Mother Be The Judge (10 page)

"Are you Mrs Brown?" He enquired.

"It's Miss Brown. Where's my son?"

"He's just giving his statement to police and we need to take his fingerprints and DNA for elimination purposes." He told her.

Jocasta didn't understand what DI Turnbull was saying. "What does that mean?" she asked.

DI Turnbull cleared his throat and explained. "Your son found Savannah, Miss Brown. He picked her up from the stream and carried her to the bank. He may well have left his fingerprints or DNA at the scene or on Savannah so we need to identify them in the hope we can separate them from anything her killer may have left."

"Was she murdered then?" Jocasta was horrified by this notion. She had believed that maybe Savannah had fallen in the stream and banged her head, that it had been accidental. It hadn't occurred to her that Savannah may have been brutally murdered.

"It looks that way." DI Turnbull started to shift from one foot to another, he obviously had some place else he wanted to be. "I can't really discuss it any further with you, if you would like to take a seat we will send Adrian out to you when he's ready."

"OK thanks." Jocasta sat in the same blue seat she had sat in six years ago, the last time Adrian was at the station. She sat back and watched the continuous stream of humanity which came and went from the police station. She was glad that at least this time Adrian was here because he was a hero rather than a villain. Knowing there was no way she would get to watch Eastenders now; Jocasta sat back and closed her eyes to wait for her son, her hero, her Adrian.

'Keep your love for each other at full strength because lo
ve covers a multitude of sins.'

I Peter 4:8

Detective Inspector Todd Turnbull was known as Todger to his friends and colleagues, mainly because he had been rumoured to be 'over the side' with nearly every female police officer he had ever met. Having such a reputation within the police did not make Todd an outcast amongst his colleagues. He was a good copper, had earned his right to be an inspector and was respected as a good detective who hadn't lost sight of his job, despite being promoted into an office. He was known as someone who got his hands dirty and actively participated in investigations rather than just overseeing them from behind a desk. Todd actually believed it was an advantage to gain a nickname amongst his peers, even though he hadn't earned that particular accolade. In reality he had only slept with ten women; which at the age of forty was not that many. His handsome looks made him the pursued rather than the pursuer and the females never seemed to brag about the fact he'd knocked
them
back.

When the report landed on his desk about Savannah West's disappearance he was of the same opinion that she was just another runaway teen. It came as a shock to him when a call came from PC Mann informing him the little girl had been found in a stream that morning. To Todd's chagrin the body had been moved and touched by a few people before proper police protocol could be put into place to preserve the crime scene. Todd was annoyed that appropriate steps hadn't been taken to ensure the people searching knew not to touch anything they found, but he understood that no one really expected to find anything.

He had arrived at the allotments to find the little girl lying naked on the grass by the stream. She didn't seem like a human being, her skin was no longer the colour of flesh, she was grey and swollen a gaping wound was evident on her chest. Her eyes were half open, it was as if she was looking directly at him, waiting for him to speak to her, but he knew the eyes saw nothing and never would again. Todd found himself drawn to her, he had an urge to pick her up and hold her. She was so young, he needed to cuddle and protect her. Todd fought these urges and forced himself to turn away from Savannah. He looked for the Scenes of Crime officer who was usually covered head to toe in white protective overalls. He saw her now coming out from the tunnel the stream flowed into.

"Jan." he shouted, getting her attention.

"Jan, come over here." He gestured at her to leave the stream and join him on the bank. Jan came over, only her chubby face visible in the elasticated surround of her paper hood.

"Hello sir." Jan came to stand beside him.

"What have you found?" Todd asked her.

"Well there's nowhere to get fingerprints from Guv." She shrugged. "She was found in running water; anything that may have been there has probably been washed away. Hopefully we can get something from her body. Poor little mite."

Todd returned his gaze to Savannah, he couldn't stand to see her so bare against the ground.

"Ok do we actually need her here still?" he shouted at the people milling around. They all stopped to listen to their Inspector.

"Has the photographer finished?" Todd asked.

"Yes Guv." The photographer waved his camera at Todd.

"Has the Coroner carried out his investigations?"

"Yes Guv," came the group response.

