Taste of Blood

Chapter Twenty-Five

The next morning Jane dressed in one of her sharpest suits. She was at the station before eight, setting up her work on a movable whiteboard. She then wheeled it to the back of the boardroom and draped a green sheet over it. She was just leaving when two uniforms came in to arrange the chairs for the morning’s briefing.

‘Just leave that where it is, please,’ Jane said as she walked out. She headed up to the canteen and was embarrassed to have all the canteen ladies admire her hair, although she had to admit the attention was nice.

Stanley arrived just as she was finishing her poached egg and toast. ‘Sorry I haven’t been in contact. Miss Phillips told me you were recuperating at your parents’ place. Did they take it out?’

‘It was just grumbling, Stanley, so I’ve still got it, for the moment anyway.’

‘Yeah, I had mine out years ago. Can I get you another cup of coffee?’

‘No thanks, I’m just about to go and check what’s on my desk.’

He started to walk off, then turned back to look at her. ‘Have you done something different to your hair? Blonder? Very glamorous.’

‘Thank you.’

Jane left the canteen and went into the incident room. She checked her desk for any urgent memos or reports she needed to review, but there was nothing. She then looked over the incident room crime reports in the crime binder and then checked the office message book for any messages for her, noting how much work had been recorded for the time she had been absent. Clearly the hostage incident had taken up a lot of their time, but the drug squad were now handling the investigation.

Miss Phillips announced that the morning briefing was about to start and everyone needed to attend. The young, uniformed officers were quick to leave their desks, along with the probationers, and Jane followed behind. DCI Hutton swept in and sat down.

‘Right, let’s get started.’

For twenty minutes, Hutton went through the latest developments in the drug gang case, with Stanley being tasked with bringing in the grandmother who’d been one of the hostages for questioning: she was now suspected of allowing her flat to be used to stash the drugs.

Hutton checked her watch and closed her notebook.

‘Unless anyone has anything further, I’m going to cut the meeting short.’

Jane stood up. ‘There’s something I’d like to bring to your attention, ma’am.’

Hutton frowned as Jane walked around the table to the back of the room, then wheeled her board round to the front.

‘Please don’t tell me this is connected to the assault at Clarendon Court,’ Hutton said curtly.

‘No, not exactly,’ Jane said, ‘but there is a connection.’

‘So can I release anyone here that has not been involved in that enquiry?’ Hutton asked.

‘Yes, what is important is that you are made aware of my information.’

Officers started filing out, leaving plain clothes and detectives along with DI Stanley. Jane uncovered her board.

Hutton angled her chair to face the board. ‘All right, Jane, you have our attention.’

Jane pointed to the board with a chopstick. ‘Firstly, you can see my drawing of the courtyard. We have the two houses facing Mr Caplan’s property, and these two at the side belonging to Martin Boon and the Larssons. The entire black area covering the courtyard is where the tarmac was laid.’

Jane next used her chopstick to point out the photograph of Georgina Larsson.

‘This is the young teenage daughter of Mr and Mrs Larsson. Next is the photograph of Sebastian Martinez. He is the teenage son of Angelica Martinez, who was Victor Hoffman’s wife.’ Jane knew she had to cut to the chase, as she could feel Hutton’s impatience mounting. She quickened her pace as she explained the Hoffmans’ financial situation and how the Larssons came to own the courtyard.

‘Her parents discovered that fifteen-year-old Georgina was having a relationship with Sebastian. They threatened to have him arrested for sexually abusing their underage daughter. As a result, Sebastian was sent off to Mexico. Shortly afterwards, Hoffman sold the courtyard to the Larssons. The Hoffmans subsequently sold the property to the Caplans and Mr Hoffman returned to live in Berlin. Sebastian’s mother remained in the area, hoping to see her son as he had written to say he was coming home.’

Hutton sighed and looked at her watch. Jane knew she had to get her attention in the next minute or she was going to walk out.

