Page 122 of The Scene of the Crime

‘How many are in his stomach?’ Jessica asked.

‘I can see three more, but I need to have a feel around in case there are others.’

‘Rather you than me,’ Chapman winced.

‘If one had burst, the drugs in it would have killed him,’ Nicki said, removing two more condoms from Wheeler’s stomach.

‘Diane said she found five Durex wrappers in Wheeler’s bedroom bin,’ Jessica reminded them.

‘That’s not a lot for a drugs mule. Generally, in postmortem cases with drug mules, I recover anywhere between thirty and fifty wrapped condoms,’ Nicki said.

‘I think we need to look inside one and see what we’re dealing with,’ Jessica suggested. Nicki put one of the condoms on a chopping board and, using a scalpel, slowly cut it open before carefully unwrapping the cling film and tape to reveal the contents. Chapman leaned in to get a closer look.

‘Looks like different sizes of coloured pebbles. Is it some form of crack cocaine?’ he asked.

Jessica was equally perplexed. ‘I don’t know. We can test them back at the lab.’

Nicki smiled. ‘I’ve only ever seen this once before, during a presentation at a pathology conference last year. Unlike their polished counterparts, which display a brilliant sparkle, raw diamonds have a rough exterior and resemble ordinary rocks or pebbles.’

‘They’re fucking diamonds?’ Chapman exclaimed. ‘Excuse my French.’

‘It looks like it. You’d best get an expert to look at them for a more definitive answer,’ Nicki told them.

‘How many are there?’ he asked.

‘There’s five in the one I just opened, so assuming there’s the same in each condom, that’s at least twenty diamonds, maybe more.’

‘What sort of value would we be talking about?’ Chapman asked.

Nicki shrugged. ‘I haven’t a clue. I believe it would depend on the carat and type of diamond. You could be talking between a few thousand pounds to two hundred thousand, maybe more once they’re polished and cut. There’s a few really good-sized ones.’

‘I’ll arrange for a marked response vehicle to take the diamonds to the lab,’ Chapman said.

‘I’m perfectly capable of doing that,’ Jessica said.

‘I know, but you could be involved in an accident or a carjacking, and I’m not prepared to risk losing thousands of pounds’ worth of vital evidence. Or you,’ he added with a smile.

The postmortem lasted nearly three hours as Nicki examined all of Wheeler’s internal organs, then cut open his skull and examined his brain. She also took blood, urine and hair samples to be examined for drugs.

‘Is the spleen injury the definite cause of death, then?’ Chapman finally asked.

‘I don’t know yet, but as I said before, it would have eventually killed him without medical intervention. Wheeler was a fit man with a healthy heart, but he might have died from takotsubo cardiomyopathy.’

‘What’s that?’ Chapman asked.

‘It’s also known as broken heart syndrome. A weakening of the left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber, can occur when a person experiences severe emotional or physical stress. A rush of overwhelming stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline, putting sudden stress on the heart, which Wheelercould have suffered when tied up and tortured. Again, without medical assistance, it could have killed him.’

‘If that’s how he died, whoever tied him up and tortured him is responsible for his death,’ Jessica said.

‘No one knows the exact cause of takotsubo syndrome, but it can lead to severe, short-term heart muscle failure, and in rare cases, it can be fatal. I need to X-ray his heart and do some histopathology and microscopy work before I can determine if that’s how he died. I’ll have a full report done by midday tomorrow and send it to you two and DCI Anderson.’

* * *

After the postmortem, Chapman and Jessica went to see Anderson, who was on the phone with Commander Williams. He smiled and pointed to the chairs, inviting them to sit. ‘Yes, ma’am, I’ve informed the CPS. They agreed the current charges against Palmer should be dropped. However, he will be remanded in custody on the assault charge and burglary warrant.’ He paused to listen before continuing. ‘We all got it wrong, and if it wasn’t for Jessica, an innocent man could have gone to prison for a long time. She’s with me now, so I’ll pass on your appreciation.’ He ended the call and looked at her. ‘As you probably guessed, Commander Williams has been very impressed with you and your team’s work, as have we all.’

‘Just doing our job, sir, and thank you for your support. We all appreciate it.’

‘Just call me John or guv when we talk privately. I want to apologise to you both regarding my tunnel vision regarding Palmer. You’d probably have expressed your concerns earlier if I’d been more approachable.’