by Ford,P. F.
Chapter Ten
“So how did it go with Mrs Townley?” asked Slater when Norman returned to the incident room later that afternoon.
“How do you think?” asked Norman, sadly. “I wish she hadn’t insisted on going. She kept looking at that battered face and then looking at me. In the end, she wouldn’t confirm it was her daughter. She said there’s no way it could be her daughter because it looked nothing like her.”
“Oh shit,” said Slater. “That must have been rough.”
“I take my hat off to Jane Jolly,” said Norman. “I was in bits and no use at all, but she was just brilliant. She handled Mrs Townley like she does it all the time. I wonder why are women so much stronger than men, emotionally?”
“Oh that’s an easy one,” replied Slater. “They have to be because so many men are complete arseholes.”
Norman gave a small smile of approval at Slater’s comment.
“Henry Cutter’s pretty cute too,” said Norman. “He was really quick of the mark when she suggested it couldn’t be her daughter. Instead of arguing with her about the dental records being good enough, he actually told her he understood exactly what she meant. Then he suggested he could prove if she was right or wrong if she gave him a DNA sample to compare.”
“And she agreed?” asked Slater.
“Like a shot. She wants to know for sure if she’s right or wrong.”
“Oh, clever stuff,” Slater said. “So he got the sample without having to skirt around the real reason we want it.”
“He sure did,” Norman said, nodding. “He also said to tell you they’ve excavated the skeletons and they’re going to start working on them tonight. He reckons by this time tomorrow, or maybe even earlier, they’ll know if the bodies are who we think they are. With any luck they might even know the cause of death as well.”
“That’s great news,” said Slater. “At least we’re making progress when it comes to who the victims are.”
“Any news on the light aircraft theory yet?” asked Norman.
“Not so far.” Slater shook his head and sighed. “Steve’s got a list of small airfields to check through, but then on top of that there are hundreds of small landing strips that are privately owned. He’s trying to find any record of a flight plan that includes passing over Tinton, but it’s like trying to find a needle in a bloody haystack.”
“And, I suppose there’s nothing to stop someone with their own airstrip from making a flight without filing a flight plan,” said Norman.
“Exactly,” Slater said, nodding. “He’s been trying online and using the phone, but tomorrow he’s going on the road. I’ve told him to start off within a 20-mile radius, but I’m not exactly optimistic they’ll find anything.”
“There you go being negative again,” Norman said, chidingly. “I think you underestimate Steve’s dogged persistence. If it’s out there, he’ll find it, I’m sure.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Slater smiled at his friend.
“I usually am,” said Norman, beaming back at him.
Chapter Eleven
It was 9.30pm and Slater’s phone was ringing.
“Go away, I need some rest,” he said to the phone as he picked it up.
He looked at the caller display. It was Norman. Norm was okay – he’d answer it.
“Norm?” he said into the phone. “What’s up?”
“We have a bit of a problem. I got a call from the duty sergeant half an hour ago. Apparently, this sweet little lady had come in insisting she had to speak to me urgently. So here I am, and so is Mrs Townley.”
“Mrs Townley?” Slater was confused “What’s she doing there at this time of night? And why didn’t someone call me?”
“They didn’t call you because she told them she doesn’t want to speak to anyone else, only me,” Norman said. “When they told her I was off duty she took a seat and insisted she was happy to wait for as long as it took.”
“But what does she want? I thought she’d seen her daughter yesterday?” asked Slater anxiously.
“Yeah, she did, “But it seems she now knows we’ve found two more bodies in the woods. She’s staying at some B&B that Jane Jolly found for her, and the owner, someone called Mrs Arnley, told her that two more bodies had been found. She wants to know why we didn’t tell her. She thinks it’s her daughter and granddaughter.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” said Slater. “That’s awkward.”
“Awkward?” said Norman. “You’re telling me it’s awkward. The lady wants some answers, and I think we owe her that much, don’t you?”
“Okay, Norm, calm down.” Slater tried to soothe the clearly flustered Norman. “Of course you’re right. We do owe her some answers. I’ll come right now. D’you want me to get Jolly Jane down there, too?”
“I don’t think she needs the gentle touch right now,” said Norman. “She’s more pissed off with us not telling her than emotional about who we’ve found.”
“Alright, mate. I’m on my way.”
As he made his way back into Tinton, Slater felt annoyed at himself for not foreseeing this turn of events. Oh well, he thought, the best-laid plans and all that…
When Slater entered the room, he was relieved to see Mrs Townley didn’t look as furious as he had feared.
“This is Detective Sergeant Slater,” Norman said. “He’s working with me on this case.”
Mrs Townley smiled, but looked uncertain, as Slater nodded and smiled at her.
“Good evening, Mrs Townley,” he began.
“Mr Norman has explained why you didn’t mention the bodies in the woods earlier,” said Mrs Townley.
“Ah. Yes,” said Slater, feeling distinctly uncomfortable under her gaze. “That was a very delicate situation, and at the time we didn’t even know about your daughter and granddaughter being missing.”
