FRANKS, Bill (16 page)

   “Ah!  There it is!” he muttered.

   “What is?” asked his colleague, who was walking slowly around the victim, keeping a distance of three feet or so.

   “The bunch of feathers.” Pointing. “There half hidden beneath her left thigh.”  That was the clincher
.
The men exchanged knowing glances
.
It was the work of their man again.

   At that moment, Dunning broke through, brushing away debris that had clung to her on her path to the scene
.
Walking up to Graham, she gave him a sweet smile, said hello to both men and announced that she would wait for forensics before carrying out her inspection.

   The three came together and stood awaiting the arrival of the men in white polypropylene suits
.
Sallie chatted about her morning; how she had got up late, not oversleeping, simply too cosy to get up
.
  She laughed, a pleasant tinkling sound, as she shook her hair away from her face
.
The small movement and sound inexplicably caused Graham’s heart to flutter
.
He looked at Sallie, his glance remaining that little bit too long.

   She looked quickly at him and then she, too, lingered on the experienced face of the Detective Inspector
.
A tiny electrical impulse crackled silently between the pair, and Sallie’s eyes took on a darker hue
.
Their heads moved almost imperceptibly to each other, ready to make the inevitable kiss
.
Then, as one, they realised the point they had reached and both took a small step backwards as though recoiling from some unwanted experience
.
Even so, Graham’s eyes swept down the woman’s body appreciatively, his thoughts becoming instantly lustful
.
Sallie recognised the expression and accepted it with another warm smile.

    Quick to react to the developing situation, one that had become clear to him, Clive stepped between the two as naturally as he could, mentioning the helicopter as a means of breaking the spell
.
“Look, Graham, the ‘copter’s on its way now.”

    The move succeeded as the couple looked skywards and waved at the disappearing machine
.
A noise behind them heralded the team of forensic officers
.
They moved into the clearing suitably dressed for the work, little plastic bags
, gloves
and tweezers at the ready, expertly seeking any disturbance to the area, bending to pick some object up and seal it in the bag, at the same time marking the date, time, object and it’s location
.
The initials of the officer were then added
.
Without a word they carried out their task, gently easing the three onlookers aside as they moved to the corpse.

   The whole inspection by the forensic team took up a full hour before they left the immediate area where the body lay and retraced their steps back to the undergrowth, checking again as they went.

   Sallie, now becoming impatient, moved to the lifeless form of Mary Stewart and began her examination
.
Speaking in a low voice into the tiny recorder that she always carried on such missions, she recorded every detail: the position of the body, the surrounding area, the lack of signs of a struggle, every mark, scar and pimple on the body, as she carefully removed parts of clothing to afford a clearer view, gently replacing them as they originally were
.
It was clear that sex had taken place but to what extent would be a matter for the pathology room inspection later
.
Rising, she answered Sampler’s unasked question
.
“I would say that death was caused by some form of poisoning and that it occurred approximately twenty-four hours ago
.
I’ll know better when we get her to the
l
ab.”

    The woman once again bewitched Sampler as she turned to face him, the seriousness of the job showing on her face
.
His breath stopped for seconds as his heart tightened in his chest, his lips becoming dry.

   Sallie recognised again the interest, and she broke into a smile, enjoying this unexpected command of the rugged detective
.
He was very attractive to her, she had always felt that,
viewing him from an office environment
but she had never allowed the feeling to develop, knowing him to be happily married man who had never shown any previous signs of interest in her
.
Indeed their paths had not previously crossed, she never being around on Graham’s visits to the laboratory.

   Now, however, amidst the horror of a murder, with the body lying cold less than two feet from her, she warmed to the tingling that had begun
.
She moved past the two men, making sure that her body brushed against Sampler on the way
.
“I’ll see you at the laboratory later, if that’s okay,” she called over her shoulder.

   Sampler came to life
.
“Yes
.
I’ll give you a ring in a couple of hours.”

   “Right,” he heard as the pathologist became lost in the bushes
.
He followed with Miller close behind
.
They broke through the vegetation and reached their car as Sallie’s disappeared round a bend
.
“You drive, Clive,” said Sampler. “I want to think a bit.”

   
Yes
.
And I’ll bet it’s about that bit of skirt, not the murder
, he thought acidly
.
He was correct.

   On the journey back to the Met, Graham had begun wondering at how he had become so taken with the young pathologist
.
He had noticed her before, that much was true, but not really in that way
.
After all, he really
was
happily married and he would not wish to do anything that might interfere with that state of affairs
.
Still… she did seem to reciprocate
.
For a few miles, he fantasised about adult activity with her…and she was great…as was he!

   Suddenly returning to the world, he was aware that Clive was speaking to him and it occurred to him that he had been for some time
.
I wonder if I should have given any replies
, he thought guiltily
.
“Mmm,” he said, hoping that would be sufficient.

