The Electrician's Code (17 page)

Theo went to the door of the woman who found Sharon’s body and knocked. No one answered.

“Where did she go?” Theo asked. “Did someone already take her statement?”

Dorland shrugged.

Writing down the number so he could return, Theo went on to the flat next to Sharon’s. This door was open and revealed a man sitting inside watching his television while the officers tramped by his door.

“Hello there,” Theo yelled in.

The man looked up at Theo as he held up his warrant card, then he waved him in.

“Sit. I was waiting for one of you lot to come in and talk to me. I left my door open but no one came. Figure you have a lot of work to do on a case like that. My name is Frank Mitchell.”

Theo gave his partner a quizzical look. “Oh, I had thought one of the officers would have been round your flat already.”

“No.”

“Well, I’m Detective Chief Inspector Theo Blackwell.” He held out his hand, which the man accepted warmly. “How long have you lived in this flat?”

“A long bloody time,” the man said with an odd accent. “Five years, feels like an eternity. Can’t believe I have lived here that long. Every year I ask myself, ‘Self, are we going to move somewhere better this year?’ but every time my yearly lease expires, I just sign up for another. Glutton for punishment.”

“Where are you from?”

“I was born in the Falklands, but my parents moved to London when I was ten.”

Not knowing much about the land other than the penguins and the war, and not wanting to look like an idiot for not knowing, Theo moved on, “As you may already know, there was a death that occurred down the hall, a young woman named Sharon Yoder. Did you know her?”

“Know is a word I’m not sure applies. I know she lives there, I know her name and what hours she keeps, but do I know her favorite color, food, or television series? No. Do I know who might want her dead or who had a motive to kill her? I don’t know that. Once in a while when she had to leave town, she will get me to watch her fish. She will bring me back a bottle of wine or a silly fridge magnet. But other than that, not much contact.”

He pointed to the fridge where a handful of magnets in the shape of various tropical aquatic creatures hung.

“You took care of her fish?” asked Theo.

“That’s what I said. She brought Carotene here.” He thought for a minute or two. “Just what is going to happen to that fish? They’re not going to flush it are they? Because I’ll take it. It’s quiet and one of the few pets we’re allowed to keep here.”

Theo smiled. “No, we don’t plan to flush it but it’s a good idea that you keep it. I’ll have one of the officers bring it over. If one of the members of her family want it—and that rarely happens with fish—I’ll let you know. Thank you for offering.”

“Well, considering the circumstances, it’s the least I could do. I wish I had information as to who would do this to her.”

“You heard nothing this afternoon?”

“No, and usually I hear everything. Although, mostly from the flat upstairs. You might want to ask the tenant in the flat below. The floors are like sound conduits.”

“We’ll do that,” replied Theo. “Did she have many other visitors?”

“No, not really, I can say she is not one to host parties. She may attend them elsewhere but I don’t ever remember being kept up or being irritated because she had a party.”

“What about visitors?”

“Carpeted hall, really quiet. The one bloody place it’s quiet in the building. Can’t hear much coming or going really. Because her kitchen is against my wall here, I can hear a banged cupboard or if the fridge closed too loudly. Sometimes I can hear the bath water running, a mumble, mumble as she talks on the phone or the toilet flush. I really do hope there is a motive behind her death.”

“Why is that?”

“Because if not, that means someone might come in and murder me too.”

“This is a routine questions but, where were you at three in the afternoon?”

He sat up straighter in his chair and smiled at Theo, “Unfortunately, I was here alone. I would have gone out, or tried to peep to see who the murderer was had I known in advance what was to happen. My dear lad, I will remember for the next time I become aware there is a murder afoot that I should arrange an alibi. If I was you, and I am not, I would think to look for someone with an alibi. For if one is in the habit of planning a murder with care, they carefully arrange an alibi in advance. I have no reason to kill her.”

“Thank you for your advice, very helpful. Now, if you come across any more information that would be equally as helpful, please call me at this number.” Theo handed him a card.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

M
r. and Mrs. Yoder lived in a small house on the outskirts of London. Theo took Dorland with him to meet the parents. It was nine o’clock at night and the house was dark inside.

