Reprobates (9 page)

‘I
’ll plate up shall I?’ she said.

‘
How’s Max doing?’ Dylan called as he climbed the stairs.

‘He
’s doing okay, but they’re keeping him in until they have got his bloods back from the lab,’ she said following him into the hallway and heading towards the kitchen.

‘I
’ll go shower and get these clothes bagged up for the cleaners,’ Dylan said offering her his jacket over the handrail.

‘
Urgh, yes please,’ she said wrinkling up her nose.

There was a warm, comforting, cooking smell radiating from the kitchen. Dylan looked in on Maisy who was sleeping soundly in the nursery. She had recently assumed a new sleeping position. He stroked her back. Her bottom stuck further in the air.
‘That can’t be comfy little one,’ he whispered touching her chubby cheek. She stirred but only to snuggle further into the cot sheet. Her cherub-like lips were pursed. She looked angelic. He tiptoed out of her room and walked slowly and quietly down the stairs through the hallway and into the kitchen.

Dylan stuffed his shirt and towel in the washing machine in the utility room and sat down next to Jen at the kitchen table. A long low moan came from the baby monitor and they shared a look of pride.
‘I still have to pinch myself to believe she’s ours,’ he said.

Jen
’s tired eyes wrinkled at the corners. ‘Me too.’

‘
See nothing can be that bad when we have each other,’ he said cupping her chin in his hand and leaning forward to plant a kiss on her lips. ‘Maisy snores like you,’ Dylan said, distracted as he salted his dinner before putting a fork full of food into his mouth.

‘
She does not,’ she said looking at him aghast. ‘Tell me, how you do that?’ She screwed up her face.

‘
What?’ he asked baffled.

‘
Eat liver and onions when you’ve seen... well what you have today?’ she said pulling a face.

‘
What at the mortuary?’

‘Yes.
’

‘I
’ve told you before, the body on the slab is a vehicle for the soul, a carcass, a shell to me. The person is dead and gone and there is nothing anyone can do about it. So, the only thing I can do for them and their loved ones is to find out how and why they died and put the culprits behind bars. Another glass of wine?’ he asked, raising his glass.

Jen shook her head.

Dylan stood and went to the fridge. He poured himself another drink. ‘So go on, tell me. I’m sorry. I was so busy today I hardly gave Max a second thought.’

‘It
’s not Max we have to worry about at this particular moment.’

Dylan cast her a questioning look.

‘It’s whether I’m going to be able to continue working at the nick,’ she said.

‘
Why?’ he asked.

‘
I refused to sign my contract today. Avril says she wants me to work five afternoons a week now instead of the hours we agreed and she says that might be weekend work too.’

‘
She can’t do that.’

‘
That’s not what she says and she also seemed pretty confident that it’d be okay with you.’

‘
She did, did she?’

***

It was five forty-five a.m. and Jen had barely slept. Maisy could be heard chatting away in her cot. Dylan turned to face Jen and lifting himself on one elbow he smiled down at her lovingly. ‘It’ll be fine. Look, she’s actually done us a favour without knowing it. Sign the contract today before she changes her mind. If you work every afternoon then we don’t have to pay Penny to walk Max at all. You can walk him before you go to work. The difference in the childminder’s fee for Maisy is neither here nor there.’

‘
I know, and I can take Maisy and pick her up so I’m not relying on you. Maybe we could pay Penny to come and do a couple of hours cleaning for us instead so that she doesn’t lose the money I’ve promised her?’

‘
I don’t know about that... but if I could have a full breakfast before I go to work?’

‘Don
’t push it,’ she said.

‘
But if Penny does come in to clean for us and the childminder feeds Maisy her tea? We’ll manage, won’t we?’ he asked.

Jen withheld judgement.
‘You mean I’ll manage.’

‘
Yeah, well. But it’s what you do best... manage,’ he said with a smile. ‘I’m going to get off early. I want to call in at the vet before I go to work. I want to know what the score is with Max.’

‘
Be a love and get Maisy up whilst I start breakfast will you?’ she said, throwing her legs out of bed.

‘
Do I have to do everything?’ he asked, with a grin. Jen put her dressing gown on and walked back towards the bed. She bent down to kiss him. ‘Yes.’

***

Max was lying still in his cage. ‘He’s lost weight,’ Dylan said to Sam Gouldthorp. ‘I thought by now he’d be on his feet wagging his tail?’

‘It
’s a bit too early for that,’ she said. ‘But we’re hopeful you will be soon, aren’t we old boy?’ Sam opened the cage door and reached in. Max moved his head towards her hand. ‘We think he might have ingested an application of coumarins, they’re a group of plant-derived polyphenolic compounds which belong to the benzopyrones family. They are commonly found in this country in rodenticide. We are treating him accordingly. You wife says he doesn’t chase rodents and doesn’t know how he may have ingested rat poison, have you any ideas where he might have come across it?’

Dylan shook his head.

‘The other explanation is that he may have taken a pharmaceutical application such as an analgesic. Do either of you take Warfarin?’

Dylan shook his head.
‘He is going to be okay, isn’t he?’

‘
It could have easily proved fatal, however, we are very pleased with how he is responding to treatment. He is showing signs of improvement.’

‘
He is?’ Dylan said looking at the dog’s hooded eyes.

The vet nodded.

‘I’ll take your word for it,’ Dylan said.

***

Dylan’s mobile phone rang as he opened the door to leave the surgery. ‘Sergeant Megnicks, sir. Just to let you know the bicycle we found on Watergate Road? Fingerprints have been lifted off the “For Sale” notice and we’re going out to take elims from the owner today. Whether the job’s connected or not is another matter but we may be lucky enough to catch the thief at least.’

