Taste of Blood

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The incident room was full, with a buzz of anticipation. The chatter subsided when Jane walked in, heading towards her desk. She hung her jacket over the back of her chair and put her briefcase down, trying to steady her nerves.

DCI Hutton came out of her office and looked over.

‘Can I have a word, Jane?’

Jane picked up her notebook and entered Hutton’s office. As she closed the door, Hutton was speaking quietly into the phone. She nodded for Jane to stand by her desk.

‘Yes, everything is fine. I’ll call you later. Bye, darling.’

‘I just got here from the mortuary and was about to write up my report,’ Jane told her.

‘Give me a quick update.’

Jane explained about the death mask.

Hutton’s eyes widened. ‘Wow, that’s interesting. Any positive identification?’

‘Not one I could be a hundred per cent about, but we will get a dental test done as soon as possible.’

Hutton leaned forwards in her chair. ‘I think I owe you an apology. It may have been a coincidence that the tarmac was illegally dug up, but it nevertheless proves without doubt that your intuition was correct. I have decided that you will be the SIO and take over control of the ongoing investigation and...’ Hutton smiled. ‘I hope you still have that board you brought in. It should now be displayed in the main incident room.’

Jane tried not to grin. ‘It’s in the boot of my car, ma’am.’

‘Good. That’s all, apart from a second apology from me. Good work.’

‘Thank you, ma’am.’

Jane hurried out to the car park and quickly took out everything she needed.

By the time she had returned to the incident room the word was out, and she received a round of applause from the assembled officers, who then helped her set up her board and arrange all the material. Standing in front of her handiwork, she gave a brief report of what had happened at the mortuary. SOCO had already handed in some photographs from the courtyard, including pictures of the head, and DC Burrows now pinned them up on the board.

‘We’ll see what the death mask tells us, but I’m also making enquiries about getting a facial reconstruction from the skull, though that may take months and be very costly. I have also asked about DNA testing, and I will ask Paul Lawrence to assist if possible.’

Jane picked up a black marker pen, moving to the second board that had been brought in to stand alongside hers. ‘Right, I am going to list priority actions. First, ask Sebastian Martinez’s mother for his dental records.’

Burrows raised his hand. ‘Is it him?’

‘We won’t know for certain until we get a dental match. Next I want warrants issued to search the Larssons’ and the Boons’ properties. The items we’re looking for will be two watercolour paintings in the Larssons’ hallway. I also want the two similar paintings removed from Martin Boon’s drawing room. Also, there would have been a lot of blood, so a diligent examination of carpets and bathrooms by forensic teams will be required. And, of course, we’re still looking for the body. It could have been buried at either property. The decapitation was done with a serrated blade, probably some kind of saw, so we need to look for that. I doubt we’ll find any clothing, but there might be luggage or possibly a musical instrument, maybe a guitar. It seems likely that Sebastian Martinez arrived from Mexico and went straight to see Georgina Larsson, so he would have had everything with him.’

She paused while the officers made notes.

‘We don’t have enough evidence to make any arrests, but until we do, we will need to maintain round-the-clock surveillance on the Larssons and the Boons.’

Jane couldn’t think of anything further to add. ‘Any questions?’

DC Burrows raised his hand.

‘What about the men with the digger? Why did they pick that exact spot? They must have known the head was there. Shouldn’t we be tracing them as an urgent priority?’

Jane nodded. ‘I have obviously thought about that. During the installation of Mr Caplan’s electric gates, there had been a spate of burglaries in the area. It is quite possible that some of the stolen property could have been buried while the work was going on, but then couldn’t be retrieved when the tarmacking was finished. So, to answer your question, I think it unlikely that the men with the digger had anything to do with the death, and identifying them should be put on the back burner while we focus on more important avenues of investigation.’

By the time the room had settled, and Jane had allocated everyone their duties, it was lunchtime. She had decided that she would be the one to interview Angelica Martinez. She knew that she finished work at the care home at two, so hurried into the canteen to get a quick sandwich and coffee.

Returning to the incident room after giving herself a once-over in the ladies’, combing her hair and retouching her make-up, she found it was almost empty as most of the officers were having lunch. Just a few probationary officers were still around. As she crossed to her desk to collect her bag, DI Stanley turned from the board.

‘Congratulations. This all looks very impressive.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I just got back from court.’

‘I hope it was productive.’

‘Very.’

‘Good. I’m going to interview Angelica Martinez now.’

‘Is it her son?’

‘I think so, so I thought I should be the one to talk to her.’

Stanley nodded. ‘I’ve got another couple of days in court, and then I would appreciate being on your team.’

She hesitated for a moment, tempted to tell him where he could go. ‘Fine. I would appreciate your input.’ She walked out.

Stanley remained standing by the board, carefully looking over the extraordinary work that Jane had done. He paused by the section concerning the digger. He had spoken to Mr Bellamy and taken his statement. Now DC Burrows had added the update, confirming that they had not yet traced the two men who had dug up the head. Also noted was DI Tennison’s suggestion to check out recent house burglaries.

Stanley shook his head. Something didn’t sound right. He smiled. He knew how to bait a hook to catch a fish. He had played that game many times. Taking another look over the board, he realised she had learned to play the game too, perhaps even better than him. DI Tennison was now a force to be reckoned with. But it could be a dangerous game. She might well need some protection.