‘What is it about these criminals, Maya? If that were us, we’d be dead by now. This shower of shites seem to have nine lives. A few hours ago, they were worried his injuries may prove life-threatening. I bet you by this time tomorrow he’s back on his feet with barely a scratch. Bastards.
‘Did Nowak have any injuries?’ Elaine then asked, turning her attention back to the computer screen.
‘Nope, a few old scars but no fresh injuries and certainly nothing consistent with him being involved in the stabbing. Did you find the knife?’
‘Nah, not in the house. I got the TAU out to do a search. They pulled a couple of the grid covers up, found a rusty old blade and two mouldy-looking cartridge cases, so God knows how long they’ve been there.’ She rubbed her eyes, clearly exhausted. ‘Here, you couldn’t make us a brew, could you, while I go and stick these clothes in the drying cabinet? His jeans are dripping in claret.’ Elaine gave Maya a pleading grin.
The forensic drying cabinet was used to dry out items of clothing recovered from crime scenes. It protected items from cross-contamination because of the thorough cleaning process between uses and helped contain any particulates on clothing. The drying cabinet was situated in the second examination room, towards the back of the office, which also housed a fingerprint powder-booth and photographic copy-stand.
‘Go and sort your stuff then, I’ll stick the kettle on,’ Maya acquiesced.
‘I timed that right, didn’t I?’ said a voice just as the kettle clicked off. Maya grinned at the sight of a short, stocky man with a bald head wearing large round glasses.
‘Tony.’ She smiled as the two exchanged a hug. ‘It’s great to see you, what are you doing here?’ Maya had worked with Tony Harwood when she was based at Alder Street. He had mentored her the most during her time there. He was an experienced SOCO, a dedicated family man and a genuinely lovely guy.
‘Picked up a sudden death for you lot. I believe you’ve been a bit busy today?’ Tony leaned against a desk as he watched Maya make the drinks.
‘Yeah, we have. They rang it in as I was on my way to custody to process a prisoner. Bloody hell, Tony,’ she glanced at her watch, ‘it didn’t take you long to do, did it? I’ve taken longer at burglary scenes!’
Tony laughed. ‘By the time I got there, they were happy it wasn’t suspicious. Hey, I met your mum there – Dominique?’
‘Why was my mum at a crime scene?’
‘He was one of her patients. She found him and rang us. She was giving a statement to the cops when I arrived and asked me if I knew you. Lovely lady. She seemed a bit upset though.’
‘She cares a lot about her patients. Who was he?’
Tony laughed scornfully. ‘I can’t imagine she would have cared too much about this one. He’s a bloke called Jim Baron. He was a bit of a nasty bastard back in the day by all accounts, so it’s no great loss. He was in bad health, seriously overweight and suffered with COPD. It looks like a heart attack. Cedar Lane took the call and there’s a new DI over there. I think he just got a bit overexcited and wanted to call us in before using his common sense. You know what they can be like.’
‘I’ll ring her later and check she’s okay. It’s not the first time something like that has happened, but I can imagine it must still have been a shock for her. So, definitely not suspicious then?’
‘Nah. He’ll go for a coronial PM tomorrow. On the off-chance they do find anything dodgy, which I doubt, they’ll stop it and call in a home office pathologist. There’s certainly nothing sus at the scene.’
‘But how do you know there’s nothing suspicious. Have you ever been to a job like that and felt that something isn’t quite right?’ Maya recalled yet again the feeling of apprehension she had experienced at Gorman’s house.
‘Erm… some jobs have you scratching your head more than others as you piece together what’s happened. Usually, we establish relatively quickly whether something’s suspicious or not.’
‘I know, but have you ever had a feeling that something’s not quite right even though everything else points to a non-suspicious death?’
Tony eyed her carefully as he pondered on her question before eventually replying. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Nothing…’
‘Maya…’
‘I had my first body the other day…’
‘And?’
‘It seemed really straightforward. Doctor Granger said it was his heart. But… I don’t know.’
‘Tell me…’
‘It was just as we were finishing up at the scene… I got a sense of having missed something obvious. That something didn’t quite sit right…’
‘Hiya, Tony. Thought I heard voices. Where’s that brew, Maya, I’m gasping.’ Elaine emerged from the side office wiping sweat from her brow. The moment was lost as Tony and Elaine greeted each other and they all settled down with a brew.
The three of them began to chat amicably, discussing mutual acquaintances and which SOCOs were retiring, pregnant or had applied for promotion. They heard footsteps heading down the corridor and Maya wondered if it was Connor heading back in early, but unfortunately it was Andy.
‘Tony,’ Andy nodded his acknowledgement, ‘good to see you, hope you’re well, mate.’ He sat down, completely ignoring the fact that Elaine and Maya were also in the room.
‘We’re fine, Andy, thanks for asking,’ Elaine said sarcastically.
While Maya would have chosen to just ignore the rebuff, Elaine was not the type to let it go. Andy grunted incoherently, not even bothering to make eye contact with her. Maya could sense Elaine fizzing with indignation, while Tony sat awkwardly, not knowing how to break the tension.
‘How was your warrant, Andy, did you find much at Nowak’s house?’ Maya attempted to ease the charged moment.
‘No,’ Andy replied flatly. He didn’t look up and his refusal to add anything more caused the tension to
