Unholy Murder

Chapter Six

Jane found it hard to concentrate on the road as she drove back to the station, nearly going through a red light had it not been for Boon warning her to stop. The thought of how the victim suffered an agonising death, paralysed and unable to breathe, made her feel nauseous. She wondered what could make someone so determined to kill a nun and whether it was a spur-of-the-moment incident or planned. There was no way of knowing where it had taken place, but somewhere within the old convent grounds seemed most likely.

Boon was looking out of the window, as if in a daydream, when he suddenly sat up and clicked his fingers. ‘I’ve just had a thought about Barry the builder opening the coffin, and there being a cross on the body that’s missing. Perhaps he nicked it. And what if the knife that was used to kill the nun was still in the coffin, too.’

‘It wasn’t,’ Jane said. ‘Lloyd searched the coffin.’

‘I know,’ Boon said. ‘But Barry might have nicked the knife as well.’

‘That’s good thinking, Boony,’ Jane replied in a positive tone, though she thought it unlikely.

He looked pleased. ‘Thanks, sarge. It would be a right result if Barry did have it. Teflon — sorry, Lloyd — might get some fingerprints off it.’

‘When we get back, I’ll start the report. It’s a long shot, but I’d like you to phone missing persons and make an enquiry on what we know so far,’ Jane told him.

‘Which isn’t very much. What about asking the Church if they have any records of missing nuns?’

‘I’ll ask Stanley if it’s OK to speak with Father Floridia about that. You stick to the mispers for now.’

‘I doubt mispers will go back to the 1800s,’ he sighed.

Jane knew identifying a female missing person as a possible victim would put pressure on DCS Barnes to fully investigate the nun’s murder — even more so if any of her family were still alive. ‘We know she was a nun, her height and hair colour. Confine your initial search to the 1960s for blonde-haired women, aged between sixteen and thirty... then we can go back to the 1950s if we need to.’

Boon made some notes in his pocketbook. ‘She might have been from out of town. Missing Persons Bureau only covers the Met. Should I send a telex out to the surrounding county forces to search their misper records?’

Jane worried that sending a telex to other forces might get back to Barnes or Stanley. ‘It’s best to start in London, then widen the search if we have to.’

‘We could end up with hundreds of possible hits...’

‘Agreed, but one of them might lead us to who she is. Investigating murder is never easy, Boony. It can take a lot of time and hard work to solve a complex case like this, even more so when the victim is unknown.’

‘You really like this side of the job, don’t you?’ he said.

‘Yes. As macabre as it may sound, the thrill of the chase excites me. Solving a murder and getting a conviction is very satisfying for everyone involved, even the dead person’s family to some extent.’

‘They say it gives them closure.’

‘Maybe a bit, but you can never forget the death of a loved one,’ Jane said, thinking of her parents and the grief they went through at the loss of their only son, four years old when he drowned.

It was just after five when they got back to the office. While Boon phoned Missing Persons, Jane went to Stanley’s office. He was on the phone, and from what she could hear of the conversation she guessed he was speaking to DCS Barnes. Stanley pointed to the chair. Jane placed it in front of his desk and sat down.

‘Yes, sir. I’ll pass your thoughts on to Tennison and make sure it’s ready first thing in the morning.’ Stanley put the phone down.

‘Make sure what’s ready?’ Jane asked suspiciously.

‘He wants to see your report before he makes a decision.’

‘What for? You know as much about the case as I do.’

Stanley shrugged. ‘He was busy. I didn’t get the chance to give him all the details.’

‘What were his thoughts on the details you were able to give him?’ Jane asked, feeling Stanley was being evasive.

‘He sounded positive. Like I said, he’ll make a decision after he’s read your report in the morning... so I suggest you get on with it.’

‘The coroner asked for a full forensic PM. Dr Pullen’s findings prove the nun was murdered. What more does Barnes want?’

‘For fuck’s sake, Jane, why do you always think everyone’s got it in for you? You’ve never met Tony Barnes and know nothing about him, yet you already assume he’s the devil in disguise. He has a reputation for being a stickler for the rules. He likes to know the ins and outs of a duck’s arse before making a decision.’ Stanley opened his desk drawer, pulled out a thick blue folder and pushed it across his desk.

‘What do you want me to do with that?’ she asked, assuming it was another case file.

‘It’s a copy of every bloody report I’ve had to do for him in the nine months I’ve been here. He got screwed over once when he was given duff information by another officer, who then denied what he’d said when the job went tits-up. Barnes ended up getting a reprimand. He quickly learnt the lesson that signed reports can’t be denied.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t realise...’

‘Please, Jane, for my and everyone else’s sake, just do the bloody report. Barnes will be in his Orpington office at ten.’

‘He wants me to take it to him?’ Jane asked.

Stanley sighed. ‘No, put it in a stamped envelope. I’ll post it to him on my way home.’

‘There’s no need to be facetious. I’m just surprised he’d want to meet me.’

‘I’ve no doubt you will do a decent report, but there’s bound to be a few questions he’ll want to ask.’

‘I asked Boony to run our victim’s description through the Missing Persons Bureau,’ she said hesitantly.

‘I don’t mind that under the circumstances.’

‘Am I OK to do some overtime to finish the report?’

‘Of course, Boony as well. You’ve both worked hard today in pretty shitty conditions.’ He wagged his index finger at her. ‘And no further investigation until Barnes gives you the go-ahead, understood?’