‘Georgina Larsson was heartbroken, but then discovered she was pregnant. Not allowed to contact or receive any letters from Sebastian, she used her friend who lived in this house to receive his letters and cards. This young girl is called Kathleen and knew that Georgina was pregnant. She also received a postcard from Sebastian to say he was on his way home. Georgina never saw the card because on 14th March four years ago, she was diagnosed with abdominal sepsis, rushed to St Thomas’ Hospital and died on 15th March. It is possible she’d had an illegal abortion or a miscarriage.’

Jane now slowly withdrew the black section on the board depicting the tarmac.

‘This tarmac was not laid until after the Larssons had organised their daughter’s funeral. The workmen, they were ordered to stop work to allow the hearse and funeral cars to drive in and out of the courtyard. By this time the courtyard was in a very bad state.’

Stanley sighed, clearly fed up with hearing about the courtyard. Hutton had started drumming her fingers on the table.

Jane knew she had to get a reaction from them. ‘I believe that Sebastian Martinez did return to see Georgina, but not a single witness has seen or heard from him. Sebastian disappeared off the face of the earth. I believe he was murdered, and I am certain he’s buried in that bloody courtyard. I just know it. Those two crosses mark where I think he could have been...’

Hutton leaned back in her chair and muttered quietly, ‘Oh, Christ.’

‘What about the medium, Jane, you going to bring that up?’ Stanley said.

As Hutton turned towards him with a questioning expression, Stanley put both hands in the air.

‘I’m not saying anything, just that the boy’s mother has been visiting one all this time, hoping she can tell her where he is.’

Hutton pushed back her chair and snatched up her notebook. ‘I think Inspector Tennison has given us all a very entertaining session which I need to discuss with her. In the meantime, we have some more serious cases that require our immediate attention. That’s it, everyone.’

‘Entertaining!’ Jane snapped angrily.

Hutton glared at her. ‘Jane, I want you in my office in ten minutes. Thank you for your time, everyone.’

Hutton walked out. A few officers gathered around Jane’s board, looking at the photographs, clearly trying to show they were interested. Jane went up to Stanley and leaned in close.

‘Fuck you, Stanley.’

She walked out and hurried to the ladies’ where she splashed cold water on her face. As she dragged on the roller towel to dry her face, she smudged her eye make-up, making her look owlish. She sat on one of the toilets, still trying to calm herself down, then after a few minutes returned to the boardroom, collected her handbag and walked outside to the car park. She opened a new packet of cigarettes and sat on a low wall smoking one after another.

Jane could feel the tension when she returned to her desk, with everyone avoiding eye contact. Stanley’s desk was empty, and after a few moments she decided to go into the boardroom and collect her board and all the photographs and documents. As she was passing Hutton’s office, the door opened and Miss Phillips walked out. She indicated for Jane to go in, standing to one side and holding the door open.

DCI Hutton was signing documents.

‘Give me two minutes.’ She flicked through the pages before stacking them like a pack of cards and handing them to Miss Phillips, who’d remained hovering at her desk. ‘I want these delivered this afternoon.’ Miss Phillips left, closing the door behind her.

‘Right, we need to have a talk about your performance this morning. You really seem to have a thing about burial sites, don’t you? First uncovering the coffin with the body of a nun, then the newborn child found in an air-raid shelter.’

Jane pursed her lips at the mention of these previous cases, wanting to interrupt but maintaining her control.

Hutton picked up a silver letter opener. ‘So now we have yet another Inspector Tennison investigation into a possible burial beneath a residential estate’s courtyard. I gathered from your presentation this morning that it is entirely based on your suspicions rather than any actual evidence, and clearly you have become emotionally involved.’ She put the letter opener down and her voice softened. ‘Look, Jane, I can see you’ve put a lot of work into this, but still all you’ve got is speculation. It’s simply not enough.’

Jane swallowed. ‘I believe if we were able to obtain thermal imaging from the courtyard, it would prove that this is more than just speculation.’