"Right then get her covered up and get the ambulance men to pick her up and take her to the Coroner's office. If you had finished you should have covered her up, she's a baby for fucks sake." Todd knew they had probably left Savannah's corpse in situ so he, as the investigating officer, could see her. But as it was not the actual spot she had died in, he saw no purpose in that. He turned to his DS who had walked up beside him.

"OK Mary, get the search team in here. I need these allotments gone over with a fine toothcomb. I want to know if this is where she died, we need to find her clothes and we need to know how she got in that tunnel."

"Yes Guv."

"Where is the person who found her?"

DS Mary Webb gestured to Adrian and Mike who were at the edge of the allotment; Mike still on the ground, his grief apparently taking away his ability to stand. Adrian was just looking in their direction, wet up to the knees, hands in pockets, watching the goings on around him.

"The one standing up found her sir," said DS Webb. "The one on the floor is her step-dad."

"Her step-dad; what, he was here when she was found?" asked Todd.

"Yes he was on the search party that came to the allotments."

"That's convenient." Todd was already looking for suspects. A study of child killers he had read suggested the killer would often return to a crime scene and would even take some part in the investigation. It was reported that most killers who had been caught had been spoken to in the first week of investigation. Todd knew all of this and also knew that it was often somebody known to the victim. Right now Mike the stepfather was looking to be his most likely candidate for investigation.

Todd once again encouraged his staff to be thorough and to remove Savannah's body as quickly as possible. He wanted her looked at in the confines of the mortuary so they could get as much evidence as possible and catch the daemon who had killed this poor child. He demanded that the stepfather and the boy who had found the body, be taken to the police station so they could be questioned and then decided to head back there also as he wanted to prepare the questions to ask Savannah's stepfather. Hopefully the right question with the right delivery would get Todd the answers he needed.

As Todd went to leave the allotment he heard a heart wrenching screech come from the entrance.

"My baby, my baby, oh my baby." came the cry. He saw a woman stumble through the gates and down on the ground beside the stepfather. The woman started hitting the man about the head and shoulders and he sat, allowing the blows to rain down upon him. A police officer stepped in and grabbed the woman under her arms, pulling her up into his embrace where she then relented and stood crying into the officer's shoulder.

"The mother," DS Webb said.

"Yeah thanks Mary, I'd worked that one out for myself." sniffed Todd. "She doesn't seem too happy with her fella does she?"

DS Webb shrugged, "Wouldn't surprise me if she thinks he did it." She said.

"You know, I was just thinking the same thing." Todd confided in her, "What a fucked up world we live in."

-x-

Will Turner, the Coroner; finished his autopsy of Savannah West. Having been a Coroner for many years he had seen copious amounts of dead bodies in differing degrees of decay. Nothing turned his stomach; he could quite easily eat his lunch whilst peering at the remains of an elderly man who had not been discovered until after the build-up of his stomach acid had caused him to explode.

Recently however, Will had become a father to a beautiful baby girl called Betsy-Lou. She was the most precious thing he had ever set eyes on and a great desire to protect her had overcome him. Whilst he may never grow up enough to stop playing with his remote controlled planes, he had certainly matured into a nurturing father who understood the love a parent has for their child. Savannah's autopsy was his first child's body since his life changing fatherhood and he found himself more and more enraged as he uncovered the circumstances of her death.

DI Turnbull entered the room once the autopsy was complete. He never entered whilst a body was on the table. He didn't feel the need to share in every grisly detail of a victim's dissection and Todd felt it was more respectful to give them their privacy, even in death.

"Hi Will, what have you got for me, and please;" He held up his hand before Will could reply. "No medical jargon, just give it to me straight."

"OK," Will readied himself to deliver the news, "I'm afraid she was raped and sodomised."

Todd took a step back to lean on the bench near the wall of the sterile environment. He had been expecting rape or some sort of sexual abuse but had not expected such complete violation of a young girl.

"Are you ok?" asked Will.

"Yes, yes, poor little thing, carry on Will, sorry; are there any evidential fluids?"

