnes does form a squad, I think me and DC Boon should be on it,’ Jane said.

  ‘I don’t have a problem with that,’ Stanley said. ‘But Barnes might.’

  ‘Have I done something to upset him?’ Boon asked with a worried frown.

  ‘Not to my knowledge.’ Stanley took Jane to one side. ‘Tony Barnes wasn’t very complimentary when I mentioned your name.’

  ‘I’ve never even met the man,’ Jane responded. ‘Hang on, is Barnes another DCI Murphy sympathiser.’

  ‘No. He said he’d been told you weren’t a good team player and liked to do things your own way, that’s all.’

  ‘You know that’s not true. I’ve always shared any leads or information I get with my colleagues.’

  ‘Be honest, Jane, sometimes you keep things to yourself.’

  ‘Only until I get further evidence to corroborate my suspicions, which, as you know, is because my male counterparts often doubt my abilities.’

  Lloyd, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, joined them. ‘Barnes and Murphy used to work together on the Flying Squad, but it was a good few years before you were on it. Barnes was the DI then and Murphy a DS.’

  ‘Thick as thieves, were they?’ Jane asked pointedly, looking at Stanley.

  ‘I think you’re jumping to conclusions Jane,’ Stanley said curtly.

  ‘No, I’m not! Murphy knew I was good detective. He had me kicked off the Flying Squad because I was a threat to him. And now his pal Barnes wants to stop me investigating murders.’

  ‘To be fair, Jane, I’ve never heard any mention of Barnes being corrupt,’ Lloyd said.

  ‘Nor me,’ Stanley added. ‘If he were, then Countryman would have been after him as well. As for Murphy, all the evidence at his trial indicated he became a bent copper when he was a DI – which was a few years after he worked with Tony Barnes.’

  ‘Maybe Barnes lured Murphy into a world of corruption,’ Jane said bluntly.

  ‘You’re becoming paranoid, Jane,’ Stanley said firmly. ‘Me and Lloyd worked with Murphy . . . does that make us corrupt?’

  Jane could feel herself getting angrier. ‘You know that’s not what I meant.’

  ‘Well, it’s what you’re inferring.’

  Jane turned away. ‘This is ridiculous . . . I need to get some fresh air.’

  ‘You feeling sick as well?’ Boon asked.

  ‘Only with the way I’m being treated!’

  Stanley sighed. ‘If it makes you feel any better, I’ll insist you continue to be involved in the investigation, whatever Barnes says.’

  Jane let out a heavy sigh. ‘It would have been nice if you’d done that when you first spoke to him.’

  Dr Pullen could see that things were getting heated. She deliberately spoke loudly. ‘If you’d all like to gather round, I can show you the neck injuries and retrieve the object stuck in the vertebrae.’

  She instantly got everyone’s attention. The head of the nun lay on a separate examination table. Her dark blonde hair was well preserved under the wimple. It was cut to just above the earlobes, untidy and not very straight.

  ‘I had to cut through the nun’s wimple so I could dissect the skin and muscle around the neck.’ Pullen handed the wimple to Lloyd.

  He laid it out on a large brown exhibits bag and proceeded to tape it for any fibres which might have come from the ligature. Pullen used tweezers to pluck some of the hairs from the scalp, then put them in a plastic exhibits bag which she handed to Lloyd.

  ‘To be tested by toxicology for any drugs, I take it?’ Lloyd asked.

  Pullen nodded. ‘Just in case she was poisoned as well, I’ll remove her stomach and contents for testing when I examine the internal organs.’

  ‘Has my little mishap with her head caused any problems?’ Boon asked tentatively.

  ‘Thankfully, there’s no further damage to the vertebrae,’ Pullen told him. ‘As I suspected, the spinal cord has been severed between the C3 and C4 sections and the hyoid bone is fractured.’ She looked at the notes she’d made prior to dissecting the throat. ‘The width of the entry wound in the neck is two and a half centimetres and the penetration depth five centimetres. However, the knife could have had a longer blade than the penetration depth. There were no signs of serration on the vertebrae which suggests the knife had a smooth blade.’

