Page 24 of The Scene of the Crime

Taff went and got the ladder. Returning to the back of the house, he extended it and ensured the locking mechanism was engaged. He propped it up against the wall and took one step when it began to slide slightly on the pavement. He called to Diane, who was by the van, and she came and held the ladder steady for him.

‘The walls are crumbly on top. No good for foot marks,’ he said. ‘There are some glove marks on top of the neighbour’s gate, though. I’ll do some tape lifts for any fibres.’

‘What do you think you’re doing? I’m calling the police!’ An elderly woman holding a broom shouted at them. Diane let go of the ladder to show the woman her MSCAN ID. ‘Don’t come nearme, or I’ll hit you with my broom,’ the woman said, gripping the broom tighter.

Suddenly, the ladder started to slip away from the wall. ‘Hold it steady!’ Taff shouted to Diane, then climbed down gingerly. ‘There’s been a burglary. We’re the forensics team,’ Taff said, holding his own ID out. ‘We think someone may have used your wall to enter the De Klerk’s garden.’

‘If I’d seen them, they’d have got a good whack with this,’ she said, holding up the broom.

Diane smiled. ‘We’re sorry to have disturbed you. We should have asked for your permission to examine the gate.’

‘It’s all right, I understand you’ve got a job to do . . . do you want a cup of tea?’ she asked, lowering the broom at last.

‘Thanks for the offer, but we have to finish our work,’ Diane replied.

‘Could you do me a favour?’ the woman asked.

‘What would it be?’ Taff said.

‘Tell that arsehole Mr De Klerk to stop parking his big car outside my house. It blocks the light from my living room. I’ve told him three times to move it, but he just ignores me and walks off. You know they’ve only just moved in; we had builders and contractors here for months digging up their basement for a cinema, throwing their money around like confetti. I swear, if he keeps parking that Range Rover in front of my living room, I’ll shove this broom handle right up his backside.’

‘We’ll see what we can do, ma’am,’ Taff assured her, trying to keep a straight face.

‘Doesn’t look like Mr De Klerk has too many fans in the neighbourhood,’ Diane remarked.

‘I’ll say, Taff agreed, stepping onto the ladder again. ‘Right, this time put your foot on the bottom rung and keep a tight grip on it. The last thing I want to do is break my neck on our first job together!’

CHAPTER SEVEN

David Russell sat in the waiting area of his local medical practice, nervously tapping his foot on the floor and looking up at the TV screen on the wall for his name and the doctor’s room number to appear.

A woman in her seventies sitting opposite him leaned forward. ‘Do you mind?’

‘Mind what?’ David asked.

She pointed to his feet. ‘The constant toe-tapping.’

‘Sorry, I’ve had to take time off work to be here. My appointment should have been twenty minutes ago.’

‘That’s par for the course at this practice. Mind you, I’ve been here so many times I’ve got used to it.’ She turned back toGood Housekeepingmagazine.

David had been worried all weekend after Doctor Barnes called him on Friday afternoon and requested that he attend the practice on Monday morning so she could discuss his blood test results. After a previous blood test, all he’d received was a text message informing him the results were satisfactory and that he didn’t need to attend the surgery. He contemplated telling Jess, but he didn’t want to worry her when she had the stress of starting her new job. He’d told her he just had a bit of sciatica, but he was actually suffering from leg cramps and was starting to have difficulty gripping and carrying his mailbags. Over the past two months, he had lost weight and muscle mass,but he couldn’t understand why, as his eating habits and daily routine hadn’t changed. Feeling anxious about it, he’d looked up iron deficiency anaemia and similar illnesses on the internet. Although he had some symptoms, he didn’t have pale yellow skin or get headaches when doing something strenuous. Another sign of anaemia was a rapid heartbeat, which he knew he didn’t have, as he’d bought an ECG smartwatch to monitor his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels.

David looked at his watch. His heart rate was slightly up, but that was probably due to being nervous about his blood test results. Without knowing he was doing it, he started tapping his foot again.

The woman lowered her magazine and frowned. ‘Sorry.’ David apologised then put his hands firmly on his knees to keep them still. He looked up and saw the receptionist walking towards him.

‘David, the doctor is waiting for you in room three,’ she told him. He realised he’d missed his name on the TV screen.

As he walked into room three, Dr Barnes welcomed him with a warm smile. ‘Sit down, David. How are you feeling?’

‘Not too bad, thanks. I’m still getting the leg cramps and feeling run down though.’

‘Did you try the tonic water I recommended? The quinine in it helps against cramps.’

‘Honestly, it hasn’t made any difference. And I’ve been monitoring my weight and muscle mass . . . they’ve both been going down, which has never happened before.’

‘There could be many reasons for that.’ Dr Barnes turned her seat and looked at her computer screen. ‘Your blood test revealed an increase in a substance called creatine kinase. It’s an enzyme that exists in your heart and skeletal muscle. Any event, like an injury, that causes muscle damage or interferes with muscle energy production can increase creatine kinase levels inyour blood. Even intense exercise can be a cause for the rise. How do you keep fit?’ she asked.