SECRET CRIMES a gripping crime thriller full of suspense (14 page)

He probed the chest area and upper limbs. ‘Several broken ribs and some severe bruising. A fracture of the left arm just below the elbow. Some minor abrasions of the skin tissue on his hands. One broken finger on his right hand, the middle finger, and a bruise to the neighbouring finger.’

Benny Goodall examined the legs. ‘Similar to the upper limbs, with bruising and some abrasions. We’ve X-rayed already, and there’s a fracture to the right fibula and damage to the right hip joint.’

He stopped and looked at Sophie. ‘No significant tearing of the nails, and no grit under them. I ordered a blood test when we got him here yesterday. Benzodiazepine in significant residual amounts.’

‘Ah, so he was heavily sedated?’

‘Probably unconscious.’

‘And his injuries are consistent with a tumble down that cliff-face?’

‘I would say so.’

‘And the condition of his fingers and nails tends to reinforce the idea that he wasn’t conscious at the time?’

‘Wouldn’t you say so? Most people falling down a cliff would try to grab hold of the surface, almost instinctively I would have thought. The head and limb injuries are not consistent with a free-fall, with a crashing stop at the bottom. They look to be in line with a tumble, catching on those ledges and outcrops. Normally we’d expect significant finger and nail damage. There’s nothing of that here.’

‘Well, it helps me to picture what might have happened, Benny. Very helpful. Anything else I need to know at the moment?’

He shook his head. ‘Not with this one. I’ll get the details emailed across to you as soon as I can and I’ll call you if we spot anything unusual. But something interesting has cropped up with the head wound in the first body. We found microscopic traces of wax in the skin.’

‘What kind of wax?’

‘Shoe polish.’ He raised his eyebrows.

‘So it was caused by a kick after all? It cropped up in conversation earlier, but we were only speculating. It seemed such a deep wound. Heavy boots of some kind? Is that what you’re thinking?’

Benny Goodall nodded.

Sophie and Rae made their way back to the car.

‘He was very helpful,’ Rae said. ‘I thought that pathologists were generally more guarded than that.’

‘He’s a close friend, Rae. He knows I won’t misquote him, we have an understanding about it. Look, we haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast, and I’m famished. How about a late lunch in one of the local cafés? There’s a really good one in the town centre. It has an interesting history. Its main room is reputedly the one used by Judge Jeffreys when he held the Bloody Assize in the town.’

‘Sorry, ma’am. I’ve got an engineering background. I know nothing about history.’

‘All the better, then. I can tell you about it while we’re shovelling our food down. We don’t have too much time.’

* * *

Back in Swanage, Barry Marsh and Jimmy Melsom were discussing the man who’d gone missing from the hotel after Saturday night.

‘So there’s been no sight of John Renton since then?’ Marsh asked.

‘No. Tom Rose did some double-checking at the hotel, but nothing has come out of the booking details. It was an internet booking made with a credit card. It was fully paid for in advance, so the hotel had no reason to query the reservation. The address given at the time of the booking matches the one for the credit card account. Phil Barber from Portsmouth called in to say that he’d visited the address, but that there was no one in. The neighbours say that he’s in the army and at the moment he’s in the middle of a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. So it couldn’t have been him at the hotel, could it, Sarge?’

‘No, but if it wasn’t him at the hotel, who was it? And how did he get hold of Renton’s credit card details?’

‘Not that hard, is it? I give mine out all the time when I’m doing a phone booking for a concert or a holiday.’

‘You mean we assume the person on the other end of the phone is only recording it on the official system, but they could be making a quick note for their own use?’

‘Yeah. We’re all so trusting, aren’t we? But the person taking the details could reuse them, maybe after waiting a few weeks. As long as it’s for nothing outrageous it might not even be noticed when the account holder checks their statement. Does anyone go through their statement item by item? I don’t. I just trust that everything’s as it should be and the total is about what I expect. But maybe it’s not even that. It could be someone else who knows Renton’s details legitimately. You know, a close friend or someone in the family.’

‘What does the bank say?’

