Page 26 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)

‘I only mentioned it as some of the old sweats on Counter Terrorism were a little homophobic. It was mainly banter they thought was funny, as opposed to outright nastiness. Guy didn’t complain, but a team member reported them to Professional Standards.

The offending officers were given words of advice and sent back to division.

Guy wasn’t best pleased as it brought him unwanted attention.

Anyway, I thought it best to let you know the circumstances. ’

‘I appreciate your frankness, ma’am. I think Guy will get on well with Diane and Taff.’

‘How do you feel about DCI Anderson leading the investigation on the De Klerk stabbing?’

‘It surprised me when I saw him at the scene yesterday morning to be honest. I’ve not had a chance to speak to him about my scene analysis as we’ve both been very busy.’

‘Is that a polite way of saying he hasn’t taken the time to sit down with you and discuss your findings?’

‘No, ma’am. I was late for his office meeting as I was with Michelle De Klerk. She turned up at her house unexpectedly, and I took her to the hospital.’

‘Anderson did mention it. He felt you should have called him, then he could have met her at the hospital.’

Jessica was annoyed by Anderson’s childish behaviour but was determined not to show it in front of Williams. ‘He didn’t give me his phone number.

I informed DI Chapman, his deputy, that I was at the hospital with Mrs De Klerk.

Chapman was also with us during the scene examination.

He was in regular contact with DCI Anderson and kept him informed of our progress. ’

‘I don’t doubt you for one minute, and I’ve got my eye on Anderson.

He couldn’t survive without Mike Chapman and the other experienced officers on his team, such as DS Wood.

Chapman is the glue that holds the team together, not to mention being an excellent and dedicated detective, though he can sometimes seem a little quirky.

Anderson is keen to prove himself a capable SIO, but his management skills are lacking, and he fails to listen and learn from people like you and Mike. ’

Jessica nodded. ‘I just want him to realise we are here to help, not hinder.’

‘I’m sure the results of your work will make him realise that.’

‘I read an article in the Hackney Gazette this morning, but it was brief and didn’t reveal much about the investigation. I was wondering if DCI Anderson had identified a suspect.’

‘Sadly, no. A local reporter got wind of the break-in, contacted the Met’s press office at the Yard and started asking questions.

It was clear the journalist only had snippets of information which they’d obtained from a neighbour.

The press office informed me, and I had a meeting late yesterday afternoon with Anderson about it. ’

Jessica realised Anderson had not gone home to his wife and hadn’t lied about the meeting with Williams. ‘So, he held back information as an investigative tactic,’ Jessica said.

‘No, that was my decision. Playing the incident down meant it wasn’t big news, and the Gazette wasn’t that interested, so they only published a small article.

Anderson disagreed. He felt that if there weren’t any good leads by this morning, it would be time to give the press chapter and verse, but I was against it for several reasons.

Mr and Mrs De Klerk’s wishes had to be considered before information about them and the crime was released.

Mr De Klerk is in a coma, so we don’t know how he would feel about it, and Anderson hadn’t spoken with Michelle.

I also considered that this early in the investigation, a full press release might jeopardise it. ’

‘In what way?’

‘Sometimes details about active investigations need to remain within the investigating team and not be released to the media. Criminals watch the news to see what’s happening and gather information about the progress of an investigation.

Whoever committed the crime doesn’t know what we know.

Recovering the Rolex watch and the car is vital to the investigation but finding them in the intruder’s possession is what we want.

So, tell me about the crime scene and your analysis. ’

Jessica condensed what she’d told Anderson’s team, telling Williams that she was due to meet with Michelle De Klerk to compile a victim profile on Johan, and then explaining why the appointment had been cancelled.

‘I didn’t realise Mrs De Klerk was Michelle Belsham, the barrister, until Anderson told me,’ Williams said.

‘By all accounts, she’s a fearsome operator,’ Jessica remarked.

‘She is. But my heart goes out to her with everything she must be going through. I’ve just met her at social functions and attended a lecture where she spoke about the pitfalls of the poor and inaccurate evidence police officers give in court.

She says she likes to “boil the frog” when cross-examining them. ’

Jessica looked puzzled.

