Page 56 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)

‘Don’t we need a warrant to enter, guv?’ Bingham asked.

‘No. Wheeler is suspected of attempted murder, and we think he’s refusing to let us in, so we have reasonable grounds to enter by force, arrest him and search the premises.

Get your tasers out just in case,’ Chapman instructed the uniform officers.

He swung the ram back and struck the door hard a few times before the lock gave way with a sound of cracking wood.

‘Armed police! Stay where you are, Wheeler!’ Chapman shouted, standing back to let the officers, with their tasers raised, enter first.

The contents of the hallway cupboard were strewn across the floor. The officers, followed by Chapman and Jessica, cautiously stepped over a rucksack, hoover and assorted coats, checking the kitchen and bedrooms before approaching the living room.

Chapman sniffed a few times and looked at Jessica. ‘Is that smell what I think it is?’ he asked.

Jessica nodded. ‘Let’s hope it’s an animal, not Wheeler.’

The living room had been ransacked. A man was slumped back in an armchair with a bruised face and a trail of dried blood from his nose and mouth onto the front of his shirt and trousers. Chapman looked at the photo of Wheeler then passed it to her.

‘I’d say that’s him,’ she said, looking closely at the body.

Chapman put on some latex gloves and checked for a neck pulse, just to be sure.

‘Looks like someone got to him before we did,’ she said, removing a pair of latex gloves from her handbag and putting them on.

She took the man’s hand and lifted it. ‘The arm muscle isn’t fully stiff, which suggests rigor mortis is on its way out.

It can last up to twenty-four hours, sometimes longer, then the stiffness disperses, and the muscles become flexible. ’

‘How long do you think he’s been dead, then?’ Chapman asked.

‘It’s best to call out a pathologist. They can give you a better time of death estimate than me.’

‘At a guess?’ Chapman asked.

‘A day and a half, maybe two, tops.’ Chapman asked one of the uniform officers to call the local station and ask them to contact the local coroner’s office, requesting a pathologist attend the scene. He then crouched down and looked at the man’s trainers.

‘Adidas Ultraboost.’

‘And a pair of Sealskinz gloves are on the coffee table beside a passport,’ Jessica added. She picked up the passport and removed the folded piece of A4 paper tucked inside it. She opened the passport and showed it to Chapman.

‘It’s in the name of Colin Heart but with Wheeler’s photograph.’ She then unfolded the piece of paper. ‘A printed copy of a one-way, business class ticket for Colin Heart. Emirates Airways to Dubai for nine a.m. yesterday morning. Looks like Wheeler was in a hurry to get out of the country.’

‘Well, he won’t be getting a refund,’ Chapman said.

‘Dubai’s an odd place to go if you’re on the run,’ Jessica said, frowning.

Chapman shook his head. ‘Not these days. A growing number of criminals on the run are heading to the Middle East. It’s become a popular alternative to the Netherlands and the Costa del Sol in Spain.

There are large expat communities and a regular flow of tourists, which allows fugitives to maintain a blend in. ’

‘There’s a suitcase in the bedroom with a few bits of clothing in it, and a lot of clothes strewn around the floor,’ a uniformed officer told them.

They both had a look. Some folded clothes were still on the bed, but other clothing was scattered over the floor, and the bedroom wardrobes and dressing table drawers had also been searched.

Jessica nodded to the case. ‘The inner lining’s been ripped out. I wonder what they were looking for.’

Chapman shrugged, ‘Could be the watch and the cash, but it doesn’t make sense that Wheeler would plant it on Palmer and leave the UK without it. You can’t survive in Dubai without money. Maybe there was more in that safe we don’t know about.’

‘As this is a suspected murder, I think we should remove ourselves in case of any cross-contamination,’ Jessica said.

‘I’ll call my team out. They can photograph and video the scene before we start the forensic examination.

Can you take me back to Barking? I need to get my car. All my equipment’s in it.’

‘I better ring Anderson.’

‘Are you going to tell Liam?’

‘Yes, but I need to ask him about the phone call with Wheeler first and what else he knows about him. Do you think he could be involved in Wheeler’s murder?’

‘No, and be honest, neither do you. But I expect Anderson will.’

Jessica called Guy and asked him to tell Diane and Taff to come to the scene and for him to collect Wheeler’s mobile phone and laptop so he could start working on them.

Chapman called Anderson, who was still at home.

He said he hadn’t seen Chapman’s text as he was charging his phone.

Chapman briefly explained his visit to the pub, the information about Wheeler and the discovery of his body.

Anderson was livid and told Chapman to call the MSCAN team to the scene and to get his ‘arse’ back to the station.

‘I expect a thorough explanation for your actions, in particular your failure to keep me informed about what you’re doing at all times! ’

Travelling back to Barking, Jessica asked Chapman why he hadn’t told Anderson she was with him at the pub or mentioned they had spoken to Palmer. ‘I thought it best to wait until I talked to him personally. He was angry enough as it was.’

‘We’re in this together, Mike, so we’ll talk to him together.’

He grinned. ‘Yes, ma’am.’