She realised it was pointless asking if she could speak to Father Floridia. She stood to attention and saluted. ‘Yes, sir.’ Then as she walked towards the door, she suddenly spun on her heel. ‘I just remembered something I forgot to mention earlier.’

‘God help me. What now?’

Jane told him about the jemmy marks on the rim of the coffin and why she and Boon suspected Barry the builder had opened it and stolen a crucifix from around the dead nun’s neck.

‘He must be a sick bastard to steal from a dead nun! Get a couple of the late-turn detectives to nick him and search his home address ASAP.’

‘I haven’t got a home address for him. He was leaving the site as we arrived. Me and Boony were going to nick him tomorrow morning.’

‘You’re meeting Barnes. Get Boony to do it with a couple of the lads and some backup. If Barry resists arrest, they’ve my authority to give the scumbag a good right-hander.’

Jane felt a bit miffed at not being able to take part in Barry’s arrest, but knew her meeting with DCS Barnes was more important, especially if she could persuade him to form a murder squad. She nodded and went back to the CID office.

‘How did it go with mispers?’ she asked Boon, who was sitting at his desk doing some paperwork.

‘Do you know they get about 25,000 misper reports a year. Nearly fifty per cent of them are under eighteen, with thirty per cent in the eighteen to thirty age range, of which females make up—’

‘Anyone matching our nun’s description?’ Jane interrupted, wanting him to get to the point.

‘The officer I spoke with said it will take a few days to trawl through the sixties females aged eighteen to thirty. He’d never heard of a nun being reported missing and he’s been working there for fifteen years.’

‘That’s an interesting point,’ Jane remarked.

‘What is?’

‘That he’s never heard of a nun being reported missing. If a nun did suddenly disappear from a convent it should have been reported, and would then in turn attract press attention.’

‘So, there might have been a previous investigation into her disappearance, years ago?’

‘It’s possible, if there were any suspicious circumstances, so we might get lucky with mispers.’

‘Not if it happened in the late 1800s or early 1900s. We can only go as far back as 1929 when the Missing Persons Bureau started. Plus, she may not even be from the convent,’ Boon replied.

‘Whatever the case we need to do all the necessary checks to try and find out who she is. When you were at the building site, did the manager mention what time they started work?’

Boon shook his head. ‘Not to me personally. Dermot asked if he should come in tomorrow and the manager said yes as there was a big brick and breeze block delivery. I think he suggested they start at seven thirty. Obviously Barry wasn’t there, so it’s unlikely he’ll turn up if he thinks the site is still shut down.’

‘The manager must have his home address, though.’ Jane worked out some timings in her head. ‘Right, I’ll meet you in the bottom lane by the site at seven. Get a couple of uniformed officers to come with you. Hopefully Barry doesn’t live far away. We should be able to search his premises in an hour or so.’

‘Why the rush?’ Boon asked.

‘I’ve got to be at DCS Barnes’s office in Orpington with my report by ten.’

‘I can deal with Barry if you want,’ he offered.

‘I know you could, but I’d like to be there and hear what he has to say for himself. You can make the arrest.’

‘Thanks, sarge. If Barry admits nicking the crucifix, you’ll have plenty of time to spare.’

‘Somehow, I don’t see him putting his hands up and saying, “Fair cop, guv.”’

‘Do you want any help with the report?’

‘No, thanks. You’ve done a good job today. Get off home and have an early night.’

‘Thanks, sarge. Sorry about the incident with the nun’s head.’

‘Don’t worry about it. I’m sure she didn’t take offence.’

Jane sat at her desk, put a piece of paper in the typewriter and opened her notebook. She noticed Father Floridia’s name and phone number and remembered she had promised to call and update him about the coffin. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. Jane realised she knew very little about St Mary’s Convent, or the practices of the Catholic Church, and Father Chris’s knowledge could prove invaluable in trying to identify the nun. She went to Stanley’s office.

‘Sorry to bother you, guv. There’s quite a bit of distraction in the office and it’s hard to concentrate. Is it OK if I type up my report at home?’

‘I don’t care where you do it as long as it’s done by ten in the morning.’

‘Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning after my meeting with Barnes.’

‘You’ll be fine. Whatever happens, he knows he can’t brush a nun’s murder under the carpet. It’s just a question of manpower and the cost of investigating something which may never be solvable.’

‘I know,’ Jane said. ‘I shouldn’t have reacted like I did at the mortuary or here earlier.’

‘It’s all right. I get why you’re upset over the way you’ve been treated in the past. There’s many an officer who would have handed in their warrant card by now.’

She gave him a wry smile. ‘It’s crossed my mind a few times.’

‘That’s the thing I most admire about you, Jane. You’re a fighter, not a quitter.’

‘It’s good to know you’re on my side.’

‘I always have been, Jane. I remember the first time I met you in the back of an observation van in the early seventies.’

She laughed. ‘So do I! You told me to keep watch and then went to sleep.’

He grinned. ‘Happy days. For what it’s worth, my advice is not to bottle things up and let them eat away at you. Listen to other people’s viewpoints, then speak your mind calmly and objectively.’

Jane knew he was right, though it seemed odd coming from Stanley. This wasn’t the scatterbrained man she’d worked with when he was a DC and DS. Promotion to DI seemed to have somehow made him a lot more thoughtful.