‘It
’s highly probable due to the isolated location that the bike was stolen, and that whoever did take it fled on the canal towpath that connects the two incidents though, doesn’t it?’

‘
It does.’

‘
Thanks, I’m impressed,’ said Dylan.

***

Kirsty Gallagher’s home was under intense scrutiny. Nothing would be left to chance. How many people did Dylan know that would honestly have the balls to break into a mortuary at night and take a body? Not many. This was no ordinary burglary. The jigsaw had to begin with the deceased and her life. The old investigators’ saying find out how a dead person lived, and you’ll find out why they died, was a good place to start.

The investigative team
’s first briefing was at ten a.m.

‘
Paul, leave the officers searching at Kirsty Gallagher’s and return for the briefing. I want to ensure all the staff have the up to date information from you,’ Dylan said.

***

Once everyone was assembled, Dylan chaired the briefing and outlined the discovery of Kirsty’s body at her home.

‘
There were no obvious signs of a cause of death, I am told by DC Granger.’ Ned Granger nodded his head. ‘He attended the scene as the night detective. Her body, as we know, was taken from the mortuary before her post-mortem and at the moment its whereabouts is still unknown.’

‘
What else can you tell us about the ongoing search of her home, Paul?’ Dylan said.

Detective Sergeant Paul Robinson was a little hesitant at the start of his speech but his confidence soon grew. Dylan watched him with pride. He was more than capable of doing his new role and he covered all the salient points.
‘Somebody has taken the time to put clean sheets on the bed. There was no dirty washing in the washer or the laundry basket and her bins had been emptied and washed out. In my view, someone didn’t want us to know they had been there. We have found no mobile phones at the address and it appears that a gas pipe in her lounge where she was found dead has been interfered with.’

Dylan concluded the briefing.
‘I want to know if she has a vehicle and if so where is it? When did she last use her bank card? I, too, think someone out there doesn’t want us to know about their relationship with the deceased. My instinct is that she has been murdered and the offender or offenders have cleaned up afterwards. I also think whoever it is has been involved in the removal of her body from the mortuary before the post-mortem to be sure we didn’t find out how she died. We are looking for someone who has thought about their actions and carefully planned this act. They think they’ve got all eventualities covered and now it’s up to us to find where they’ve made a mistake and bring them to justice.’

The team started to disperse.
‘Paul, my office, please. I want to go over some details with you.’

The two men sat opposite each other.
‘Which enquiries are you marking priority?’ Dylan said.

‘
House-to-house, medical records, financial background, her occupation and workplace. Also, we need to find out who her friends were. We have no information of any immediate family.’

‘
When was Kirsty Gallagher last seen alive and by whom? Did she have a mobile phone? If so what was her phone number? Who was the service provider? Is it still being used? If so, where is it?’ Dylan said without taking a breath. ‘They’re all urgent enquiries. The sooner we find who did this the more chance we have of recovering her body.’ Dylan pushed his chair back and stood up. He paced the office, stopping at the window for a minute to look out into the yard. He saw PC Fearne Robinson in full uniform standing directly outside. Dylan could hear her muffled voice. She appeared to be in deep conversation over the airwaves when he saw a blue-grey pigeon flutter down onto the windowsill between her and the window frame. The officer was so engrossed she wasn’t distracted by the bird. Within seconds a marked police car entered the car park, picked her up and exited in haste, with blue flashing light and the sirens sounding. The bird watched all that was happening, waited until they had gone before flying away.

Dylan caught Paul watching him.
‘What?’ Dylan said.

‘
You remind me of a caged animal.’

‘
I think better on my feet.’

Paul Robinson got up to leave. Dylan was still thoughtful. He looked over his shoulder when he heard Paul open the door.

‘As you pass ask the girls where my coffee is?’ he asked.

‘
Only you could say that and get away with it. I’ve seen many others try and get a mouthful of abuse. How’d you do it?’

Dylan winked in his direction.

Dylan was still at the window when Lisa knocked on his door with a cup in her hand. ‘Tea money’s due,’ she said holding out her hand as she put the mug on the desk. Dylan reached into his pocket to extract his wallet and gave her a five pound note.

‘
You only owe me a quid.’

‘
The amount I drink?’ he asked. ‘Anyway I get waitress service, well worth the extra.’

‘
Thanks,’ she said, smiling before heading back into the main office. She left the door ajar. ‘Nice to be appreciated sir,’ she said. Dylan saw Ned Granger flash one finger in the air at her. ‘Ned!’ growled Dylan.

Tea, coffee, milk, sugar it all had to be bought. There was no police fund for visitors either, hence it all came out of the team
’s pocket. Dylan knew some people took it for granted; a big mistake in his book. His telephone rang.

‘
Sergeant Megnicks, sir. We’ve got a prolific shoplifter called Kyle Russell in the cells and the custody officer tells me he has a wallet in his possession that doesn’t belong to him. Of more interest to us is that he says he found it at the side of the canal where it had been left with a pile of clothing. He’s also admitting stealing the bike from Tandem Bridge. He’s told us he’s looking for a way back into prison, so he’s quite willingly admitting what he’s done.’

‘
That’s refreshing,’ said Dylan.

‘I
’m having his prints checked against the marks lifted from the for sale sign, but it all looks positive. Now, what you want from me is the name and address on the wallet, don’t you?’

‘I
’ve got a pen and paper right here.’

‘
Barrington Cook, Flat 17, Midgely Court, Tandem Bridge.’

‘
The new mill complex overlooking the canal?’