Williams smiled. ‘If a frog is put into boiling water, it will jump out, but if put in tepid water and brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and be cooked.’

Jessica winced. ‘I see. And that’s what she likes to do to police officers?’

‘Michelle approaches her cross-examination of witnesses by gradually leading them through a series of questions, starting with non-contentious ones before moving on to more critical ones. She lures them into making small admissions without realising the impact of their answers, which ultimately leads to a significant admission or contradiction. It can seem brutal but she’s only doing her job.

I’ve always found her very pleasant outside of the courts.

’ Williams looked at the clock on the wall.

‘I’d better get going as I’ve got a meeting at the Yard. ’

‘With DCI Anderson?’

‘With the Commissioner . . . to tell him MSCAN are doing a wonderful job, and even Anderson was singing your praises!’ Williams said, and with her back turned, she waved her hand as she left the room.

Jessica laughed to herself. Williams, as always, was frank, down-to-earth and humorous. She continued with her report on the laptop.

A little later, Guy informed Jessica he’d finished setting up the HOLMES equipment.

‘Great, thanks. Let’s get you up to speed then.

’ She invited him to sit beside her so she could go through the scene, step by step, using the video and photographs she had loaded onto her iPad.

Once she had given her analysis, Jessica told Guy about meeting Michelle De Klerk, her visit to the hospital and Johan’s condition.

She also told him she would do a victim profile.

He nodded, taking it all in. ‘You’re obviously very busy, so I’m happy to do internet searches about De Klerk and see what I can find about his business and associates.’

‘Thank you, that would be helpful. So far, all I know is that Johan’s a wine importer from Stellenbosch, South Africa.

His company is called Springbok Wines. I’m unsure if he has a London office or runs it all from home, though I assume he must have a warehouse somewhere.

’ She showed him the internet site she found with a picture of Johan in a vineyard.

Guy looked closely at the picture. ‘Can’t say I’ve come across him before. He might use a registered UK company to distribute his imported wine. Leave it with me, and I’ll do some digging. Have you considered doing victimology on Michelle De Klerk?’

‘Not at present. Why do you ask?’

‘As Michelle Belsham, the barrister, she may have prosecuted or defended people with previous convictions for burglary and assault. Convicted criminals often hold grudges against those who put them in prison or feel their legal counsel failed them.’

Jessica gave an approving nod. ‘That’s a good point and worth following up.’

‘It also raises a few questions. Did the intruder intend to kill her but was unaware she was out of town, or was his intent to cause her grief and suffering by killing her husband? The whole burglary thing may be a deliberate distraction to hide his real intent.’

She nodded. ‘He may even have intended to kill them both, but forcing the safe open, stealing the contents and the signs of a struggle in the living room and kitchen fit with a burglary gone wrong, as Andersons suspects. We need to consider every possibility.’

‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable . . .’

‘Must be the truth,’ Jessica said, completing the Sherlock Holmes quote from The Sign of Four .

‘I’ll look through her old court cases,’ Guy continued, ‘starting with the most recent, working backwards and compile a list of possible suspects along with their photographs and criminal records. I was going to grab a sandwich and bottle of water from the canteen if that’s OK. Would you like anything?’

‘I’m fine, thanks.’ She went back to her work. A few minutes later, she heard laughter coming from the main office. Realising Taff and Diane were back, she went to join them. She noticed they were both sweating profusely.

‘What on earth have you two been doing?’

‘Lugging that bloody safe up to the lab on a trolley. It weighs a bloody tonne,’ Taff replied.

‘Tonnes would be more appropriate,’ Diane added.

‘I did all the hard work because you didn’t want to break one of your fake nails,’ Taff retorted.

‘Nothing fake about these,’ Diane said, making a clawing motion towards him. They went quiet when they heard the door number pad beep and Guy entered the room, holding a sandwich and bottle of water.

‘This is Detective Sergeant Guy Richardson, our new team member. He is our HOLMES manager and crime analyst,’ Jessica said proudly. He put the water and sandwich down and gave them a snappy salute. ‘Guy is a former captain in the Army Intelligence Corps,’ Jessica explained.

‘I’m afraid old habits die hard,’ Guy smiled.