   From then, they talked about the latest murder and the similarities to the others
.
How were they going to catch this man?  The clues, such as they were, led in no definite direction
.
By the time they had arrived back at the Yard, Graham had decided that the only way forward now, was to go back on the case and interview the bereaved and friends and relatives to see if there was a common denominator
.
Long, painstaking work, but it needed to be done and he felt that they would be better served carrying out the enquiries themselves.

   A little over three hours later, with Graham and Clive deeply immersed in the murder case files, the telephone rang
.
“Yes!” barked Graham.

   His mood suddenly altered when he recognised the sweet, warm voice of Sallie Dunning
.
“Oh, yes, Sallie,” he said, his voice
noticeably
softening
.
Clive felt like vomiting!  “Have you completed the examination?”  Still sickly-sweetly
.
A pause and then: “Oh, okay
.
I’ll pop round right away.”

    Replacing the phone, he looked up at Clive to tell him to remain here whilst he went to see Sallie; no point two of them going
.
Clive was smiling knowingly, almost – only almost, causing a blush.

   Eyes widening in pure innocence, Clive remarked,: “Yes, Guv’nor
.
Will you be leaving the office?”  The twinkle in his eyes betrayed the sarcasm.

   “Enough of that,” Graham returned gruffly
.
“Yes
.
Business.”

    “Of course, sir,” he said respectfully.

   “Yes
.
Well. You carry on here and I’ll go and see what she has for us.”

   Clive grinned, his thoughts evident.

   Graham got up and left the office, annoyed at his partner for his silent insubordination
.
He resisted the temptation to slam the office door as he exited.

   Sallie greeted Graham with her warm smile and handed him a mouth mask
.
He gratefully donned the mask; the smell of this unpleasant room had turned many stomachs
.
There was also the risk of inhaling some nasty
little microbe that would bring a grown man to his knees with sickness.

   He nodded a greeting to the other person in the room, Kevin Brindle, assistant to Sallie, whom Graham had met on many occasions
.
He was a married man with two children and he was thirty-five years of age
.
It was generally considered that he should, by now, be head of his department but, as a plodder, rather than a go-getter, he had seen the energetic, ambitious Sallie take the position even though she was seven years his junior and had come into the profession some years after him.

   Sallie began: “Well, Graham, we have carried out the examination, removed and weighed everything necessary and carried out some tests.”

   “Go on,” said Graham.

    “The victim died from a strong dose of Opium poisoning
.
This is the same as used on the young girl, Kylie Johnson
.
After very careful examination, I was unable to find how the drug had been administered.”

   Sampler groaned as Sallie continued, unperturbed. “Therefore, I borrowed the equipment left here temporarily by Doctor Wray
.
Even with that, I could at first find nothing.”  She was all business now; no warm smile, or indeed, smiles of any kind
.
“Then, on studying an old immunisation scar on her left arm – one that had completely healed over with no new puncture marks - I noticed a slight redness to the area
.
Zooming in as close as possible, I observed the most minute of enlargements to the actual pores in that location
.
Kevin, here,” she pointed to her assistant, “also had a look, and he agrees that the pores are extended beyond the normal.”

   “How on earth did he do that?” asked Sampler
.
Did he use a multi-syringe or something?”

    Sallie smiled the business smile, saying:  “No
.
I don’t know of any such device
.
What it appears to be, incredibly, is an air-operated injection, a burst of compressed air forcing the fluid into the arm
.
The area in the body covered by the poison is greater than would be with a normal syringe.
However, that is most certainly the point of entry.”

   Graham looked at her in admiration
.
“Thank you, Sallie,” he said
.
“That confirms to me that it is the work of the same person.

   “I should also add,” Sallie replied, “that sexual intercourse had taken place
.
On the evidence, I would say that the intercourse was consensual
.
There were also faint traces of seminal fluid in the mouth; not an ejaculation, it seems to be more of the lubrication stage
.
Enough for DNA samples, though, and I have retained a sample.”

   “Thank you, again, Sallie,” said Graham as he tossed the mask into a nearby waste-bin and turned to leave
.
Sallie caught up with him and escorted him to the door
.
“I need to work a bit late, tonight, Graham,” she said in a low voice
.
“Would you like to take a bite to eat with me at the pub over the road and then come back whilst I complete your report?”

   Graham’s heart missed several beats
.
The invitation definitely seemed to be concocted on the spur of the moment
.
What did she want? he mused
.
“Well…er…yes.” he replied without thinking
.
“Erm…I can certainly find work to do in the meantime.”

   “Good
.
Six, then?”  Graham readily agreed.

   Sending Clive home at five-thirty, Graham tried hard to concentrate on the work in hand but it was impossible
.
He kept reading the same lines time and again, without absorbing any of what he read
.
His mind wandered. What was he letting himself in for?  The woman was young, beautiful, gifted – and married!  As was he!  What could she possibly see in him?  Of course, he wasn’t old himself but she was about thirty and therefore, in his eyes, very young.