Hutton shook her head. ‘I don’t know what planet you’re on, Jane, but we do not have thermal imaging equipment at our disposal at the Met and are very unlikely to have access to it for many years. Nor would I, at this stage, agree to it being brought in, even if we did have it. You have no witnesses to a crime, in fact no evidence whatsoever that this young man is dead. He has never been reported missing. He may have returned from Mexico to the UK, but he could easily have travelled abroad to God knows where. I honestly think you are dramatising the situation like some sort of Romeo and Juliet story. I am advising you very seriously to shelve this enquiry, which, I should add, you have been pursuing without my permission.’

Jane felt battered, but wasn’t going to give up.

‘Nobody has seen or heard from him, ma’am. His mother has waited years for him, afraid to leave the area in case he can’t find her. Then we have the Larssons not allowing anyone to park in the courtyard and using Martin Boon to assault David Caplan so he wouldn’t dig it up.’

‘Jane, I am fully aware of that situation.’

‘So why would they do all that unless they were involved in Sebastian Martinez’s death?’

Hutton took a deep breath, running a finger up and down the paper knife as if she would dearly like to stab it into her desk. She carefully placed the knife down and clasped her hands together.

‘You have no evidence the young man is dead. I wasn’t going to bring this up because I was hoping you would listen to reason. But I am aware that some of your so-called information has come from a medium...’

Before she could finish, Jane stood up angrily and leaned against Hutton’s desk.

‘I suppose Inspector Stanley has been telling you stories...’

‘Sit down! Sit down, Jane, before you say something that you will regret. Whether or not I believe in mediums is neither here nor there, but you have to realise that if it was ever to get out that you based your suspicions on the words of a medium...’

Jane bowed her head, and then took a deep breath. She spoke very quietly.

‘She said she had the taste of blood in her mouth. Sebastian was murdered.’

Hutton slowly pushed back her desk chair. ‘Wise up, Jane. Don’t make me take disciplinary action. We have a lot of work on right now, and I will need you to oversee the forthcoming trials.’

Jane felt there was nothing more she could say. Hutton had made it obvious the meeting was over and just wanted her out of her office. She nodded as she walked out, closing the door firmly behind her.

Not wanting to talk to anyone in the incident room, Jane went to the boardroom to pack up everything she had brought that morning. She turned as DC Burrows tapped lightly before entering and then stood looking slightly embarrassed.

‘Did you want something?’ she asked curtly.

‘Not really. I just wanted to tell you that I believe you. I don’t know how you intend taking it further, but I wish I had spoken up.’

She sighed. ‘Well, thank you for that, Bill, but it’s finished. I have strict instructions to discontinue the investigation.’

He nodded, hesitating a moment before walking out. By the time Jane had loaded everything into the boot of her car, she had calmed down, but felt completely defeated. She had not seen Stanley, and wasn’t sure she could face him. It was obvious he’d had words with DCI Hutton about Vera James before Jane’s presentation. But why? Not so long ago, he’d been all for ripping up the tarmac to see if Sebastian’s body was there.

Jane returned to the incident room and began the laborious task of checking through statements and legal documents attached to the forthcoming trials of the boys involved in the drug bust. Instead of going to the canteen for lunch, she drove herself to the nearest McDonald’s drive-thru and ate her cheeseburger and chips in her car. When she got back to the station car park, a white Range Rover was parked in her space. She was about to get out and confront the driver when the same handsome man came running towards her. He bent down to her window.

‘My apologies. I’m leaving straightaway.’

Jane watched as he backed out and then waved as he drove out of the car park. She keyed into the staff entrance door and went down the corridor towards the cloakrooms as she could smell burger and chips on her fingers. Glancing in the mirror, she was yet again taken aback by how blonde her hair was. She noticed she still had dark rings beneath her eyes where she had washed her face earlier.

After washing her face again with the awful soap from the dispenser, she rubbed it dry with the roller towel, and then combed her hair furiously as if it might tone down the colour. Returning to the incident room, she got back down to her paperwork, determined not to give Hutton any further reason to complain about her.