"No semen; he either wore a condom or didn't ejaculate. We've taken some samples of her cells and we can see if there's any DNA that may have been left behind, but doesn't look hopeful." Will Turner went on to explain that Savannah had been raped and her throat had been crushed causing her death. It was believed post-mortem that the assailant had then sodomised Savannah and she had been bitten savagely on her left breast. When Todd asked Will how he knew those things had happened post mortem, Will explained that the bite was so deep they would have caused heavy blood loss had the heart still been pumping.

"Any chance of getting impressions of the bite marks?" Todd enquired; he knew that dental records could help him to match the bite marks to the teeth of the biter.

"No chance at all." Will told him, "The bite was ragged; it's as if the person bit and then twisted with their teeth. There are no clear teeth marks at all. Add to that she's been got at by rats..."

"Please, stop, I get it."

Todd felt physically sick at the thought that not only had someone raped and killed Savannah but they had continued to defile her when she no longer breathed. She was dead, unresponsive and had still been used like a toy. He was ready to question the stepfather; it was time to bring him to justice.

-x-

"Right Mr Scammell, let me first start by saying I am very sorry for your loss."

"I should be with her mother, I should be with Mae." Mike Scammell looked like a broken man. Years of heroin and alcohol abuse had not been kind to him. His eyes were droopy like a hound dog and tears dripped from them intermittently. Rubbing his stubbly, scar infested face, Mike looked up at Todd.

"I shouldn't be here, she needs me." He stated.

"Mr Scammell, Mike, we will try to get you home as quickly as possible but as you were there when she was found..."

"Savannah. Her name is Savannah; not 'she'." Mike snapped. "Say her name, Savannah." He tapped the table with a dirty finger. "Savannah West, my daughter." He raised his voice. "I may not be the best stepdad but I'm the only one she's got... had." He muttered before weeping into his hands.

"Sorry Mike. It must be a very hard time for you." Todd was surprised at how this interview was going. A suspicion of guilt had made him believe Mike would be calm and collected, careful in his responses and probably mostly irresponsive in case he said something he shouldn't. Mike's passionate replies and obvious emotion made Todd begin to believe Mike may be innocent of any wrongdoing. Todd had been fooled before, however, so knew not to trust his own instincts completely but to let the evidence do the talking.

"We just need to ask you a few things so we can be sure we help Savannah and find the person who did this to her. Mike?"

"Yes."

"We just want to know what happened today." Todd sat back and waited to hear Mike's story.

Mike Scammell gave Todd an account of the day's happenings. How the groups had met and gone out searching.

"I was talking to that young lad and we went over to the stream. I didn't think she would be in
there
." Mike gulped and fresh tears began to flow. "But he just walked out with her in his fucking arms; just like that." He clicked his fingers. "There she was... dead. Oh my God. Dead, she was dead; so fucking dead." Mike began to rock in his chair, cuddling his body with his arms. Todd reached out to him and patted his arm.

"Mike, I'm sorry to have to ask you this but can you tell me what you were doing on New Year's Eve." Todd waited for the onslaught that was surely to come when Mike realised the implications of what Todd was asking.

"Oh my God, no, no, no." Mike moaned, rocking continuously backwards and forwards.

"We have to ask Mike, it's very important that we know where everyone was." Todd reassured him. Mike paused to compose himself, then rubbed his hands down his face, wiping away snot and tears in one swoop, took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Me and Mae were having a row, we'd both been drinking, I'd been on the heroin and we starting rowing."

"What was the argument about?" Todd asked.

"I don't know; something stupid." Mike shook his head, "Anyway it got loud and I smashed the house up, Mae was screaming and doing my fucking head in, I just had to get out of there."

"Where were the children Mike? Where were Savannah and Andrew?" Todd urged him.

"They were... I don't know, in the bedroom I suppose. They always get out of the way when we argue."

"Did you see them in the bedroom?"

"What? No, I wasn't looking for them, I didn't care about them, I had the hump for fucks sake. I was pissed and stoned and she was bending my ear."

"Ok, carry on, what happened next?"

"Well I just left. I walked out and went to some crack house in Olinsbury." Mike rubbed his face again. "Stayed there for the night and then went home with my tail between my legs the next day as I always do."