“I do understand.” She smiled at him sadly. “But now I know you’ve found the bodies you must understand I have to know if it’s them or not.”
“Of course, Mrs Townley,” agreed Slater. “I understand completely. But I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Whoever these two people were, all that’s left now are two skeletons.”
“But you took a DNA sample from me earlier,” she said. “Can’t you do a comparison or whatever it is you do?”
“We will do that,” explained Norman. “But it takes a while. It’s not something you can do in five minutes.”
“Yes, I understand that,” she said, nodding her head. “But isn’t there something else I can be doing to help in the meantime?”
“Yes,” said Slater, feeling really sorry for her. “There is something you can do, and if you’re willing we can do it now.”
“If I go back to the guest house now,” she said, almost to herself. “I’m not going to sleep, am I? I’ll just be thinking about those two bodies and who they might be.”
She looked Slater right in the eye.
“Right, Sergeant Slater,” she said, decisively. “What can I do to help?”
“Tell us about your daughter and granddaughter, and how they disappeared.”
“It was 15 years ago,” she began. “They were moving down to Tinton…”
It was almost midnight when Slater dropped Mrs Townley back at the guesthouse, after first promising her that him or Norman would call tomorrow as soon as they heard anything from the pathologist. As he headed for home, his head was filled with the story Mrs Townley had told them. Their first job tomorrow was going to be looking back through the records. According to the story she had just told them, her daughter’s disappearance was reported at the time, and investigated, but apparently they found nothing to back up her assertion that something very nasty must have happened.
It should make interesting reading, he thought.
Chapter Twelve
Norman looked down at the slim folder he had just been handed. It had taken hours to locate the paperwork from the original investigation, and he had expected a box full of files.
/> “Is this all of it?” he asked, in dismay.
“That’s your lot,” said the surly records clerk. “I can have another look, if you want to wait a few more hours, but I doubt I’ll find anymore.”
Norman looked at the name of the investigating officer.
“DS Nash,” he said. “Is he still around?”
“I wouldn’t know,” said the clerk. “But if it’s one of his investigations, you’re lucky to have that much information. All the slimmest files we’ve got are his. Perhaps he had an aversion to writing.”
“Or doing his job properly,” added Norman. “Oh well, if this is all we’ve got I’ll just have to get on with it.”
“Yes,” agreed the clerk, sourly. “You will, won’t you?”
“Thanks for your help, Mr Surly,” said Norman as he headed for the exit. “I hope it gets better soon.”
“What?” said the puzzled clerk. “Hope what gets better soon?”
“Whatever it is that makes you find it so painful doing your job.”
“Do you realise,” Norman said to Slater, later, “we learnt more information about Sandra Bressler and her daughter’s disappearance last night than is in this case file from 15 years ago. The guy who was supposed to have investigated this case can’t have actually done anything that was even remotely connected to investigating. I mean, he didn’t even take a statement from Mrs Townley.”
“I thought she said she spent ages down here talking to the police,” said Slater.
“She also said she didn’t think they were taking much notice of her,” added Norman. “Looking at this, I can see she was right. There’s no mention of her anywhere in this file.”
“I hope this isn’t going to turn into another bent copper investigation,” said Slater, wearily. “Who’s the investigating officer?”
“It’s a DS Nash,” said Norman, reading from the cover of the file.
“DS?” asked Slater. “Don’t you mean DI?”
“Says DS here,” replied Norman. “Why? D’you know him?”
“Of course. That was 15 years ago, wasn’t it?” asked Slater. “That was before he was a DI. Yeah. I know him. He was my boss for a while. He should have been booted out years ago. He only got where he was because his old man was in charge back then. They’re both behind bars now. As bent as nine bob notes, both of them.”
“Oh, wow,” said Norman, sarcastically. “That’s really encouraging to know. So should I ignore this report?”
“Does it tell us anything we don’t know?” asked Slater.
“Don’t think so,” said Norman, in disgust. “Would it be worth going to see this Nash guy?”
“Personally I don’t think he’s worth the time of day,” said Slater. “I suggest we leave him right out of the equation unless we get seriously desperate.”
“Looking at this, I think you’re right.” Norman closed the file and tossed it to one side.
“What a waste of a morning,” he said, sighing.
“Come on.” Slater smiled at him. “Let’s go get some lunch. Maybe that’ll cheer you up.”
“Are you buying?”
“Surely it’s not my turn again?” asked Slater, sounding incredulous
“I thought you wanted to cheer me up,” said Norman.
“Okay, okay,” Slater said, sighing. “I’m buying.”
“See? It works.” Norman laughed. “I feel better already.
“It gets better.” Slater paused, as if for dramatic effect. “We have to report to the mortuary at two o’clock. They’ve got some news for us.”
“Oh boy,” said Norman, a little less enthusiastically. “Friday afternoon in the mortuary. I can’t wait. You sure know how to give a guy a good time.”
Slater was glad they had already eaten by the time they turned up at the mortuary. Even though, on this occasion, there wouldn’t be any “dicing and slicing”, as Norman called it, it still wasn’t a pleasant place to visit.
