‘W-w-what does that mean? Is she dead?’
At times like this, Kate knew it was better not to speculate and just to stick to the facts. ‘The truth is: we don’t know. I know you want answers, but at this time I know as much as you do.’
‘What you doing here, then?’ Barry growled as he joined them, a freshly lit cigarette gripped tightly between his fingers.
Kate was about to answer, when Val suddenly rose from her chair. ‘I’m sure she’s still alive,’ she said, pressing a hand to her wrinkled chest. ‘I feel it in here. My little girl is still out there somewhere.’
Kate respected Val’s need to stay positive. She paused to summon the courage to say the next part. ‘There is something I need to ask you for. In order to determine whether Daisy is connected to the scene at the school, we need a sample of her DNA. This can be anything from a hairbrush, to a toothbrush or a hat she wore. Is there anything you feel comfortable with me collecting this morning to help our enquiries?’
Barry was about to speak, when Val tore from the room. The clump-clump of her footsteps could be heard on the stairs before she quickly returned, thrusting a hairbrush towards Kate. ‘This is hers. You can take it.’
Kate thanked her and deposited it in the evidence bag Laura was holding. ‘I promise you, Mrs Emerson, I will be in touch as soon as I have more news.’
Barry showed them to the door, and when they were back in the cool air, Kate said, ‘I need you to get that back to SSD as soon as you can. Take the car, and then meet me at St Bartholomew’s.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I need to clear my head, to get things into perspective. The walk and fresh air will do me good. Tell SSD to process that sample ASAP and compare it to what was generated last night. I want to be called the second they have anything.’
9
Hill Lane forms the western perimeter of Southampton Common, stretching the entire length, and is the link road between Lordswood and the centre of the city. St Bartholomew’s Secondary School and College sits almost halfway along the road, forming a kind of fulcrum, with residential streets surrounding the area of the school grounds.
The sleet continued to threaten as Kate made her way along the outer perimeter, set up last night several yards away from the school to keep the hungry journalists at bay. One or two called her name as she ducked under the cordon, but she avoided eye contact. The staff entrance to the premises – an electric gate, wide enough for cars to pass through and usually electronically operated by Mrs Fletcher, the administration assistant – was open, guarded by a second officer in a high-visibility jacket, who nodded as he saw Kate arrive. She handed him her identification as he signed her in and allowed her through. Although the school building looked less creepy in the daylight, there was still something intimidating about the way it stretched across the landscape, concealing the horizon. The staff car park was full of police and SSD technician vehicles.
Making her way through the corridors, she wasn’t surprised to find a third officer stationed at the door, leading out to the hall. She waved her badge as she passed, and once again stepped out into the bitter chill; the activity out here was far busier and noisier as the scene-of crime-officers went about their duties. Although the hive of activity was focused on the white tent leading into the sports hall, she also spotted men and women in white overalls who were now searching the outer perimeter of the old building, looking for trace evidence that may have been dropped by the killer or victim. Approaching the tent, Kate asked to speak to the SSD lead, who was radioed and met her at the tent moments later.
‘Morning, Steve,’ Kate offered. ‘Been here long?’
DI Steve Hardy stretched his arms over his head, and yawned behind the mask covering his mouth and nose. ‘We were here until just after midnight, and then reconvened at seven.’
In Kate’s time in Southampton, she’d never met a more thorough and determined Crime Scene Investigator. He knew his stuff and she was delighted to have him directing operations here.
‘If you come with me,’ he continued, ‘I’ll talk you through what we know.’
Quickly changing into fresh coveralls, Kate followed him through the complex entrance, noticing the doors to both changing rooms were now open, with camera flashes reflecting off the walls. ‘Anything of interest in there?’
‘Not so far,’ he replied, holding the door to the hall open for her, and then leading the way across the floor to the gymnasium. Hovering at the door, he began to point at areas of the room. ‘We believe the victim was already dead before the dissection began. Although the blood loss is considerable, given what we believe occurred and based on Dr Temple’s examination of the foot, it is likely that the victim expired late on Wednesday or early Thursday, and that the mutilation was completed on Thursday night or early Friday morning. We believe he rested the body at the far side, as that’s where we identified the largest concentration of blood, and where the circular saw would have caused the spray on the walls. The standard lamp is not battery-powered, which means your suspect had power in this room when he undertook this activity.’
Kate’s eyes widened. ‘He definitely had electricity in here?’
Hardy nodded. ‘The lamp was plugged in and the plug switch was on. The blood spatter on the bulb is singed and suggests the glass was hot when the spray landed.’
‘But the electricity was off when we arrived.’
Hardy nodded. ‘One of my team is examining the cut-off point as we speak. We already have the comparison prints of the caretaker, so we’ll see if we can locate a second set, but whoever did this knew how to switch the power back on, and remembered to turn it off before leaving.’
‘So why use the lamp and not the overheads?’
‘Neither the caretaker, nor head teacher recognise the lamp, suggesting the suspect brought it with him, but it’s also worth bearing in mind that the lighting in this building is all on the same circuit. So, if he’d wanted the lights on in this room, he’d have had the lights on in the rest of the complex—’
‘And that would draw unnecessary attention to his presence,’ Kate concluded.
‘Exactly. With the lamp on, and this door closed, there is only minimal light that escapes beneath the frame of the door, and only somebody physically inside the hall would notice it.’
‘If he had power then, it’s possible the saw he used wasn’t battery-powered. I need to report that back to Dr Temple and my team so they don’t narrow the search for it. Anything else you can tell me?’
He nodded, and pointed at a cardboard box off to the left. ‘We also discovered this box of cleaning products. There’s bleach, a brush, scrubbing sponge and a bunch more of the air fresheners that were stapled to this door. We’ve taken those down and they’re back at the lab and being examined. So far, they just look like the sort of car freshener you could purchase at any local petrol station, but we’ll see if we can narrow down stockists for your team to contact. We believe the killer brought this box with him, as it was over near the lamp, and might have blocked his view of the foot.’
‘He was going to clean up?’
‘It would appear so.’
‘But he didn’t.’
Hardy shook his head. ‘There is spatter on the cardboard, bleach bottle and brush, suggesting they were all inside the room during the cutting, but for some reason he never got around to using them.’
‘You think someone disturbed him?’
‘That would be my assessment.’
‘So maybe the foot wasn’t left here on purpose.’
‘That’s our working theory. We think maybe he left to dispose of the body parts, missed the foot, and planned to return and tidy up his mess, but for whatever reason he either didn’t make it back or couldn’t get back in.’