  Pullen used the tweezers to lift out the small triangular-shaped object she’d seen on the X-ray. She placed it gently down on a piece of blue paper cloth. It was clearly the tip of a knife.

  Pullen took some measurements. ‘It’s quite thin, two centimetres wide at the break point and narrowing to a curved tip.’

  Lloyd took some close-up photographs as Pullen held the ruler next to it. ‘She must have been stabbed with some force to severe the spine and break the knife tip off.’

  Pullen nodded. ‘Yes, it’s rare. The tip was embedded between the vertebrae and probably broke off when the knife was removed at an acute angle.’

  ‘Do you think two people could have been involved in her murder? Lifting the body and putting it in the coffin wouldn’t be easy,’ Boon suggested.

  Pullen shrugged. ‘It’s possible. However, the victim is small and quite light, even though the body has mummified.’

  ‘If the coffin was on the ground, a single person could lift the upper body in first then the lower half,’ Jane suggested, and Pullen agreed.

  ‘The initial strangulation may not have taken place near the coffin,’ Lloyd suggested.

  ‘Could another nun have done it?’ Boon asked.

  Pullen shrugged. ‘Metaphorically speaking, God only knows. All I can say at present is she was strangled then stabbed, by a person or persons at present unknown.’

  ‘This is all wild speculation at the moment, anyway,’ Stanley said.

  ‘Finding the knife with a broken tip would be good,’ Boon said enthusiastically.

  ‘If she was murdered in the 1800s, it will be long gone,’ Stanley retorted.

  ‘It might be buried somewhere in the old convent grounds. We could use one of those metal detector things to look for it,’ Boon suggested.

  ‘A mechanical fit between the knife blade and broken tip would prove it was the murder weapon,’ Jane added, and Lloyd agreed.

  Stanley shook his head, ‘searching the old convent grounds would take weeks, if not months. Spending a fortune on a murder that could have happened in the last century might not be justifiable, especially if the killer and any witnesses are all dead.’

  ‘So, we just forget about it . . . is that what you’re saying?’ Jane asked.

  ‘Like I said, Jane, I don’t make the decisions.’

  ‘Well, the coroner may want a full investigation. As I see it, the priority has to be to find out who the poor woman is,’ Jane said.

  ‘I think the coroner is likely to agree with DCS Barnes’s thoughts rather than yours,’ Stanley replied.

  ‘I’m not qualified in forensic odontology, but I can say her teeth are in reasonably good condition, which may help to give you her age range,’ Pullen interjected. ‘I can contact Dr Martin. He’s the top forensic odontologist in London and lectures at King’s College.’

  ‘Have they got an anthropology department?’ Jane asked.

  ‘Yes, they have,’ Pullen replied, ‘and they also have a senior lecturer there, Richard Eaves. He’s an expert in anatomical art and doing s
ome ground-breaking work on facial reconstruction.’

  ‘What’s facial reconstruction?’ Boon asked.

  ‘Basically, he layers the skull of a body with modelling clay to create a three-dimensional facial likeness of the deceased person. It may lead to someone recognising the reconstructed face of the nun and help you identify her.’

  Stanley raised his hand. ‘Slow down, the lot of you. Before we start calling every forensic expert in the phone book, let Dr Pullen finish the PM, then I’ll speak with Barnes.’

  Pullen continued the post-mortem, dissected the body, and examined the internal organs, which had remained intact and become leathery due to the adipocere. The stomach contents had dried up, but there were some remnants of digested food which Pullen put in a glass container.

  Pullen finished the post-mortem in nearly three hours. ‘Her liver, heart and other internal organs were preserved by the adipocere. They are all in good condition which makes me think she was a healthy young woman . . . possibly aged between twenty and thirty, but don’t quote me on that. Cause of death is the stab wound to the back which severed the spinal cord. I’ll type up my report and send it to Jane in the next couple of days.’

