Dead And Buried

Thirty-three

‘ The car was there?’ asked Mackenzie, as Wilding stepped into his office.

‘Yes: it’s a silver-grey five-door hatchback A class, a funny-looking car for a Merc.’

‘I know the model. Any indications so far?’

‘Give us a break, sir. It’s dark, and there was no room in the garage to have any sort of look at it. It’s been loaded on to a recovery vehicle, as you said, and taken up to Fettes: DI Dorward’s team will look at it there. Is the mechanic fixed up?’

‘Yeah, the foreman from the dealership volunteered straight away. I’m not surprised: he’ll be on overtime and we’re paying. He’s prepared to work for as long as it takes.’

‘He’ll do well out of it, in that case. Arthur Dorward said that it’ll be a complicated motor to take apart, for all that it’s not very big.’

‘That’s okay. I’ve warned the Guardia Civil not to expect anything from us till tomorrow.’

‘You’ve spoken to them?’

‘Yes.’ The DCI caught the look on Wilding’s face. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve cleared that with McIlhenney. He spoke to McGuire about it and gave me the okay to run with it ourselves for now. They’ll keep the SDEA informed, and call them in if it becomes necessary.’

‘So, what did they say? The Spanish, that is.’

‘Not a lot. I told my contact Smith’s story, and gave him the address: he’s based in Madrid, but he’s going to consult his people in the region to see if they have anything on the place, and to ask them to keep it under observation.’

‘Don’t you think they should go in there straight away? Starr’s murder’s been reported in the press: whoever he’s associated with, they’re likely to know that we’ll find evidence of his drug-dealing in the course of our investigation. Won’t they have passed the word to the Spanish end?’

‘If they have, there’ll be nobody there to keep an eye on, will there? Okay, maybe I should have spelled that out, but these people aren’t amateurs, Ray, they’ll get to it.’

‘I suppose so,’ the DS conceded. ‘Have you made much progress on all those files we took from Starr’s shop and from the house?’ he asked.

‘Not yet, but to be honest I don’t expect to. I’ve never yet come across a drug baron who kept accounts to audit standard. I’ve had a look through the business books: they bear out what Eddie Charnwood and Oliver Poole have told us, that Starr was making a reasonable living, but no more. Apart from that, all I’ve seen is correspondence from the Inland Revenue and Scottish Power.’ Mackenzie glanced at his watch. ‘That’s me for the day,’ he announced. ‘The bastard’s not going to be any less dead in the morning, and one less drug-dealer’s no cause for regret.’

‘What’s the agenda for tomorrow?’

‘Depends: if Dorward has a report waiting for us when we come in, we’ll need to deal with that, but if not, we’ll have to interview Starr’s ex-wife sooner rather than later. And then there’s the autopsy report: I don’t know what’s keeping that fucking idle pathologist.’

The chief inspector was in the act of picking his overcoat from the stand in the corner when there was a soft knock on the door, and it opened. ‘Excuse me, sir,’ said a uniformed constable. Mackenzie knew that he was on the front desk, but was too new to Queen Charlotte Street to have committed the name to memory. ‘This has just arrived for you, by courier.’ He was carrying a bulky brown envelope, with ‘Urgent’ stamped on it, in red letters.

‘Shit,’ Mackenzie growled, replacing his coat on the hook.

‘Thanks, Blackie,’ said Wilding, taking the envelope. He looked at the crest on the flap and recognised the Edinburgh University coat of arms. ‘Pathologist’s report.’

‘Not before fucking time,’ the DCI snapped. ‘He’s had a day and a fucking half. Ah, bugger it.’ He snatched at his coat once again. ‘I’ll see it in the morning.’ He slammed the door behind him, leaving Wilding staring at it.

The sergeant shrugged his shoulders, and felt a pang of regret over the early retirement of Dan Pringle; he might have been a shade irritable from time to time, but most of that had been for show. One thing was for sure: there had been nothing erratic about him. He looked at the envelope again, then picked up a stiletto-shaped letter-opener from Mackenzie’s desk and slit it open. The cover sheet confirmed that it was what they had been expecting: ‘Report on the post-mortem examination of the remains of Gareth Starr.’ He opened it and started to read.

Professor Joe Hutchinson had never been one to sacrifice thoroughness for speed. Relatively young though he was, Wilding knew that. As always, the report was meticulously detailed, but as always it began with a summary of the examiner’s findings. The sergeant went straight there and began to read.

One: Cause of death was cardiac failure brought about by massive blood loss, the consequence of both hands being severed at the wrist.

Two: Close examination of the body revealed two puncture wounds in the right upper arm, both consistent with the use of a hypodermic syringe. There was significant bruising around one of the marks, indicating that unusual force had been used. Traces of fabric from the victim’s shirt were found within the flesh.

Three: The victim was drugged before death. Two agents were used. The first, sodium thiopental, would have induced rapid unconsciousness. The second, suxamethonium chloride, would have paralysed the victim. While the binding tape would have rendered him helpless, this can be regarded as precautionary, since the drug would have done that job. The level of residual traces of sodium thiopental in the body indicate that unconsciousness would have been short term.

Four: There is considerable bruising to both arms just above the elbow; this is consistent with the application of tourniquets.

Five: Both hands were severed neatly above the wrist. I have taken specialist opinion on the nature of the wounds from a consultant forensic anthropologist. She noted a ripping effect on both flesh and bone, and concludes that the amputations were performed with an ordinary kitchen knife, possibly a carving knife. I am advised that this is borne out by marks on the table.

Six: Before completing this report I visited the crime scene with Detective Inspector Dorward and studied the patterns of blood flowing from each wound. This has led me to conclude that the hands were severed with the tourniquets applied, and that these were released subsequently and gradually. The victim would have been paralysed throughout the procedure. Undoubtedly he survived the amputations, to watch himself bleed to death.

Eight: While in theory this attack could have been carried out by an individual, it is quite impossible that it could have been done by someone who had recently sustained the type of injury that was described to me in my briefing for this examination.

Seven: In all my career I cannot recall encountering a crime of such premeditated savagery.

‘Say what you mean, Professor.’ As Wilding finished reading, he realised that he was shivering. He knew also that it would take a while, maybe a lifetime, for him to chase the image of Gary Starr’s awful last moments from his mind. He laid the report on Mackenzie’s desk. ‘I hope you’ve had a nice big cooked breakfast when you read that. . sir,’ he muttered. ‘Maybe you’ll barf again.’