“I hope they’re home,” Dorland remarked.

“There are two cars in front of the house. We should at least try now that we’re here.”

They parked and walked up to the front door. It was just starting to rain again. Theo pulled up the collar on his jacket and pressed the bell. At first no noise came from the house but after a few seconds, a light come on in a room on the second floor. The window slowly opened and a man poked his head out.

“Who’s there?” the man asked.

“Mr. Yoder?”

“Yes?”

“We’re the police, Mr. Yoder. May we talk with you?” Theo took out his ID and held it toward the second floor even though he knew the man would have no way of seeing it in the dark.

“I’ll be down in a minute.”

After about five minutes, the door finally opened and a man in a nightgown stood there. Theo once again held up his warrant card.

“What is it?” Mr. Yoder asked.

“May we come in?”

“Of course,” he replied and stepped back, allowing them to enter. The hall was dark, the only light came from the top of the stairs. The house wasn’t modern in any way. The wallpaper was extremely dated and peeling. The house smelled of burned rice.

Mrs. Yoder slowly came down the stairs, wrapping her old nightgown tightly around her. She stopped on the bottom stair.

“My name is Detective Chief Inspector Theo Blackwell, and this is Detective Sergeant Dorland Jackson. We have something important to say. Perhaps we can sit down in the living room?”

Mrs. Yoder came toward her husband and took his arm. Together they silently moved to the sofa and sat down.

“It’s about your daughter, Sharon. I’m sorry to tell you that she was found dead this afternoon in her flat.”

Mr. Yoder took a deep breath in. “Was it drugs?”

“I’m sorry?” said Theo. “No, it wasn’t drugs. I’m afraid she was murdered.” He watched the parent’s faces very carefully. “You don’t seem surprised by this news.”

“Well, with her lifestyle we’re not surprised,” said the mother coldly.

“What do you mean? What was her lifestyle like?”

“Well,” she replied, “all that carrying on with men. Drinking. I told you, Martin, I told you it would eventually get her killed.”

“It would be really helpful if you could tell us who might want to kill her. Perhaps she owed someone money. Did she have any enemies?”

The parents looked at him blankly, as if they didn’t understand the question.

“We wouldn’t know,” the husband finally replied. “We haven’t spoken to her in years. We couldn’t have her living in this house anymore. So she left.”

“Oh, I see. Well, do you know of anyone we could contact? Someone that she was close to? Perhaps a friend or relative. We are looking for information.”

“We believe she went to live with Brian, her brother.”

“You believe?”

“Well, we haven’t had contact with him either.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Mrs. Yoder replied. “Our family—”

Mr. Yoder put his hand on his wife’s knee and she stopped talking. “I’m sorry, we can’t help you. Although we tried to raise our children with morals, they have to make their own way in this world. Just try Brian. He’ll know more. Thank you for coming and telling us that she died.”

“Can we get you to come and identify the body?”

“Please ask Brian.”

“Do you have Brian’s contact information?”

“No.” The couple stood up.

Theo and Dorland rose as well. They were walked to the door. Mr. Yoder opened it for them.

“We are sorry for your loss,” Theo said. He handed them his card. “It’s too bad you don’t have more information about your own children. Well, if you do think of anything or could possibly come in and identify her, that would be wonderful.” They walked out and heard the door slam behind him.

“What the hell just happened?” asked Dorland. “What could she possibly be involved in that caused that sort of shunning?”

“They are obviously very religious.”

“Obviously! I will never understand people like that.”

“We don’t really know what Sharon or Brian were like when they were younger. I mean, I don’t think that’s a reason to . . . I think her father was or is a priest.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Above the mantle there was a picture of Mr. Yoder in his garb.” Theo unlocked the car door and got in. After starting the car, he blasted the heat in his face. He hated the rain and cold. “Now we need to find her brother. What was his name again?”

Dorland looked at his notebook. “Brian.”

“Tomorrow, we need to talk to Brian.”

Chapter Forty

A
round 10:30, Theo and Dorland finally returned to the incident room. Although it was late, his team was still there, arranging desks, computers, and papers. He went to the board and scanned the photos of the crime scene.