  ‘Thanks, Sam. You’ve given us some interesting details to work on. You also did an excellent job on your first solo PM,’ Jane said.

  ‘What about me?’ Lloyd asked, looking forlorn.

  Jane laughed. ‘You as well, Lloyd.’

  ‘You’ve a long way to go to beat Paul Lawrence’s track record,’ Stanley joked.

  Pullen removed her gown and gloves. ‘Please let me know if you decide to call in an anthropologist or odontologist. I’d like to be present when they examine the body. Anyone fancy a drink at The Sydney Arms? It’s just up the road.’

  ‘I’ve got time for a pint before heading back to the lab,’ Lloyd said.

  ‘Sorry, I’ll have to decline as I need to get back to the station,’ Stanley said.

  ‘Can we join them for a drink?’ Boon asked Jane.

  ‘Sorry, Boony. We need to write up our reports of the day’s events.’

  ‘Just a quick one, sarge . . .’ Boon said.

  ‘Do as you’re told, Boon,’ Stanley said firmly. He turned to Jane. ‘I want to go over everything that’s happened before I speak with DCS Barnes. I’ll see you in my office when we get back to the station.’

  Jane waited for Stanley to drive out of the mortuary car park before having a private word with Lloyd, who was putting his forensic case and exhibits in the boot of his car.

  ‘Can you do me a favour?’

  ‘What is it?’ he asked cautiously.

  ‘Would you contact the odontologist and Richard Eaves, the facial guy at King’s College anthropology department? I’d like to know their availability over the next couple of days.’

  Lloyd sighed. ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You heard what Stanley said about doing things your own way. Let him speak to Barnes before calling them.’

  ‘It’s already clear Barnes won’t be interested in my opinion, but he can’t argue with the experts. That nun was murdered, and whoever did it needs to be held accountable.’

  ‘If she was murdered in the mid-1800s, the case would be over 150 years old. There’ll be no one alive to arrest or convict.’

  ‘That’s my point. We won’t know how long she’s been dead, or how old she is, until we get further expert opinion. For all we know, it could have happened in the fifties or sixties, before the convent was sold for development. There may be a grieving family out there, still alive, wondering what happened to their daughter.’

  ‘Then they might have reported her missing. The convent records might help as well,’ Lloyd suggested.

  ‘I know. I was going to do the relevant checks when I get back to the station. Will you contact the other experts?’

  ‘I don’t like being used, Jane,’ Lloyd said as he shut the boot of his car.

  ‘I’m not trying to use you, Lloyd. All I want to know is if they would be available and willing to examine the nun’s body. I’ll take full responsibility if you get in any trouble.’

  Lloyd shook his head. ‘I don’t want to risk my job as a lab sergeant . . . not when I’ve just started. If I got sent back to division, you know I can’t do front line duties with my problems. I’d be stuck behind a desk pushing paper.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ll make contact with King’s College myself,’ Jane said.

  ‘For your own sake, why not just wait and see what Barnes says? If he authorises a full investigation, calling in the experts won’t be an issue.’

  ‘You’re right. I shouldn’t be so impatient,’ she said, fully intending to make the call whatever Barnes said.

  ‘No, you shouldn’t.’ He got a card out of his pocket with his office number on it and wrote his home number on the back. ‘If you fancy going out for a drink one evening give me a ring. Be good to catch up properly.’

  She took the card. ‘Yes, I’d like that . . . maybe at the weekend if I’m not on a murder squad.’

  He gave her a big wink. ‘They couldn’t solve it without you, Jane.’

  CHAPTER SIX

  Jane found it hard to concentrate on the road as she drove back to the station, nearly going through a red light had it not been for Boon warning her to stop. The thought of how the victim suffered an agonising death, paralysed and unable to breathe, made her feel nauseous. She wondered what could make someone so determined to kill a nun and whether it was a spur-of-the-moment incident or planned. There was no way of knowing where it had taken place, but somewhere within the old convent grounds seemed most likely.