‘There’s nothing odd in the pattern of spending. Just normal sorts of things. And it’s consistent. There’s been no recent change in the kind of stuff on the statement, according to the bank.’

Marsh thought for a while. ‘Get the past couple of years’ statements for the account. Get on to the MoD and find out Renton’s unit and where they’ve been stationed for the last three years. I want the two compared. Okay?’

Chapter 12: Glamour Shots

Wednesday afternoon

Lydia Pillay was unhappy. The previous day’s unexpected encounter with Sophie had set off a cascade of unexpected emotional responses. She’d already realised that she’d made a mistake when she’d walked out on her Dorset job to join the unit in Bath. The feeling had been growing for weeks, but she’d managed to push the thoughts away. The visit from Sophie had brought all her concerns back into her mind and she was finding it difficult to ignore them. The fact was, she really didn’t like her new boss. She’d met him on a course and he’d talked about the financial crime unit he was running. She’d been impressed by him and by the job as he’d described it. But the reality was quite different. She found herself as the junior in the team, forced to spend a large proportion of her working days on menial tasks. She was given little responsibility, was not making any use of the experience she’d gained from her training and her years in Dorset and was wondering whether she’d merely been appointed as some kind of token ethnic minority officer. Moreover, she now realised that financial crime just wasn’t for her. Why hadn’t she seen this before? She knew why. She just hadn’t bothered to think through the full implications of the new job. It had been staring her in the face, but she’d chosen to ignore it. Lydia was a “people person.” She enjoyed working out the intricacies of human interaction, and that’s why she’d loved her job with Sophie Allen so much. She sighed. And as if all that wasn’t enough, there was her new boss. He was shallow, only interested in his own career path and those investigations that would raise his own profile. It was very apparent now, but why hadn’t she seen this at the interviews? She realised now that she had, but deliberately chose to ignore what had been staring her in the face. It was all because of her stupid desire to get away from a boss she adored but whose apparent actions had caused her so much anxiety. So here she was, stuck in a job that didn’t, and couldn’t, make use of the skills she had, in a team that gave her menial jobs to do, and working for a boss who preened and postured his way through his working life.

What could be done? She looked around her. The office was quiet, with most of its usual occupants out on a case. Just one other officer remained behind, sitting on the other side of the open-plan office. He seemed absorbed in his task, so Lydia sat thinking for a while, then slipped out of the room. She took out her mobile phone and made a phone call about jazz festivals in the area. She’d recently met a rather handsome young musician who she knew helped on several committees. She wanted an excuse to see him again so this would kill the proverbial two birds.

* * *

Rae was looking at a list of the items on Sarah Sheldon’s laptop. She cross-checked these on the machine itself, which now sat on the desk in front of her. There were numerous photos, mostly of Sarah and friends enjoying themselves at parties and social events. Rae recognised the face of the dead man, Paul Derek, in several of them.

The laptop also contained a folder of letters — a CV and several job applications, including the one for her most recent post. There were recipes — jams, cakes, some simple meals. Then Rae found three digital images. The first showed Sarah sitting on a man’s knee. The photo was centred on Sarah, and no details of the man were visible other than his neck, his jacketed left arm encircling her chest and his deeply-tanned neck. There was a small, heart-shaped tattoo on his wrist. The most arresting aspect of the image, however, was what Sarah was wearing: an ornate corset, deep red in colour, with attached, sheer black stockings and matching knickers. Sarah’s face was heavily made-up with thick black eyeliner and mascara. The second image showed Sarah posing alone for the camera, wearing the same outfit. This time the shot was full-length, and showed black and red shoes with stiletto heels. The third shot was totally different. Sarah was wearing a cream, full-length wedding dress and holding a bouquet of pastel-pink flowers. Her make-up, though, looked identical to that in the earlier shots. Rae closed down the photos and looked at the dates. They all bore the date 11 June, two years earlier. Rae was aware that this was not conclusive proof of when they’d been taken; it could be the date on which they’d been copied to the laptop, but it was interesting nonetheless. She went to Sophie’s office and told her about the three “glamour” shots.

