‘Good heavens, she is so small.’
‘This big.’ Pete gestured with his hand, cupping his palm.
‘And she’s all right?’
‘Yes. We had a scare last night when the alarms rang out, she’s got a bit of a cold and they breathe through their noses when they are this young, don’t know to open their mouths. It’s hard when she coughs as it sets off the alarms because they are so sensitive. Anyway, she’s rallied round and you see her fists, she’s boxing smart already.’
Pete actually looked worn-out and as he shrugged out of his coat he admitted he’d not slept for three nights; he would be back at the maternity hospital to sit with Matilda again later.
‘I just have to be there watching her. In fact I can’t take my eyes off her, it’s the most amazing feeling. I keep on saying to myself, she’s my daughter, I’ve got a little girl. Christ, if anything went wrong now I don’t know what I’d do. She’s already got such a strong personality.’
Anna managed to keep smiling but Pete carried on gushing, at one point growing so tearful that he had to wipe his eyes.
‘Listen, Pete, I don’t mean to interrupt the celebrations, but I’ve got an interview at four.’
‘Right, let’s crack on.’
They put on lab coats and latex gloves then went into a large ante-room where four rows of white laminated trestle tables were lined up covered in sterile brown paper. Each table bore different items brought from Henry Oates’s basement flat. On one were the female garments: knickers, brassieres, slips, tights, a pair of boots and two filthy torn dresses.
‘Okay, we have done a wearer DNA test to compare with your victim Justine Marks; no match on any of these items. There’s no blood-staining, but there is semen and, on a couple, vomit, again no match found to your victim. The semen has tested as a match to Henry Oates though. We’ve been sent a description of the clothes possibly worn by Fidelis Julia Flynn and Rebekka Jordan and we have no match.’
‘I guess you will need DNA samples from the Jordan and Flynn families for comparison?’
‘Just the Flynns’, thanks. We already have the Jordans’ on file from the original enquiry.’
They moved on to a table littered with men’s worn clothes: sweaters, trousers and coats. The smell from the garments was hideous, a mixture of beer, body odour and mothballs.
‘I think these are your suspect’s. We’ve found no bloodstains on anything. Part of the stench is urine, looks like he pissed in his pants.’
On another table were the knives, hammers and screwdrivers – all the tools taken from Oates’s flat. Everything was tagged. Pete picked up a brutal-looking knife with a roped handle and a very sharpened blade about ten inches long.
‘Unpleasant. No bloodstains. Further along we have the large pump spanner found in the back of the van Oates was driving. You probably already know from DCI Lewis that we found Justine’s hair and blood on it along with a palm print matching Oates. There was also vaginal discharge, suggesting he used it-’
‘It’s okay, Mike told me,’ Anna said, deliberately interrupting Pete.
She quickly moved on to the fourth table. This was filled with an array of children’s clothes and shoes, all of them well worn and stained. There were a number of broken plastic toys that were grouped together with a moth-eaten teddy bear and a broken china doll’s face.
‘A lot of children’s stuff here,’ Pete observed.
‘He has two girls so a lot of it may be theirs, or – and I dread to think it other victims’.’
‘Well there’s no blood or semen stains on anything you see here. I can test it for wearer DNA but it will take time, and they are so soiled it may not be possible to get a profile due to degradation. You may want to check your budget as to do all this stuff is going to cost big-time.’
‘Hold off until I speak with Mike Lewis then.’
‘Fine. Anyway, back to this lot. I don’t think there is a toy intact and they were all thrown together in a cupboard along with broken cutlery and old saucepans and frying pans with no handles. We also have a couple of old-fashioned leather boxing gloves and a more modern right-hand glove, no left hand. There’s also some boxing boots.’
Pete had moved to the next section of the table but Anna leaned forwards.
‘Wait, just wait one second.’
Amongst the broken toys was a small wooden head, no bigger than a small marble.
‘What’s that?’
Pete looked and picked up the list of items on the table.
‘Listed as miniature doll’s head, hand-painted, and I think we had a leg… hang on a moment…’
Pete swiftly searched around in the group of children’s toys.
‘Yes, here it is, not sure if it belonged to the head, but it’s painted. Let me see if it’s a match.’
He carefully picked up the doll’s head and then held the leg beside it.
‘Yeah, I’d say it might have been part of the same doll. It’s very small, whole thing must have been only two to three inches, if that.’
Anna could feel her body shaking. Was it possible that these two items came originally from Rebekka Jordan’s doll’s house?
‘I need to take these two things with me, Pete.’
‘Sure, but I need to swab them for DNA and take some paint scrapings first.’
He looked at her and then rested his hand on her shoulder.
‘What is it?’
‘I can’t be certain, but I think Stephen Jordan may have carved the doll for Rebekka. If so, then it will be the first direct evidence that connects Henry Oates to her disappearance.’
Anna had to sit down. She was so wound up her heart was racing. She explained to Pete about the doll’s house and how she had brought it in to the incident room that morning.
‘Well you know what they say about coincidences.’
‘That there aren’t any, just evidence,’ she said quietly.
Chapter Eight
Fired up by this latest discovery, Anna raced back to the station. She was eager to sort through the items in the little plastic bags that she had brought in that morning from Langton’s. So far she’d only taken a fleeting look over them but now she wanted to check to see if any of the small figures matched the tiny head and leg from the lab.
The incident room was quiet, as half the team was in the canteen having their lunch. The doll’s house was still on the desk. Quickly she took off her coat and opened her briefcase as Barolli walked in eating a hamburger.
‘We’re going to get the experts in to investigate that car park,’ he announced. ‘I’ve got a forensic archaeologist on standby. They have these groundpenetrating radar machines that can detect if there’s anything buried in the concrete.’
Anna wafted her hand in acknowledgement that she had heard him.
‘Could be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack and take weeks, but Mike says it’s got to be done.’
Barolli sat at his desk and swivelled in his chair as Anna tipped out the contents of one bag; small pieces of furniture tumbled out – a tiny fridge, even plates with food on them.
‘If it’s not a rude question, why are you playing with dollies over there?’
Anna turned, shook her head, and swiftly brought him up to speed on the findings at the lab. Paul got up to stand beside her as she sifted through all the items; there were no small figures to be seen. She moved on to the second bag.
‘I’m right, I’m right, I know I’m right. I keep on thinking I saw one of the small figures.’
She and Barolli carefully checked all the little pieces of beds and wardrobes and there was even a tiny lampshade. But there was no figure. Anna sighed in frustration.
‘You can always ask her parents.’
‘I know, I know. I just want to be sure… wait a minute…’
Anna opened up the doll’s house and she and Barolli leaned in, their heads close as she checked the contents room by room.