Page 80 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)

‘Yes, and I also believe his wife lied to us regarding his involvement and coached him on what to say . . . not that it matters now he’s dead.’

‘Do you think she might be involved in her husband’s death?’

‘A gut feeling tells me she could be, but there’s no evidence, and I’m up against detectives that would disagree with my suspicions.’

‘Do you trust your gut feelings?’

‘Yes, I do, but I don’t know how I will be able to prove they are correct.’ Jessica waited for Anna to respond, but there was silence. She asked if she was still on the line.

‘Yes, sorry, I was just thinking about the best advice I can give you . . . which would be to step back and go over everything you know. Identify all the evidence, write it down and construct competing hypotheses to produce the most likely explanation of events. I hope I’m not teaching you to suck eggs, but from what I’ve been told your intuition is usually correct.

Keep digging, and you’ll find the evidence you need to prove Johan De Klerk was, or wasn’t, murdered. ’

Jessica thanked Anna for her advice and said she’d let her know the outcome.

No sooner had she finished the call than her mobile rang.

It was Diane, who’d been told about De Klerk’s death and wanted to know how she was.

Jessica told her everything that had happened at the hospital and about Doctor Babu’s comments.

‘How does it impact the case, now that Johan’s dead?’ Diane asked.

‘Chapman said Johan didn’t reveal any incriminating evidence of a criminal connection between himself, Cole or Bishop, but they will be tried for Wheeler’s death.’

‘What about Michelle?’

‘She was screaming her head off, but I didn’t fare much better questioning her.

She can spin a yarn, all right. It was quite a performance as the innocent heartbroken wife and upstanding barrister.

Truthfully, I think she’s a liar and a narcissist, manipulative and utterly convinced of her own superiority.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she attempted to bring a case against Anderson and Chapman for harassment and causing her husband’s heart attack. ’

‘Does that mean we’re off the investigation?’

‘I can’t see any more arrests being made, but we’ve still got forensic work and reports to complete.’

‘At least we earned a lot of kudos on our first case,’ Diane said, trying to be positive. Just as Diane was about to end the call, Jessica asked if she could do something for her. ‘Name it.’

‘When we searched the De Klerks’ property, I filmed the contents of Michelle and Johan’s cupboards in the en suite bathroom. As I recall, there were a lot of vitamins and health supplements in Johan’s. I’m sure there was a large plastic container of potassium. Could you check on the video for me?’

‘Sure, any reason why?’

‘Yes. Doctor Babu said that Johan had a high potassium count in his system when he was brought in.’

‘I doubt daily potassium vitamins would cause a heart attack.’

‘I know, but if he was taking a daily dose, we should let the doctor and pathologist know,’ Jessica said, not wanting to reveal her suspicions about Michelle.

‘I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve had a look,’ Diane said, ending the call.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Jessica started following Anna Travis’s advice and making notes, though it did all feel a bit pointless.

She googled potassium and read that it provides electrolytes essential for several body processes, supports nerve and muscle function and helps maintain normal blood pressure.

She then looked up potassium overdoses and read that, as Doctor Babu had said, too much potassium in your blood can cause an irregular heartbeat and result in a heart attack.

Frustrated by her own lists of queries, she next called the hospital mortuary, asking to speak to Dr Giorgini, explaining it was about Johan De Klerk’s postmortem.

She was put on hold and transferred to various departments before she angrily demanded that if Dr Giorgini was there, she urgently needed to speak to her.

She hung on as she was informed that Giorgini was examining De Klerk’s body.

It was another five minutes before she was able to speak to her.

‘Sorry to bother you, Nicki, but there’s something you might be able to help me with.’

‘Make it quick, Jess. I’m in the middle of De Klerk’s postmortem. Anderson wants the results asap.’

‘This might sound a bit crazy, but could you inject someone with potassium or put it in a drink to bring on a fatal heart attack?’

‘Obviously you’re talking about De Klerk.’

‘Yes. I know what Doctor Babu said, but I find it odd that one minute he’s chatting away, and the next he’s dying. De Klerk had potassium in his bathroom cupboard, but I’m unsure if they were capsules or tablets.’

‘It would take a lot of them to kill him.’

‘I know, but it means his wife, Michelle, had access to them.’

‘In a drink, the potassium might taste bitter or salty. You could crush and dissolve tablets or capsules in water to create a liquid for injection, but you’d have to know what you were doing to make it work slowly until it became lethal.

