body and I'll blow them up on the computer later and see what I can make of them. The forensic scientist, Jolliffe — is that his name — quiet man all teeth and glasses?'
'That's him.' Cantelli smiled.
'He's scraped off a layer of skin for the fingerprints and taken samples of DNA.'
'Good, we can check that out almost immediately.'
Jolliffe would feed his information into the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System, which would come back with a result within minutes. DNA would take longer. The sooner they lifted Thurlow's prints from the comb the better.
'When can we have your full report, doctor?' Horton moved away, pulling off the green gown.
'If you leave me to get on with my work, some time later today, Inspector Horton,' she answered brightly. 'Tom!' He heard her call as he left. ' We can start now. The nice policemen are just leaving.'
Outside the mortuary Horton said, 'You didn't tell me she was like that, Barney!'
Cantelli shrugged. 'What were you expecting?'
'I don't know, older, stouter, uglier with a moustache…'
Cantelli laughed. 'She knows her stuff and she can hold her own. I've seen Uckfield try to brow beat her without the slightest effect and you know what he can be like when he gets into his stride. A double decker bus couldn't stop him; if it ran over him he'd still sit up and give it a speeding fine.'
The corridor back into the main part of the hospital smelt of cabbage and disinfectant but even that was better than the formaldehyde of the mortuary.
'I suppose she's got used to holding her own; it's still predominantly a man's world, or so Kate Somerfield keeps telling me. She should try living in my house,' Cantelli added, dodging a woman pushing a grumbling elderly man in a wheelchair.
'I can see she's charmed you.'
'You've got to admit she's a hell of a lot prettier than old Gorringe was. God rest his soul.'
'Anyone's prettier than Gorringe, even you, Cantelli. What do you think now that you've seen the body?'
Cantelli looked thoughtful for a moment. 'It looks like Thurlow, same build, but I can't see Mrs Thurlow bashing his face in like that. Why wait until last night when she could have killed him on Friday night or over the weekend?'
Horton agreed but he didn't have any answers yet. 'Let's go and check how Brian is.'
Brian Evans was still unconscious. Horton had a quiet word with the constable whilst Cantelli spoke to Evans' wife, Maureen. It seemed the prognosis was good though, which was a relief.
Snatching a glance at his watch, Horton nodded at Cantelli, who said his farewells to Maureen and Horton did the same. Soon they were outside but they hadn't gone far when Horton saw, crossing the crowded hospital car park, a slight man, wearing a brightly patterned loose fitting shirt, over long navy shorts. He was limping. Horton could only see the back of him but there was no mistaking who he was. His heart skipped a beat. At first he thought it was an illusion conjured up by his anxieties but no, walking steadily towards a blue Mercedes, was the owner of Alpha One and the man who had ruined his life: Colin Jarrett.
'Be back in a tick, Barney. Wait for me by the car.'
'Andy…'
But Horton was already half way across the car park.
'Not ill, are you, Mr Jarrett?' he said coolly, stalling him before he could climb into the car. He could see a blonde woman of about thirty five sitting inside.
Jarrett spun round; his arm in a sling and a plaster across his bruised forehead. A range of expressions crossed his pinched face starting with shock, progressing to puzzlement and ending with anger. He looked as if he was about to explode. His neck muscles bunched and his bloodshot green-grey eyes narrowed with hatred. 'What the bloody hell do you want?'
You, trussed up like a turkey and served up for dinner, Horton thought, staring at the sharp featured man in his mid forties. He had all the trappings of wealth: the clothes, the car, the blonde well spoken wife, the boys at the Grammar School and a large house on Portsdown Hill, overlooking the city, but he couldn't disguise the fact that he'd come up the hard way, a boy from the streets of Portsmouth. His accent was too pronounced, his taste too ostentatious and his eyes too wary. 'Just enquiring after your health,' is what he actually said.
'Bollocks.'
'What happened to you? One of your customers get fed up with paying his exorbitant membership fee and gave you a going over? I almost envy him.'
'What would you know about our fees?' Jarrett snarled. 'You wouldn't be able to afford a week's rate never mind a year. We're selective about who we let in to Alpha One.'
'So I've heard.'
'And what's that supposed to mean?'
'Whatever you want it to mean.' Horton shrugged as if he didn't much care anyway.
Jarrett fingered the large plaster. 'If you must know some little toe rag in a stolen Range Rover rammed me at the traffic lights at Horsea Marina, early hours of this morning.'
'Tch, tch, how very distressing for you.'
'Yes it was,' Jarrett snapped, his unshaven face flushing. 'And if you lot got your finger out and stopped harassing innocent men and started chasing some real criminals you might actually catch him.'
'Harassing? Who's harassing? Can't be me because, one, I'm not in the business of harassing and, two, you're not innocent.'
Jarrett let out a heavy sigh and rolled his tired eyes. 'Here we go again. You won't let up, will you?'
Horton stepped closer. 'No, I won't. Not until I find Lucy Richardson and get to the truth.' He could smell garlic on Jarrett's breath and the sweat from his unwashed body.
'Then you'll end up being chucked out of CID, pounding the beat; or picking up your dole money. Take your pick,' Jarrett quipped.
Horton wanted to ram his fist into his face and wipe the mocking smirk from it. It took a supreme effort not to react. It was exactly what Jarrett wanted and if he couldn't pass this first test then he could indeed kiss goodbye to the job and any chance of finding out exactly what was going on at Alpha One.
'I run a perfectly legitimate business,' Jarrett continued. 'I've got nothing to hide and the sooner you get that into your thick skull the better. Lucy was just employed by me like any other girl. I have no idea why she decided to go squawking about you unless of course it was true and, like they say, there's no smoke without fire.' Jarrett opened the car door but before he could step inside Horton grabbed hold of it preventing him. Jarrett flinched. It was a small victory but it would do for starters. He wanted to scare this man so shitless that he would have no option other than to come after him. When he did he'd be waiting.
'I'm a very patient man, Jarrett. I don't care how long it takes, but I will find out what is going on in Alpha One.'
'Then you'll have a bloody long wait.' Jarrett's eyes flashed with anger.
'For heaven's sake, Colin, get in,' the woman inside called out irritably.
Jarrett hesitated fractionally, then climbed in and slammed the door with a clunk. Horton stepped back as the Mercedes sped past him, already Jarrett had his mobile phone pressed to his ear with his free hand.
Horton grinned to himself as he made his way back to the car where Cantelli, jacketless and chewing gum, was waiting for him.
'Well?'
'Well what? I just enquired after his health.'
Cantelli climbed in the car and Horton followed suit. Cantelli turned to Horton with a troubled expression on his face. 'He's got powerful friends, Andy.'
He knew that. For a while he and Dennings, from the Vice Squad, had watched Alpha One from the vacant office opposite. They'd seen a prominent councillor enter it as well as one or two respected solicitors and well- known businessmen, and as far as he was aware there was nothing on any of them. He couldn't question them because they'd go squealing to Superintendent Reine, and they would warn Jarrett. It would also be the same with the staff. That left him with two courses of action: one to ride Jarrett as hard as he dared without getting kicked out of the police service, until he forced Jarrett's hand in some way, and the second was to find Lucy and get her to tell him the truth. But where was she?
