As Jane thought of Mr and Mrs Collins’ loss, the soulful words of her favourite Janis Joplin song came into her head, and suddenly seemed so poignant.
Chapter three
Jane got up early and had a shower. She decided to try on the dreaded bridesmaid dress. She unzipped the black bag and the salmon-pink taffeta skirt spilled out: just looking at the dress made her feel ill. The boned corset had a sweetheart neckline and there were now puffball sleeves. The huge satin bow and wide sash were pinned to the hanger. She sighed. The frock was hideous. She pushed the skirt back and zipped up the bag. She quickly dressed and made her escape without waking her parents or sister. She left a note to apologize for being so late home and left it on the breakfast counter.
Jane arrived at the station early; she didn’t want to miss the post-mortem of Julie Ann Collins. She knew how lucky she was to be asked to attend, as most probationers got to attend only run-of-the-mill, non-suspicious postmortems.
The detectives on the murder investigation had worked hard until the early hours of the morning. With the assistance of officers from the special patrol group, they had made enquiries in the vicinity of the playground, on the Kingsmead Estate, and at Edgar House on the Pembridge Estate where the victim was known to have squatted. Sadly they had not uncovered any witnesses who had noticed anything unusual or who had seen Julie Ann with anyone the previous day. She and Eddie Phillips were known on the estate, as was the fact that they sometimes squatted in one of the empty flats, but it seemed that they never caused any problems or bothered anyone. Eddie, the detectives discovered, had a grandmother called Nancy Phillips who lived on the estate and he stayed with her when he wasn’t shooting up or high on drugs.
Shortly before midnight, while the SPG officers were still on the estate, they stopped a young male drug addict, Billy Myers, just outside the block where Julie Ann had squatted. It transpired that he knew the victim and, along with another drug addict, had spent the previous night with Eddie. He told the officers that Eddie was so spaced out on heroin he wouldn’t have known what time of day it was, and when he had asked him where Julie Ann was, Eddie had said he didn’t know and hadn’t seen her since she’d gone off with a punter in a car. The officers traced the other drug addict and he gave the same story without any prompting.
The police divisional surgeon had examined Eddie. He had a number of needle marks from injecting heroin in his left arm, but no marks on his body that suggested he had been involved in a violent struggle.
Bradfield and DS Gibbs had re-interviewed Eddie, who still protested his innocence, and when asked if he was with anyone on the night Julie Ann died he said he couldn’t remember as he was high on drugs.
Eddie’s description of the last time he’d seen Julie Ann was still vague, as it was at least two weeks ago. He blamed drugs and methadone for his memory loss, and when asked about the red car he’d seen her getting into he said he was ‘pretty sure’ it was a newish Jaguar as it was shiny and he liked them. Eddie was unable to give a description of the driver, saying that he only saw the car from behind and didn’t take any notice as he thought it was probably some punter picking Julie Ann up for sex.
Bradfield was beginning to doubt Eddie’s involvement in Julie Ann’s murder, but couldn’t rule out the possibility that he was hiding something or knew someone who might be involved.
During the interview Eddie had been asked who their drug dealer was. He told them that Julie Ann used to get drugs for both of them, but he didn’t know who from. Evidently, Julie Ann used to let her drug-dealing punters have sex in return for heroin, instead of cash. Bradfield found it repellent that Eddie allowed his so-called girlfriend to sell her body in order to feed their heroin habit. When asked if Julie Ann had a pimp, Eddie said he didn’t know but Bradfield suspected he was lying. However, there was no incriminating evidence to charge Eddie or keep him in custody, so Bradfield had him released pending further enquiries. He warned Eddie to stay with his grandmother and that at some point he or one of his detectives would want to speak with him again.
Without any witnesses, they had no clear time of death, only that Julie Ann’s body had been discovered at 9 a.m. the day before by some kids. It was clear that she had been strangled, but they needed to know what time she was killed, and whether the murder had happened in the playground or elsewhere.
Bradfield demanded that his officers push any informants they had to find out who had supplied Julie Ann and Eddie with heroin. He instructed them to check all the red-light districts in Stoke Newington, Holloway, King’s Cross and Soho for any toms who might have known Julie Ann or seen a red Jag loitering for pick-ups. He wanted the car and driver traced, even if it meant speaking to everyone in London who owned a red Jaguar, which could run into thousands.
Jane went to the parade room in the back yard to check her tray for any internal mail or notices. She opened an envelope with her divisional number and station code. It contained the results of her latest continuation training exam and she had passed with an overall mark of 85 per cent. With plenty of time to spare Jane decided to have a coffee and a Chelsea bun in the canteen. She was just heading up the stairs when she saw Kath Morgan coming out of the CID office dressed in flared jeans, a T-shirt and denim jacket.
‘You’re in early,’ they both said in unison.
Jane explained about the invite from DCI Bradfield to attend the post-mortem.
‘You lucky so and so, Jane. I’ve never been to a proper murder one, only a routine natural-causes death. Anyway, after that DS Gibbs gave me a tip and told me to use some Vicks VapoRub — you put a bit under each nostril to avoid the stink. In fact I’ve still got the unopened pot I bought. It’s in me parade-room tray, help yourself to it.’
‘Oh, thanks, Kath, I will. Why don’t you ask if you can come as well?’
‘I’m busy already. I got a bit of info about a burglar working the Holly Street Estate over by London Fields. He’s turning over the old folks’ flats and nicking pension books and cash. DS Gibbs said I could do a plain-clothes shift with the crime squad to try and nick him on the plot. I hope it pays off, Jane, as I really want to get onto the crime squad and then get selected for detective.’
‘It would be a first for this station, Kath, a woman detective.’
‘I know! There’s only a couple of other WDCs in the Met, but I’m determined to prove myself.’
Jane smiled. ‘He of the thirty years’ experience would have a heart attack. A woman detective... what a bloody disgrace.’
‘Pissing Harris off would be a bonus,’ Kath replied and they both laughed.
Kath’s tone became serious as she continued.
‘Listen, about that bloke you mentioned, the one that threw you out of his mother’s flat. Was his name John Bentley?’
‘Well, I’m pretty sure it was. Irene Bentley was the name on the rent book and he called her Mum.’
‘Before I went off duty last night I had a quick look through the collator’s criminal index cards. There’s a Bentley whose description matches but he lives at a different address. Bit of a nasty sod from a nasty family: he’s been done for GBH.’