De Klerk has a lot of needle marks on him, some old and some new, but I’ll check for any in unusual places.

I need to get back to the mortuary now.’

Jessica knew Giorgini was an exemplary pathologist, and if there was any evidence that Michelle had somehow injected Johan with a lethal dose of potassium, she would find it.

But now that she’d brought the idea up, it seemed too far-fetched.

Was she just clutching at straws, now that there was no realistic possibility of proving Michelle was involved in any criminal activity, or was it an emotional reaction to Michelle’s threats?

Diane rang back and told Jessica that Guy had enlarged the section she had filmed and the potassium was quick-release and in tablet form.

She asked how many milligrams of potassium were in each capsule, and Diane said 275.

She asked Diane to send her a copy of the potassium container and photos of the back and sides so she could see all the details about the manufacturer and daily dosage recommendations.

Diane was about to ask some questions, but Jessica asked to speak to Guy, and so she handed the phone to him.

Guy immediately asked about the potassium’s relevance, but Jessica interrupted him.

‘I need you to do something for me asap. I want you to review every case Michelle De Klerk has worked on. You might have to go back years, I know.’

‘Christ, she’s been a junior and senior barrister before becoming a KC and must have worked in God knows how many chambers.’

‘I know. Just keep going back and see if there is any case, no matter how long ago, that is connected to hospitals, doctors, surgeries or drugs. Do a word search for potassium in each case and let me know immediately if you get a hit.’

‘Will do.’ She hung up, knowing Guy would do a thorough search. Part of her doubted he would find anything confirming her hunch, but she just couldn’t let it go. She decided to get changed, go to Barking and speak with Anderson and Chapman about her suspicions.

*?*?*

Jessica tapped on Chapman’s office door before entering. He gave her a glum look as she walked in. ‘Anderson is with Commander Williams, and I don’t have an update for you. Williams has informed the IOPC, who will carry out an investigation regarding Johan’s death.’

‘Why? Doctor Babu said you could interview Johan, and he agreed to be interviewed.’

‘Belt and braces. Technically, it’s a death in police custody as we were interviewing Johan under caution, so it’s mandatory for the IOPC to investigate. Which, in some ways, is not a bad thing as Michelle is bound to make a complaint.’

‘There was a large container of potassium tablets along with the vitamins in Johan’s bathroom cabinet. Diane sent me some photographs I took of them.’

He looked at her as if she was mad. ‘What the fuck has that got to do with anything?’

‘I think he could have been given a potassium overdose and that’s what killed him.’

‘Who by? His wife? “Excuse me, Johan, do you mind staying still while I stick this needle in you?” “Not at all, Michelle, go ahead.”’

‘There’s no need to be sarcastic.’

‘I’m not. I’m being realistic.’ Jessica’s mobile rang. It was Guy.

‘I need to answer this.’

‘Carry on, I need some coffee. I’ll get one for you.

’ He stalked out of his office as she answered the call.

Guy said he had been as thorough as possible in reviewing Michelle’s cases as a senior barrister and KC but found no evidence of any case Michelle had been involved in with connections to potassium, hospitals, doctors’ malpractice or drug dealing.

Jessica took a deep breath. ‘Go further back, Guy. Look at when she was junior council and an apprentice barrister if necessary. You must keep searching and let me know if you find anything.’

‘OK, I’ll try and find the chambers she first worked for.’

‘Thank you.’ Jessica ended the call and sat waiting for Chapman to return. He eventually kicked his door open, carrying two takeaway cups of coffee, and put them on his desk. She picked one up.

He sighed. ‘Look, I’m sorry for taking the piss. I know you have legitimate suspicions about Michelle. But the fact is we have no proof, and with him being fucking dead it’s doubtful we will find any. It’s case closed, and we all need to move on.’

Jessica stood up. ‘Thank you for this. I’d be grateful if you’d let me know the postmortem result when it comes in.’

‘Where are you going?’ he asked.

‘Home.’ She slammed the door behind her as he raised his hands in a hopeless gesture of apology.

She sat in her car, drinking her cup of coffee and mentally going over the facts of Johan’s death and her interview with Michelle. She was about to drive home when Guy called, with what she expected to be a further negative result.

‘Are you sitting down?’ he asked.

‘What have you got?’