Page 7 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)

When she got home, Jessica could smell something familiar cooking but wasn’t quite sure what it was. The oven was on, and David was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at a piece of paper. ‘What are you cooking?’

He handed Jessica the paper, and she instantly recognised their mother’s handwriting.

‘It’s Mum’s chicken casserole recipe, our favourite meal.

We haven’t had it since she died, but I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate your success today.

I’m making mashed potatoes with it, and there’s a bottle of champagne in the fridge.

It’s from Lidl, but it’s won blind-tasting awards from experts.

And there’s sticky toffee pudding with cream for dessert, but I bought that from M&S. ’

‘Thanks, David, that’s so thoughtful of you. I really appreciate it. Can I do anything to help?’

‘Nope. It’s all under control. Ready in about half an hour?’

‘OK, I’ll just go and sort out the dirty laundry,’ Jessica said.

‘I’ve already put the washing on and hoovered and cleaned everywhere, even the bathroom.’

Jessica was taken aback. She knew David loved cooking, but she couldn’t remember if he’d ever done any housework. ‘You didn’t need to do all that, especially if your back is playing up.’

‘I took it nice and easy. Besides, you’re always telling me a clean house is a happy house, so I thought I’d give you a break and make you happy.’

Jessica glanced at him sideways. ‘Have you had your bike in here again?’ She looked around for any signs of cycle oil.

He laughed. ‘No, I just wanted to do something nice for you.’

‘All right, I believe you,’ she said and went to her bedroom.

After changing into her tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt, Jessica returned to the kitchen and started setting the table while David opened the champagne.

They both said cheers and clinked glasses.

She sipped hers but noticed that David quickly drank half a glass and immediately topped it up.

David served the chicken casserole and mash, eager for Jessica’s reaction.

‘Just like Mum’s,’ she said, and he smiled.

While they ate, she told him about her meeting with Commander Williams, the office and the state-of-the-art laboratory facilities.

When they finished, he cleared the table and Jessica did her best to hide her irritation at the haphazard way he put the dirty plates and cutlery in the dishwasher, as she liked them to be rinsed under the tap first and placed in the dishwasher a certain way.

As David was getting the sticky toffee pudding from the fridge, the washing machine beeped. Jessica stood up. ‘I’ll put the clothes in the tumble dryer,’ she said.

David wagged his finger at her. ‘No, you won’t. I’m in charge today, so sit down. You can pour us another glass of champagne if you want something to do.’

Jessica still had a full glass and poured a bit into David’s while he had his back to her.

She watched as he pulled the clothes out and put them in the laundry basket, then her heart sank as she realised what he had done.

She could see he’d mixed the coloured and white clothes and set the temperature dial to sixty degrees.

As a result, the dye in the coloured clothes had bled out and turned her white silk blouse and underwear a pinky-grey colour.

She saw her cotton jeans and a red jumper in among the load and realised they would most likely have shrunk at that temperature.

Trying her best not to ruin the evening, Jessica swallowed her annoyance and said nothing. But David quickly noticed his error.

‘You are a fucking idiot!’ he muttered angrily to himself, swiping his hand against the sticky toffee pudding and accidentally knocking it to the floor.

He looked forlornly at the soggy mess on the floor.

Jessica calmly got up from her chair and grabbed the kitchen roll.

David bent over and tried to scoop up the pudding, bits sliding back to the floor through his fingers.

As he started to straighten up, his back went into spasm.

He cried out in pain and collapsed to his knees.

Jessica knelt beside him and put her arm around his shoulder to help him up. ‘You’ve obviously done something serious to your back. You need to see a doctor.’

‘I’ll be fine, it’s just a bit of sciatica . . .’

‘You need to rest up. All that cycling and pushing heavy mail trolleys around doesn’t help. If you don’t book a doctor’s appointment, I will.’

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Point taken. I’ll do it on my laptop in the bedroom.’

‘I’ll run you a hot bath with some Radox, then I think you should go to bed and rest your back.’

David didn’t argue as she helped him to his room.

While he bathed, Jessica cleaned up the mess from the sticky toffee pudding and placed it in the bin before mopping the floor.

