Page 34 of The Scene of the Crime

‘Not yet, but hopefully DNA testing and other examinations in the lab will do so.’

‘Well, we are still in the “golden hour”, so I suggest you find me something positive from your scene and forensic examinations, even if it takes you all night,’ Anderson said.

‘Yes, sir. We’ll do our best,’ Jessica replied, knowing the ‘golden hour’ was a standard police term for the period immediately following the report of a major incident.

‘But my team are exhausted. They have been up since the early hours.’

‘As have I,’ he said, then walked out.

Chapman sighed. ‘It’s all my way or the highway with him. He won’t come back to the office tonight, so it’s your call about continuing work at the scene. He’s ignoring health and safety issues and breaking work time regulations. You are entitled to at least eleven hours of rest between shifts. If you all want to go home and get some rest, there’s nothing he can do about it.’

‘I’m aware of the regulations,’ she said. ‘I’ll speak with Taff and Diane. I was going to suggest some protection for Mr De Klerk,’ she added. ‘If the intruder intended to kill him or De Klerk recognised him, then his life could still be in danger.’

‘That’s a good point,’ he agreed. ‘I can’t authorise an armed guard, but I can ask for a uniform presence. I’ll call the local station.’

He dialled a number on his mobile and spoke for a few moments. ‘It’s all done. A uniform officer will be outside the ITU round the clock. I’ll get a couple of coffees. My office is just down the corridor, we can drink them in there.’

While waiting for Chapman to return with the coffees, Jessica phoned the coroner’s officer at Hackney Mortuary and requested that a pathologist attend Hackney Hospital, speak with Johan De Klerk’s doctor and examine his injuries. Jessica gave him Doctor Babu’s details and asked, if she couldn’t be there, for a copy of the pathologist’s report.

Chapman returned with the coffee and some biscuits. ‘Between us, I’m getting to the point where I feel like telling Anderson to stop behaving like a spoilt child. I don’t think he realises how it affects everyone’s morale.’

‘Seems to me he relies on you a lot as his deputy,’ Jessica said. She took a sip of her coffee. ‘How long have you been in the job then?’

‘Coming up for eighteen years, and a DI for five now,’ he said.

‘Are you thinking about promotion?’

‘No, I’m happy as I am . . . actually, that’s bullshit. Truth is, I’m crap on interviews and failed the DCI promotion board,’ he said, stirring his coffee.

‘You seem like a confident person to me.’

‘I am, but I tend to speak my mind about the lack of experience in the current crop of officers and where the police service is going, which is in the wrong direction.’

‘Why do you think that?’

‘You can join as a direct entry detective and be on a murder squad in two to three years. Nearly half of our team has less than five years, CID experience. Meanwhile, experienced officers become disillusioned with the job and resign or retire earlier than planned.’

She nodded thoughtfully. ‘How long has Anderson been in the force?’

‘He joined in his early thirties and was selected for the fast-track system. He was promoted to inspector after three years, then chief inspector a few years later. He then transferred into CID, did a year on division and then got the SIO role on the homicide team.’

‘His age made me think he had longer service.’

‘You’re not the first to say that. The point is we now have inexperienced officers leading other inexperienced officers while dealing with serious and complex criminal investigations, which isn’t right.’

‘The situation in Kent is the same, though there are some outstanding junior officers.’

‘Same in the Met, but they’re few and far between. Others lack motivation as they don’t see the police as a lifelong career and fiddle about on their phones all day instead of doing what they get paid for. The standard of crime investigation is appalling,the backlog is ridiculous and criminals are getting away scot-free. Things need to change quickly because the public deserves better.’

‘I must admit, I was only a crime scene manager for a couple of years before I got the MSCAN job,’ Jessica said.

‘I wasn’t having a dig at you,’ he said quickly. ‘From what I saw today, you’re bloody good at your job.’

She smiled. ‘Thank you.’

‘To be honest, I was sceptical about the whole MSCAN idea when Anderson told me about it. I’ve worked on cases where behavioural advisers were used. For me, much of what they concluded was either common sense or guesswork. They didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, and their advice often actually hindered the investigation.’

‘I don’t entirely disagree with you,’ she said. ‘I was the crime scene manager on a murder investigation where a behavioural adviser got it very wrong. His analysis initially caused more harm than good.’