Aftershock

Eighty-one

‘But where does it take us, Jack?’

‘I don’t know, boss,’ said McGurk, ‘but it’s interesting, is it not? It’s enough for me to take another look at stuff we put away earlier, looking for long shots.’

‘You do that; meanwhile I’ll start compiling a list of male officers who’ve crossed paths with Theo over the years. Sauce is already looking into Mae Grey’s family background. We know she still has a mum, because she mentioned her, so chances are there’s a dad as well, and given that she’s mid-twenties, he needn’t be old and decrepit.’

‘I hope he thinks to check on any brothers as well.’

‘I’ve told him to. You sure Lisanne doesn’t have any?’

‘She told me she’s an only child, and that her mother’s a widow.’

‘Okay,’ said Stallings, as her phone rang, making a mental note to check anyway. She picked it up.

‘Inspector,’ a firm voice said, ‘Arthur Dorward, bearer of positive tidings.’

‘About what?’

‘That shirt your lad had sent across from Gayfield. I haven’t had time to do any definitive tests yet, but I’m pretty confident it was dumped by the guy you’re after. I’ve analysed the blood that was soaked into it and it’s A negative, the same as your victim’s.’

‘But how many. .’

‘Would you like to hear the odds? Seven per cent of the population have A negative blood, so it’s thirteen to one on that it’s his. I’ll be able to tell you for certain once the DNA testing’s complete.’

‘Thanks, Arthur,’ said Stallings. ‘That’s a step forward: it tells us where the killer went after the murder. It’s a pity it doesn’t tell us any more about him, though.’

‘Don’t you be so sure. This man might be thinking he was clever cutting the labels off, but if he’d really been smart he’d have turned it inside out and removed his personal traces as well. When my people had a good look, they found four oxter hairs.’

‘What?’

‘Ah, sorry, Inspector. I forgot to make allowance for your Englishness. Oxters would be armpits to you. Three of the hairs have roots, which means they can be used for testing. Find me the guy, and I’ll prove he wore this shirt when he killed PC Weekes.’