His last murder inquiry didn’t turn out well, and the powers that be insisted he move on. There was no end to the grief he received. Thank God none of Tipring’s family bothered to enquire about the case. It was sad. As far as the world was concerned, Doc left the world and no one paid any attention. Sharon wouldn’t end up that way, would she?

He wouldn’t end up that way, would he?

“Karen,” he yelled to one of the aides, “remind me tomorrow to send flowers to my wife.” Karen nodded. Theo didn’t explain and walked into his office and shut the door. Almost as soon as he was seated, there was a knock at his door.

“Come in,” Theo yelled.

“Gov,” Dorland poked his head in. “Got CCTV footage.”

“Good, get a team started on it.”

“What are we looking for?”

“The killer. Dorland, I don’t know. Someone coming or going about three. Perhaps entering the car park at that time. Do we have other camera angles?”

“Yes, we have a few different ones from the garden around the building. We should find something.”

An hour later, Theo had read through all the case notes and interview statements he had so far. He stepped out of the office and into the main incident room. Most of the staff had left for the night, Dorland sat watching footage in the corner, laughing and munching on crisps.

“What’s so funny?” Theo asked. “Have you found anything?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a mess. As you can see, the footage is horrible. All nineteen cameras are stored on this hard disk and as far as I can tell, the footage is separate but we don’t know what camera faces where. The landlord told us that his nephew set up the system for the buildings and to save time, just stored all the data in one place. However, it’s hard to decipher. The landlord said it was the first time anyone asked for the footage.”

“So we have nothing from it at all?”

“Well, not nothing. Can’t really make out anything from this scene. The camera is working but it’s not focused correctly, so the footage is all blurry. The camera pointing to the car park is so high, I can’t even read the registration plates unless they are facing one particular direction and I can barely make out the make or models. It took me a long time to figure out what camera file came from the foyer of which building.”

“So how did you figure it out?”

“I just started watching the first, and fortunately I came across the victim entering her building. The date and time are stamped on the bottom or I would really be lost. So, round three o’clock I counted a hundred and fifty-two coming and going but can’t make out some of their faces. I’m having a look now at the other angles, but really I’m not hopeful they will turn up anything either. So far the cameras face every direction but the right one. One of the cameras was facing a tree. Unless our killer is an out-of-control robin, nothing of use is on it.”

“What about CCTV footage from the street? Perhaps we can see more.”

“We’ve sent for it. There is a camera leading to the block of flats.”

“I’ve read through the house-to-house statements and they’re useless. Most say all they can remember were children coming and going. Noise in the halls. One person remembers a man delivering take-away and another receiving a package but neither could confirm the time or remember what the people looked like.”

“Looks like we could have another Tipring on our hands.”

Theo went over to the board and looked at the photo of Sharon Yoder lying prone in her entranceway. “Dorland, come look at this.”

With an eager hop, Dorland moved to the board.

“What do you notice about this photo?” asked Theo.

Dorland stepped closer and peered at it.

“It reminds me of the last case we worked on, the Tipring case,” Theo said.

“Well,” said Dorland, “I started running information through Holmes and I found something interesting about one of the tenants—a Mr. Frank Mitchell.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, apparently he’s got some suspected ties with organized crime. He’s been arrested three times for running illegal gambling establishments in London. Each time, he’s been let go without charge.”

Theo grabbed the papers and started looking through them. “He’s even been suspected of murder . . . and a stabbing death at that. Shit, I’m never going to hear the end of it. The man didn’t have an alibi and he didn’t even seem to care. Cocky bastard. Have one of the officers bring him in. If he’s still there. Give me a few minutes and we’ll go back to the building. Ugh, and I gave him her bloody fish.” Theo went to his office and slammed the door.

A few minutes later, Dorland knocked on his door.

“What?” Theo asked.

“The officers there say he’s not answering their knocks. You may be right, he stayed until he knew the officers weren’t going to stop him and he snuck away.”

“Shit.” Theo stood up, grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, and walked from his office. “We need to search his flat.” Theo picked up the phone and started dialing.

“Gov,” said Dorland. “Gov—”

“What!”

“Look who just arrived.”

Theo turned around and standing with one of the officers was Frank Mitchell.