Sophie looked at the images in silence. ‘And there are no more?’ she asked finally.

‘No. I’ve finished checking every file on the machine. This is it, ma’am. These three are the only ones that look out of place. All the other files are pretty mundane, even the other photos. I’m just wondering, ma’am, whether computer forensics did a deep check on the hard drive? I think they’ve just listed the files that are there now. What if others have been deleted?’

‘Maybe we didn’t make it clear enough that we wanted the full works. These three photos make it all the more important to get a full scan.’

‘I could drive up with it if you want me to, ma’am. It’ll mean they get it this afternoon and can make a start. Then maybe we’ll get it back before the weekend.’

Sophie frowned. ‘Okay, you take it and I’ll phone through so that they know what to do once you arrive. Bloody hell, why on earth didn’t they do the full job when they had it? I thought it came back rather too quickly.’

‘But it does mean that Jimmy’s been able to start on the email checks, ma’am.’

‘Okay, you’ve calmed me down. Jimmy’s only just started on Derek’s laptop, so wait until he’s ready and take them both together. While you’re waiting can you check round and see if anyone’s got any further with tracing Brian Shapiro? I can’t believe we haven’t managed to find out anything about him yet. If nothing’s happened by tomorrow, I’m going to have to rethink how we go about finding him.’

Sophie walked over to speak to Marsh.

‘What check did we expect on Sarah’s laptop, Barry?’

‘Just a quick one, ma’am. We didn’t think it would be of much significance. Why?’

‘I thought we’d requested a detailed examination.’

‘That’s probably my fault. You left the decision with me, and I went for speed. We could send it back for a more detailed check if you’re suspicious.’

‘Rae’s just about to set out with it. There were three odd photos but no other images at all. And they were in a folder labelled recipes, stored along with exactly that. Why would that be? Here, take a look.’

Sophie plugged the flash drive into Barry’s computer and they looked at the images.

‘Does that wedding dress picture look like a genuine wedding?’ asked Marsh.

‘Difficult to say,’ Sophie replied. ‘It’s a very plain background, so she could just have been modelling the outfit. But it’s the kind of picture often taken before the ceremony. Look at the filename: SarahWedding1. That number could suggest that there are other wedding photos of her, taken later. But why aren’t the others anywhere on her laptop?’

‘Maybe they were emailed to her, just these three.’ Marsh looked at the other two photos. ‘Phew. These are quite something. Not your average wedding photos, are they?’

‘They tie in with what we’ve learned about her, though, don’t they? Rae spotted that the date is the same on all three. If there has been no touching up or re-saving then they were taken on the same day. The wedding dress shot was taken in the early afternoon and the other two in the evening. And the times do make sense, don’t you think? She’s sitting on a man’s lap in this photo, but there’s not enough of him for us to even hazard a guess about who he was.’

‘It can’t be Derek, ma’am. Even though the height would be about right, Derek didn’t have a tattoo on his wrist. Whoever it is, he’s been in the sun a lot. And these two glamour shots are totally unwedding-like. How do they fit in?’

‘Barry, you’re too much of an innocent. The corset would be covered up by the wedding dress. And many women do wear very sexy lingerie for their wedding nights. Trust me, I know. She’s put on black stockings and different shoes, but the rest is perfectly feasible.’ She looked at the photo again. ‘In fact the dress is so long it would hide her legs and shoes, so she could be wearing the same stockings and shoes underneath. So the key question is whether the scene is genuine or not. Was she just modelling a wedding dress or was she acting out some type of fantasy? Rosemary hasn’t mentioned anything like this.’

‘I don’t think Rosemary knew the real Sarah Sheldon at all. I think Sarah only gave her a very few details. She seems to have led a very complicated life.’ Marsh paused. ‘I’m sorry if I made the wrong call on the laptop check, ma’am.’

‘Don’t worry. We haven’t really lost any time. But I’m still puzzled about why these photos are stored in her recipes folder.’

‘Probably just a mistake, ma’am. Imagine if someone had just sent her a recipe and then these photos arrived in the next message. If she was in a hurry she might just have clicked on save. So they’ve ended up in the same folder as the attachments from the previous message.’