Dr Henry Cutter greeted them when they arrived.
“Hi guys.” He smiled at them and shook their hands. “I hope this is going to help you out. I’m going to take a back seat this afternoon and hand you over to my colleague.”
Slater was quite dazzled by the tiny Nadira and her brilliant smile, and he totally missed her surname, which seemed very long and complicated.
“You’ll be relieved to know everyone has problems with Nadira’s surname,” said Cutter, as if he could read Slater’s mind. “So, to make life easier for everyone, we refer to her as Doctor Nadira.”
Nadira bowed her head in acknowledgement as she was introduced.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” she said. “We will be working together closely for a while I’m sure, so I will be happy for you to call me Nadira. We all know I’m a doctor so you don’t need to keep reminding me.”
She gave them another one of her dazzling smiles. Slater glanced over at Norman and saw he was beaming back at her. She was a hit with both of them, then.
“That works for me,” said Norman. “I’m Norman, or Norm for short.”
“And I’m Dave,” Slater said.
“That’s good,” she said. “Too much formality just gets in the way. Now come over here and I’ll show you what we’ve got for you.”
The two detectives followed her through to a large area which had been cleared except for two stainless steel tables that stood side by side. Cutter followed along behind.
The two skeletons were laid out on the tables. One was so much smaller than the other it was obviously a child. Slater had never had to deal with the death of a child before, and the idea that he was almost certainly looking at a murdered one made his stomach lurch. He looked across at Norman, who looked equally unhappy at the sight of the tiny skeleton.
“The first thing we can say for sure,” began Nadira. “Is that they have been under the ground for somewhere in the region of 15 years.”
“Right so far,” Norman said.
“The skeleton of the adult woman is a match for the DNA sample provided by Mrs Townley,” continued Nadira. “I can confirm this is her daughter.”
“So this is Sandra Bressler,” said Slater.
“We can also confirm,” added Cutter, “that the body you found in the field is also a match. This is the sister of your body.”
“The child,” continued Nadira, “is Sandra’s daughter.”
Slater heard Norman let out a breath beside him, and realised he, too, had been holding his.
“Jeez,” Norman said sadly. “Two daughters and a granddaughter all found within a couple of hundred yards. It’s difficult to think it’s a coincidence, isn’t it?”
“Can you tell us how they died?” asked Slater.
“Oh yes,” said Nadira. “I can even tell you what weapon was used to kill them both.”
“So they were definitely murdered then? No way it could have been anything else?” asked Slater, knowing full well it had to be murder.
“I’m afraid not,” said Nadira, “and I would imagine it was a very brutal and painful way to die.”
“Come on then,” Norman said, sighing heavily. “Let’s hear the gory details.”
Nadira leaned across the first table and lifted the right scapula free.
“If you look here,” she said, pointing to a deep gouge on the back of the bone, “you can see where she was hit from behind with a heavy blade. Henry will show you what we’re sure the weapon was.”
Cutter produced an axe head from under the table and showed how it was a good match for the wound to the scapula.
“She was hit from behind with an axe?” asked Slater in disbelief.
“Jesus!” Norman sounded shocked.
“I’m afraid so,” said Nadira. “And not just once.”
She pointed to the broken right femur.
“You can see where she was hit here, breaking her leg.”
She pointed to the right arm.
“Also here, and here.”
The humerus was also brok
en, just above the elbow, and the hand had been smashed.
“And, finally, the back of her skull.”
She turned over the skull to reveal a huge split fracture. Again, the axe head appeared to be the perfect fit for the centre of the fracture.
Slater didn’t know what he had been expecting – but it wasn’t this. Judging by the look on Norman’s face, he was just as shocked, too.
“So, what have we got?” asked Norman. “A mad axeman?”
“Not necessarily a man,” said Nadira. “A woman could easily have done this if she knew how to use an axe properly.”
“I don’t think using an axe to chop people up is using it properly,” said Norman.
“No, of course not. But my point is simply that whoever did this knew how to use an axe.”
“Any idea how it might have happened?” Slater dreaded to think.
“My guess,” said Nadira, “based on the damage to the skeleton, is that she was chased through the woods. Henry and I will demonstrate what we think might have happened. I will be the attacker, just to show that a woman could easily have done this.”
Cutter came across and stood in front of Nadira with his back to her.
“The first blow, is struck as Sandra is running away,” began Nadira. “It’s from behind, to the right leg.”
She swung an imaginary axe from her right shoulder towards Cutter’s right femur.
“That breaks her leg, stops her running, and she falls to the ground face down.”
Cutter indicated where the blow would have landed, and then dropped to the floor face down.
“Now she’s down, the attacker approaches from behind,” continued Nadira, moving so she was astride Cutter’s waist.
“Sandra then puts her hands over her head to try to protect herself.”
Cutter did likewise, and Nadira swung her imaginary axe again.
“The second blow smashes into the back of her right hand. Then the third blow is aimed at her arm. As you can see from the skeleton, the arm gets broken. Now her arm is useless and she cannot protect her head anymore.”