She then removed the dirty plates and cutlery from the dishwasher, rinsed them in the sink and restacked them in an orderly way so they would be cleaned efficiently.

Although David’s sloppiness annoyed her, she realised that her need to constantly tidy and clean irritated him just as much.

He said she had an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and from her psychology studies, Jessica knew there was some truth in it.

She recognised that her OCD had been triggered by the traumas she had experienced.

Her compulsive behaviour served as a coping mechanism, which, ironically, also happened to make her exceptionally thorough in her work as a crime scene investigator.

David hobbled in. ‘Sorry for the mess and ruining the evening,’ he said miserably.

‘The clothes and the pudding are not important, David. It’s your health I’m concerned about. Did you book an appointment at the doctor’s?’

‘The best I could get was a telephone appointment with Doctor Barnes on Monday morning. It’s a two-week wait for a surgery appointment.’

‘Well, that’s better than nothing, and for Christ’s sake take it easy . . . no cycling and maybe go sick from work.’

‘I’m off this weekend, so I’ll see how I feel on Monday.’

‘Then spend the weekend in bed and let your back heal.’

He tried to stand upright and saluted. ‘Yes, ma’am!’

She shook her head and laughed. ‘Now get to bed and get some rest.’

‘Any chance of a hot chocolate? Might help me sleep.’

‘God knows what you’d do without me,’ she said, flicking the kettle on.

He shuffled off with a smile. When she had made his drink, she tapped on the door and went into his bedroom.

She placed the big mug on his bedside table, turned to go back to the kitchen, then hesitated.

‘I don’t want you to get pissed off with me, but occasionally I can smell that you’ve been smoking weed.

It’s just that if I can detect it, you never know if someone else can. ’

He folded his arms. ‘I’ve not done it for a bloody long time.’

‘I’m sure you haven’t, but it’s just a sort of warning, I need you to look out for me, even more so in my new position. It could get me into big trouble.’

‘Shit, you’re right, and I’m sorry, but I don’t have any and there’s no way I’ll score any more, you have my word.’

‘Thank you.’

He reached for his hot chocolate. ‘Did you sugar it?’

‘I most certainly did. Good night.’

*?*?*

Jessica spent the weekend taking care of David, insisting he stay in bed.

He wasn’t happy about it, saying he wanted to go on a ride with his Petts Wood Cycling Club friends.

But she told him she’d locked the garage doors and hidden the key, so it was pointless trying to escape.

She had also done a quick sweep to double-check he had been telling the truth and had only found an old roach under a bench.

On Sunday, he said his back felt much better and that he would go to work the following morning.

Jessica had noticed his occasional wince of pain and once again tried to persuade him to go sick, but he kept saying he was fine.

She knew arguing with him would be pointless but warned him that he’d only have himself to blame if his back flared up again.

*?*?*

On Monday morning, Jessica went to her office at the Kent police headquarters.

She completed and signed all the online documents for her transfer on the following Monday, and then, having finished her paperwork and case files, spoke briefly with the director of forensics.

He said she could spend the rest of the week at the Met lab setting up her new office, and he would call her if needed.

He also reminded her he’d organised a leaving drink after work at the local pub on Friday.

Jessica then called Commander Williams to inform her that she could officially join the Metropolitan Police next Monday.

The Commander was delighted and asked Jess if she and her team would like to be on call over the coming weekend if a category A or B major crime occurred.

Jessica said she was available all weekend and would speak with Diane and Taff later, as they were helping to set up their new offices, but she felt they would be happy to be on call.

That evening, sitting at the kitchen table, David told Jessica he’d had a phone consultation with Doctor Barnes.

Unsurprisingly, she said he’d probably strained a muscle in his back at work.

David didn’t challenge her assessment, even though he’d never felt any pain while doing his mail round.

But Doctor Barnes also wanted him to have a blood test to assess his general state of health, and he’d had a sample taken at the local chemists in Petts Wood after work.

The doctor would contact him once she had the results.

However, he failed to mention to Jessica that Doctor Barnes also recommended he take a few days of sick leave to recover fully.

‘That’s it?’ Jessica asked sceptically.

‘Yeah, she said it’ll probably sort itself out. Right, I’m off to bed,’ he said before Jessica could say anything else.