LITMIR.BIZ

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Some investigations required a little more investigating than others.

      ‘Do we know the time of the death of our John Doe? Was he alive when I got her out of the water?’ Adrian asked.

      ‘I spoke to Karen Bell. She was heading the forensic team down there and she said he had been dead for more than twenty-four hours. Likely, he died some time before you found her on the Saturday morning. You couldn’t have saved him,’ Imogen said.

      Adrian could see she wanted to reach out across the table to reassure him, but with all the prying eyes, she settled for giving him a comforting look. He wondered if anyone noticed these affectionate glances between them. It was mostly her decision to keep the relationship a secret, though he was happy to go along with it for now, until they were comfortable enough to go public.

      ‘There was nothing you could have done,’ Walsh added, which was uncharacteristically comforting.

      Adrian could tell Walsh’s opinion of him was, at best, on the fence.

      ‘So, we have nothing? Nothing at all?’ DCI Kapoor said with a prominent tone of disappointment in them.

      ‘I can check with other constabularies re MisPers. It’s possible whoever they were that they were just visiting the city,’ Adrian said.

      ‘Is that likely? That would make this an opportunist attack and it certainly doesn’t feel that way,’ DCI Kapoor said.

      ‘It’s got to be worth checking. I don’t mind doing it,’ Adrian said.

      ‘Thank you, Adrian, that would be great,’ DCI Kapoor said. ‘The preliminary report from the pathologist records that he died from multiple blows to the head. Definitely deliberate, definitely with the intent of killing the young man. He will have a more detailed report for us in a few days.’

      Gary raised his hand. ‘I know someone at the university who may be able to help. He’s the professor of forensic anthropology and archaeology on the Streatham Campus.’

      ‘How is an archaeologist going to help us?’ Adrian said.

      ‘He does skull reconstruction and can get a good likeness of John Doe for us to work from. He is superfast. I don’t have any decent facial reconstruction software here and if we send it off to London or one of the other constabularies with the program, it’s likely to take a week minimum because of backlog. It’s actually two separate programs run by two different people.’

      ‘Why don’t we have this software? Can’t you run it?’ DCI Kapoor asked.

      ‘I can run it. It is, however, several grand. I put in for it a couple of years back but was denied owing to budget constraints. My guy at the uni is a fast worker and he would prioritise it; he lives for this kind of thing.’

      ‘OK, brilliant. Has he worked with us before? Is that how you know him?’ DCI Kapoor said.

      ‘No. He’s in my guild. He’s the Healer.’

      ‘Your guild?’

      ‘Warcraft. It’s a computer game thing. We have a local guild and we meet up occasionally. Anyway, he is kind of a big deal. In the real world, I mean, but also in the game.’

      Denise Ferguson, the duty sergeant, knocked on the door of the briefing room and walked in with a piece of paper, which she handed to Gary. When Denise looked up, her eyes widened at Adrian and she had a smirk on her face.

      ‘This was just on the local news Twitter feed.’

      Gary put a video up on the big screen. Bloody mobile phones. Adrian knew before it even started what it was going to be. He watched himself pulling Jane Doe from the bushes and then carrying her to safety on the bank, to the soundtrack of gasps from both the women in the video and his colleagues in the room, followed by a round of applause when it ended on a freeze-frame of him walking towards the camera. He blushed.

      ‘I see they cut out the bit where I asked her not to share this with anyone until we identified the woman,’ Adrian said.

      ‘Well, DS Miles, I think you are probably going to have a few questions to answer as soon as the press learn your name. It’s always great to have some good PR for a change and so it would be nice if you would issue a statement, even nicer if we had any good news with regard to Jane Doe’s progress.’

      ‘Do I have to?’ Adrian said.

      ‘It’s better if you do, then it’s over and you can get on with things. Trust me, I learned this lesson a long time ago. If you cooperate then you control what information they get hold of. They are going to talk about you anyway,’ DCI Kapoor said.

      ‘Are we going to give them a picture of the woman’s face? Like a proper one. You can’t see who she is in this video. It might help us to identify her,’ Adrian said.

      ‘I think we should get an ID on the man first. Until we know the circumstances of this attack then I don’t want to risk it. She could still be in danger and I don’t want to advertise her location at the moment. It’s annoying that this video is out there; it makes our job a little harder by forcing us to deal with the bloody newspapers,’ Kapoor said. ‘Let’s just give the press a statement for now.’

      ‘Fine,’ Adrian said.

      ‘I’ll set something up. You never know, maybe someone saw something and we might even get a lead out of this. You’re unusually quiet, DS Grey,’ Kapoor added.

      ‘Sorry, Ma’am. I can give Gary a hand checking out missing persons in other constabularies,’ Imogen said.

      ‘OK, then. When you’re done, could you check with the pathologist for any updates on the autopsy of John Doe?’

      ‘Of course.’

      The DCI picked up her mug and left the room. Gary put the video on again.

      ‘Look at those strong arms and that pretty face. The press are going to love you, don’t you think, Grey?’

      ‘Irresistible,’ she said flatly, standing and turning to Gary. ‘I’ll meet you in your office so we can go through the missing persons files.’

      Adrian couldn’t tell if she was upset. What could she possibly be annoyed with him about? Gary took the hint by shutting his laptop and leaving.

      ‘Is everything all right?’ Adrian asked as they left the room.

      ‘You tell me.’

      ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

      ‘I’m just concerned that you are too emotionally involved in this case already. That must have been tough, finding her, pulling her out of the river like that.’ Imogen’s voice softened.

      ‘It’s not something I particularly want to experience again. It was horrible.’

      ‘Do you think maybe you should go and see the counsellor? Might be good to talk it through properly.’

      ‘No, thanks. I just want to find out what happened.’

      ‘I know. We will.’

      ‘I genuinely thought she was dead. How could anyone do this?’

      ‘If there is one thing we have learned, it’s that people are capable of anything. Look, I know you found her and that you’re invested in this case, but I really have a bad feeling about this whole thing. I can’t explain it, Adrian, and you know I am not superstitious or anything, but I want you to promise me you try and stay level-headed about it.’

      ‘It’s sweet of you to worry, but I am fine. Let’s just find out who Jane and John Doe are, then we can figure out who did this to them. I’m not some ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Have a little faith in me.’ Adrian squeezed Imogen’s hand.

      They were at work and had promised to keep their relationship out of the office as they knew the DCI didn’t really approve and it could affect the way the DCI treated them. Neither one of them

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