Condemned, R.C. Bridgestock [most romantic novels TXT] 📗

The second, male corpse offered more by way of evidence. Charley was hopefully that the teeth and metal plate screwed to the left tibia would lead to the early identification of the male. With gloved hands, the professor, fully dressed in protective clothing under the bright lights of his operation theatre was ready to make a start. CSI Neal Rylatt was at hand with his camera to take photographs as required. DC Ricky-Lee, exhibits officer, was in the viewing room with Charley and Annie waiting for exhibits to be passed to him via the internal drawer from the examination room. Chevelle peered over his face mask and briefly found Charley’s face a few feet away behind the glass, where she stood with Annie, tentatively watching the dissection of the body through the viewing-room window. It might not suit some, but, similar to Annie, the isolation was far more agreeable to the Senior Investigative Officer today than being at the pathologist’s side at the edge of the post-mortem table.

‘Odontology will assist with the teeth,’ Chevelle said, stepping back for a moment to allow Margery, the mortuary assistant, to remove the top of the dead man’s skull.

Annie squirmed at the cracking sound the procedure made.

‘Like taking the top off a boiled egg,’ Charley said smiling, her focus keen, her voice eager with anticipation.

Examining the open skull at close quarters, Professor Chevelle raised his eyebrows, and drawled. ‘Well now, Inspector, aren’t you the lucky one?’ Charley could feel herself holding her breath in anticipation, as the professor plunged a pair of long-nosed tweezers into the man’s skull, and plucked out a bullet. ‘Look, I’ve a present for you.’

At the shrill ‘ping’ of the bullet dropping into the tray beside him, Chevelle’s gaze drifted away from the corpse to Charley’s face once again, and when their eyes met he continued, ‘Your starter for ten! I’m no firearms expert, but I’m sure they’ll be able to tell you, quite quickly, what sort of weapon that was fired from.’

Charley’s expression was one of pleasure, and some relief. The examination of the second victim was revealing positive lines of enquiry. DNA testing, without the need for extra, expensive procedures, would hopefully give them more.

Charley thanked Davis before leaving, who aired his suspicions that the female had died from a forceful stab wound to her chest, which would have entered her heart. The male corpse had died from a gunshot wound to his head, and the bullet recovered from within, proved it. He was likely a victim of an execution. As Charley left, she couldn’t help thinking that Chevelle was good, no, he was excellent!

Whatever had taken place, Charley now had confirmation that both killings had been premeditated and intentional.

‘Strange how the actions after the murder were similar in both killings, though years apart,’ said Annie thoughtfully, as they travelled back to the Incident Room together.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Charley.

‘Well, after the murder, both bodies were hidden. The killer, I assume was hoping that they would never be found.’

‘It keeps going around in my head, what could the motive be?’ Charley said, as she steered her car into Peel Street Police Station’s back yard.

On their arrival, the Incident Room was buzzing. More enquiries could now be set in motion, and there was plenty to discuss; all relevant information would be imparted to the wider team at the debrief.

‘I want an urgent enquiry setting up with the ballistics experts,’ Charley told Wilkie Connor. ‘I want to know what sort of weapon the bullet came from, and I want to know if that type of weapon was known to be linked to any other crimes. I’m sure they’ll treat it as a priority, but just in case, give them a gentle reminder. I don’t want to hear about their workload, we’re all busy. We have an armed murderer out and about and who’s to say that they won’t strike again soon.’

The afternoon was drawing in as she debriefed the team. When a suspect was traced for the death of the male victim, she was mindful that a team armed with weapons would be required to effect the arrest. It would be a serious mistake to use unarmed officers, thereby potentially putting lives at risk.

‘Risk Assessment is a ball-ache, but a necessity,’ Charley told Annie. ‘Life on the street is dangerous, possibly more dangerous in the UK than ever before, and ignoring the warning signs and neglecting to take remedial action is not an option in my book,’ she said. ‘My priority is the protection of the public, and you lot.’

Charley then updated Divisional Commander Stokes with the mortuary’s findings. His concern was about the cost of the investigation. ‘Just make sure you get all the funding you can from Headquarters, Charley. I don’t want to bankrupt the Division.’

His concerns were duly noted. ‘There’s no need to panic yet,’ she told him. ‘It’s early days.’

Stokes looked at the running costs, and grimaced. ‘Any suspects yet?’

‘No, we don’t even know who our victims are yet, but once we do, I expect things to move quickly.’

‘Good, keep me posted.’

Back in the Incident Room, she had a question for her team. ‘That metal on the man’s broken bones?’

Mike responded immediately, ‘An urgent enquiry has been made at the local hospitals.’

‘The DNA that Chevelle took from the male is already on its way for checks by Forensics,’ said Ricky-Lee.

Annie looked downcast. ‘Sadly, the identification of the female isn’t going to be as straightforward.’

Charley saw tired eyes, set in tired faces around the table. ‘What we must remember is the detective’s mantra: clear the ground beneath your feet before extending the parameters on the search field. We’re doing all we can, and I want that to be how it remains throughout. Whilst we carry on with new lines of enquiry, I want the intelligence cell to look at every crime that the Dixons ever committed, including the ones that they are still wanted for. After all, the pair