Gus exhaled. This was a huge concession for Alice to make, but they both realised it was the right choice. It may be more than he deserved, but he and Alice worked well together and after all he had seen the first scene. She’d made a good call and it showed that the investigation came before personal aspirations for Alice. A fact he’d make sure to inform Nancy of.
****
Roslyn Terrace was a little better taken care of than Princeville Terrace had been. The front gardens of the terraced street were well-tended with flowers and kids toys and suchlike scattered within them. The street was busier than Gus would have liked. Probably due to the combination of the decent weather bringing kids outside and making the most of relaxed restrictions and the attraction of the police presence and cordoned-off areas. What really got on his nerves though, was the press presence. Jez Hopkins from the Bradford Chronicle was here, nosing about, grinning, and being his usual smarmy self. ‘Hello, DI McGuire, can you give us a statement?’
Gus saw the man wink at Alice, and he wanted to punch him. How the hell had he got wind of this so damn quickly? With any luck he wouldn’t be putting two and two together with the other murder too soon. ‘How’s about Fuck off? There’s a statement – see what you can do with that, eh?’
‘Tut tut, tut, McGuire, surely you can do better than that. It’s not every week we have a spate of deaths on our doorsteps.’
Gus shook his head. ‘If only that were true, Hopkins, if only that were true.’
Gus clicked his fingers as if suddenly realising something important. ‘Of course, what am I expecting – you’re a journalist – you don’t know the meaning of truth do you. Now, can you please back off.’
Gus turned to a uniformed officer. ‘Extend the outer cordon please. I want the cockroaches as far away as possible.’
While the officer scurried to do Gus’s bidding, Alice scowled and tugged his sleeve. ‘So much for keeping a low profile, Gus. Besides … I’m the one who should be ordering the uniforms around, not you.’
Gus nudged her and grinned. ‘Role play, Al. Last thing we want is the scourge of the city sussing out that you’re SIO instead of me and suspecting something’s off.’
Sighing, Alice shook her head. ‘He’s only doing his job, Gus. No need to antagonise him, is there?’
But Gus couldn’t care less about Jez Hopkins. He disliked the man, but with Taffy approaching, he’d already dismissed thoughts of him from his mind. Taffy had done a good job; he’d managed to get the inhabitants of the terraces adjoining the victim’s to leave. That meant the crime scene cordon could completely incorporate the entire area around the block of four houses and the road in front. As yet, Gus could see no other sign of the press, but as soon as they got wind of this, they’d fly in on their broomsticks keen to get a lead for their newspapers. The last thing the investigation wanted was for loose tongues to let slip any details they’d so far managed to keep from the press.
That’s why he was doubly glad that it was Sid’s team on the ground. It minimised the number of people who had viewed the two scenes. Not that Gus expected any of the CSIs to slip details to the press, but you just didn’t know. A few drinks, or a couple of twenties could be enough to loosen some people’s lips and his officers were no more immune to temptation than anyone else.
Taffy approached from where he was directing a group of uniforms to get statements from the neighbours. He kept his voice little more than a whisper but made sure to direct his comments to Alice. ‘I’ve not been in yet, boss, but Sid says he’s setting it up ready for you to have a look. He’s limited the CSI access to downstairs so far. Says he’ll wait till after you’ve seen the body in situ before having her moved.’ Taffy frowned. ‘You asked for the boss’s dad … I mean DI McGuire’s dad. Em, I mean Doc McGuire to come?’
Alice shook her head. ‘Not this time, Taffy. Don’t want to give the press any ammo to create a stink and get them wondering why we’re bringing in the big shots. No, we’ll try to play it as low key as we can when they arrive. Although he won’t be conducting the actual PM, I’ll arrange to have him present to ensure continuity of analysis.’
Taffy bit his lip and focussed on a point over Gus’s shoulder. ‘Your da … I mean, the doc. Is he OK?’
For a moment Gus studied Taffy’s serious face. His heart skipped a beat. The lad had clearly seen something to make him concerned about the pathologist and that coincided with Gus’s own unease. ‘Why do you ask?’
Taffy shrugged. ‘Oh, it’s probably nowt. He just seemed a bit’ – again with the shrug – ‘you know? Not himself … Uptight maybe, at the PM last week.’
‘Probably just overworked, Taff. He’s fine.’ But Gus wasn’t certain his dad was fine – not by a long shot. Thrusting it to the back of his mind for now, he moved over to where the crime scene tape marked off the area and accepted a forensic suit, mask, gloves, and bootees from the uniformed officer before he and Alice got decked out, signed in, and ducked under the tape.
Chapter 33
Bradford
He’s coming. DI Gus McGuire is coming here to the crime scene. That’s a bit of a surprise. He hadn’t been sure he’d be allowed to be part of the investigation. The CSIs have been nattering for the past hour as they worked. Talk about being professional.