  Boon was looking out of the window, as if in a daydream, when he suddenly sat up and clicked his fingers. ‘I’ve just had a thought about Barry the builder opening the coffin, and there being a cross on the body that’s missing. Perhaps he nicked it. And what if the knife that was used to kill the nun was still in the coffin, too.’

  ‘It wasn’t,’ Jane said. ‘Lloyd searched the coffin.’

  ‘I know,’ Boon said. ‘But Barry might have nicked the knife as well.’

  ‘That’s good thinking, Boony,’ Jane replied in a positive tone, though she thought it unlikely.

  He looked pleased. ‘Thanks, sarge. It would be a right result if Barry did have it. Teflon – sorry, Lloyd – might get some fingerprints off it.’

  ‘When we get back, I’ll start the report. It’s a long shot, but I’d like you to phone missing persons and make an enquiry on what we know so far,’ Jane told him.

  ‘Which isn’t very much. What about asking the Church if they have any records of missing nuns?’

  ‘I’ll ask Stanley if it’s OK to speak with Father Floridia about that. You stick to the mispers for now.’

  ‘I doubt mispers will go back to the 1800s,’ he sighed.

  Jane knew identifying a female missing person as a possible victim would put pressure on DCS Barnes to fully investigate the nun’s murder – even more so if any of her family were still alive. ‘We know she was a nun, her height and hair colour. Confine your initial search to the 1960s for blonde-haired women, aged between sixteen and thirty . . . then we can go back to the 1950s if we need to.’

  Boon made some notes in his pocketbook. ‘She might have been from out of town. Missing Persons Bureau only covers the Met. Should I send a telex out to the surrounding county forces to search their misper records?’

  Jane worried that sending a telex to other forces might get back to Barnes or Stanley. ‘It’s best to start in London, then widen the search if we have to.’

  ‘We could end up with hundreds of possible hits . . .’

  ‘Agreed, but one of them might lead us to who she is. Investigating murder is never easy, Boony. It can take a lot of time and hard work to solve a complex case like this, even more so when the victim is unknown.’

  ‘You really like this side of the job, don’t you?’ he said.


  ‘Yes. As macabre as it may sound, the thrill of the chase excites me. Solving a murder and getting a conviction is very satisfying for everyone involved, even the dead person’s family to some extent.’

  ‘They say it gives them closure.’

  ‘Maybe a bit, but you can never forget the death of a loved one,’ Jane said, thinking of her parents and the grief they went through at the loss of their only son, four years old when he drowned.

  *

  It was just after five when they got back to the office. While Boon phoned Missing Persons, Jane went to Stanley’s office. He was on the phone, and from what she could hear of the conversation she guessed he was speaking to DCS Barnes. Stanley pointed to the chair. Jane placed it in front of his desk and sat down.

  ‘Yes, sir. I’ll pass your thoughts on to Tennison and make sure it’s ready first thing in the morning.’ Stanley put the phone down.

  ‘Make sure what’s ready?’ Jane asked suspiciously.

  ‘He wants to see your report before he makes a decision.’

  ‘What for? You know as much about the case as I do.’

  Stanley shrugged. ‘He was busy. I didn’t get the chance to give him all the details.’

  ‘What were his thoughts on the details you were able to give him?’ Jane asked, feeling Stanley was being evasive.

  ‘He sounded positive. Like I said, he’ll make a decision after he’s read your report in the morning . . . so I suggest you get on with it.’

  ‘The coroner asked for a full forensic PM. Dr Pullen’s findings prove the nun was murdered. What more does Barnes want?’

  ‘For fuck’s sake, Jane, why do you always think everyone’s got it in for you? You’ve never met Tony Barnes and know nothing about him, yet you already assume he’s the devil in disguise. He has a reputation for being a stickler for the rules. He likes to know the ins and outs of a duck’s arse before making a decision.’ Stanley opened his desk drawer, pulled out a thick blue folder and pushed it across his desk.

  ‘What do you want me to do with that?’ she asked, assuming it was another case file.