‘That’s why I decided on a full hard-drive scan. I want to see if there’s a lot of stuff that might have been wiped, particularly photos. Her pictures folder was empty, which is a bit suspicious, and there was nothing on her work machine.’ She looked at her watch. ‘I’ve got to phone Pamela Derek and arrange a time to collect her and her sons and take them to Dorchester for the identification. Do you want to be there? It could be useful. The two boys might open up to a man where they wouldn’t to a woman.’

He nodded. ‘By the way, Peter Shakespeare, Sarah’s son by Hugh, should be arriving from the States late this evening. His dad is collecting him and will call me to confirm his arrival. If he’s agreeable, shall we arrange the formal identification for tomorrow?’

‘Absolutely. We’ll pencil in tomorrow late morning, and we’ll take him for a quick lunch afterwards and pick his brains.’

‘The father wants to be there as well.’

‘That’s understandable. I think I’d feel the same.’ Sophie took the flash drive out of the computer. ‘Show these three images to Jimmy. It might help him see what he’s looking for.’

* * *

Lydia picked up her bag, collected her coat and made her way out into the fresh air. She walked over to a bench and sat down facing the river, its grey surface rippled by the chilly breeze. The swans ruffled their feathers when a small child ran towards them but settled as he threw some pieces of bread in their direction. Someone sat down on the bench beside Lydia. She jumped, then turned and smiled at the tall young man.

‘Hello, Ian. I’m so glad you could make it. Where shall we go for lunch?’

They set off along the riverside walkway, and she slipped her arm through his. She was already feeling more cheerful. Their lunch in a local café was full of animated talk. It was followed by a slow walk back along the river to the area where they both worked. Lydia gave Ian a hug and a peck on the cheek as they parted.

‘Can we do this again? she asked. ‘Maybe without the work discussion? I’ve really enjoyed it.’

The young man gave her a shy smile. ‘That would be great. Or why not an evening?’

Lydia gave him another hug. Then she ran up the steps to her office. Life was suddenly looking a whole lot better. Her office was still quiet, so she sat down at her desk and logged on to her computer. She spent several minutes composing an email to Sophie, outlining some of the ideas Ian had suggested. When the unit leader returned in the mid-afternoon, Lydia was deep in cross-checking some financial records.

‘Boss? I think I’ve uncovered something interesting.’ It was the first time in several weeks she’d shown such enthusiasm.

* * *

Jimmy Melsom was examining the first batch of documents belonging to Paul Derek. Nothing had come to light on the company network, but they’d reported some relevant emails and images on his work laptop and Jimmy was inspecting these. Although some were relevant to the case, they threw no new light on events or motives. The emails consisted of mild flirtations between Derek and Sarah, and the photos showed the two of them at various pubs and clubs. None bore any resemblance to the three racy photos that had turned up on Sarah’s laptop. Melsom switched his attention to Derek’s home laptop. Sophie had decided that one of her team should give it a quick examination before it was sent away for full forensic examination. This would gain time if any useful files were found. Jimmy spent half an hour digging through the folders and then hit gold. Hidden deep within a documents folder called “Us” were a number of photos and short videos. Jimmy opened the first image. It was a shot of the couple naked on a bed, having sex. The other fourteen images were similar, all showing Sarah and Paul in various stages of undress and arousal.

Jimmy was glad his bosses had left the incident room. It was one thing having a laugh over lewd photos with his male colleagues, but he knew he’d feel awkward and embarrassed showing them to Sophie or even Rae. This way he could just copy them onto a flash drive, report his findings and hand it over. He looked at the video clips and his eyes widened. The five film sequences were between five and fifteen minutes long, and showed the couple having sex on the same bed as in the photos. Sarah was very much taking the lead. Jimmy looked carefully at the room in the films. It matched the forensic photos of the bedroom in her flat. The video clips showed clearly that Sarah had been the one making all the running in the relationship. Derek appeared to be going along with her in a slightly bemused way, although he obviously enjoyed what she was initiating.