Page 119 of The Scene of the Crime

‘Where’s DS Wood? As a supervising officer, he should organise it.’

‘He’s following up on a lead. Probably be a dead end, but I thought he should check it out.’

Nicki was looking at Wheeler’s hands. ‘It looks like he was restrained. There are rope marks on his wrists and traces ofsticky tape around his mouth and nose. This looks interesting,’ Nicki said, looking closely at the back of Wheeler’s head before removing some plastic tweezers from her bag.

‘What is it?’ Anderson asked.

‘A small piece of black masking tape. It must have come loose when the tape was removed from his mouth.’ Nicki carefully removed it from Wheeler’s hair before placing it in a small plastic container.

‘Taff might get a fingerprint off it. And it might be useful for a mechanical fit if we can find the roll of tape it came from,’ Jessica observed. Nicki undid Wheeler’s shirt buttons, revealing some round red marks on the upper centre of his chest.

‘Cigarette burns?’ Anderson asked.

‘From the circumference, I’d say they’re from something bigger, like a cigar.’

Jessica looked in the ashtray on the table. ‘There’s a lump of ash that’s bigger than a cigarette.’

‘That’s definitely cigar ash. My grandad used to smoke them. Whoever did this taped Wheeler’s mouth while they were torturing him,’ Chapman said.

‘But when they removed the tape, he still didn’t tell them where the cash was,’ Anderson said.

‘He may have died before he was able to,’ Nicki said. ‘He’s got some heavy bruising to the upper left side of the abdomen, which I’d say is at least three days old.’

‘What do you think caused it?’ Anderson asked.

‘Could be a kick, or he was hit hard with a blunt instrument like a baseball bat or a lump of wood. However, I don’t think his external injuries would have killed him. He may have serious internal injuries or had a heart attack, but I won’t know until I open him up in the mortuary.’

‘Could he have choked on his vomit if his mouth was taped?’ Anderson asked.

‘It’s possible, but I didn’t see any vomit inside his mouth. That’s not to say some may not have got stuck in his throat. A full postmortem should tell us more. I can do it at the new East London Forensic Centre when we finish here. Is that OK for you all?’ Everyone nodded.

‘I’ll just be two ticks. I want to ask Di and Taff to search the stairwell, foyer, and outside for any discarded cigars,’ Jessica said.

‘I was just thinking the same thing. I can get some uniform officers to assist,’ Anderson said. Chapman glanced at Jessica and shook his head, knowing it had never crossed Anderson’s mind.

Outside the flat, Jessica’s phone rang, and she answered a call from Guy. He said he had carried out a cursory examination of Wheeler’s phone and the laptop. She returned inside to put him on speakerphone so the others could hear.

‘Just before eight p.m., Tuesday night, Wheeler used the laptop to book an Emirates Airways flight to Dubai, which cost two thousand eight hundred pounds. He paid with a credit card in the same name as the passport. Around the same time, he ordered an Uber for midnight to take him to Heathrow. I contacted the company, who said the driver turned up, waited outside for five minutes and tried calling him but got no answer and left.’

‘Looks like he might have been killed between eight p.m. and midnight then?’ Chapman suggested to Nicki, who nodded.

‘I know you’re busy, but I’ve also got some info from the service provider on the missing burner phone if you want it,’ Guy said.

‘Yes, please. DCI Anderson and DI Chapman are with me,’ Jessica said.

‘You might recall I said it was last used in Birmingham. Well, whoever contacted Wheeler on it was staying at the Bloc Hotel, Caroline Street.’

‘Do you know that for certain?’ Anderson asked.

‘Yes, because they made the mistake of using WhatsApp on the free Wi-Fi provided by the hotel. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a name or a room number.’

‘I’ll get someone to make enquiries with the hotel. Great work,’ Anderson said.

‘Something about the hotel’s location might also interest you. It’s in the heart of Birmingham’s jewellery quarter, with over a hundred retailers, diamond dealers and workshops.’

Chapman nodded to himself. ‘When the burner phones went live, the first cell tower to pick them up was in Leather Lane, Holborn, last Wednesday evening. Leather Lane is the next street down from Hatton Garden, London’s jewellery quarter and the centre of the UK diamond trade.’

‘It seems likely the lockbox contained jewellery, then,’ Anderson suggested. ‘I need to ask Michelle De Klerk about it.’