‘Good point,’ Murphy said. ‘Dabs, make sure the firearms section at the lab are aware of the Luger idea and keep me and DI Kingston updated with the results.’
Dabs nodded, and Murphy asked Stanley to continue.
‘The guard was still on his knees with the gun to his forehead when the unarmed man said, “Last chance, son. Tell him to put the other fucking cases in the chute.” The voice was calm, but gravelly, as if he maybe had a sore throat. His eyes were brown, and his stare was “pure evil”, he reckoned. The next thing he heard was the van’s alarm going off, followed by the shotgun blast — then when he saw the two robbers run to the front of the van he legged it into the bank.’
Jane put her hand up.
‘Yes, Tennison?’ Murphy sighed.
‘I just wondered if the guard said anything about smelling smoke on the unarmed man?’
‘They didn’t set light to the car until after the robbery, Tennison,’ Murphy shot back.
‘I meant tobacco smoke—’
‘No, he didn’t,’ Stanley put in.
‘Did you ask?’ Jane enquired.
Stanley showed his annoyance. ‘I know how to take a victim statement, Jane. I asked the guard if the robber had bad breath and he said no, so for me that means it didn’t smell of smoke.’
Murphy sighed. ‘Whether or not this person is a smoker doesn’t really help the investigation at this stage.’
Jane was determined to make her point.
‘A witness who lives at Edgar House saw two men walking towards Felstead Road not long after the robbery and thought she smelt cigar smoke. They caught her eye because one of them was carrying a duffle bag like one she bought her grandson for Christmas.’
‘Any description of the men?’ Murphy asked.
Jane got out her pocket notebook to check what the uniform sergeant had said.
‘I didn’t speak to her personally, but she thought the men were about five feet nine, one was dark-haired and the other lighter colored. She thinks the one carrying the bag had a blue jacket on—’
‘The blaggers were all dressed in dark coveralls and donkey jackets,’ the Colonel said bluntly.
‘Actually, we found evidence of burnt clothing in the boot of the Cortina,’ Dabs said, ‘which suggests they may have changed clothes in the garage—’
Murphy interrupted. ‘Is there a description for these two men?’
‘She only saw them from behind, but if they were involved in the robbery, they may have had a second getaway car parked nearby.’
Murphy looked unimpressed.
‘We could always do an ID parade where the witness looks at the back of the suspects’ heads.’ The Colonel laughed, and some of the others joined in.
‘Thank you for your input, Tennison, but I’d like to move on to the three crime scene examinations.’
‘I found a cigar butt in Felstead Road and there was one—’
Murphy interrupted her. ‘The fact one of our suspects may smoke cigars is not incriminating evidence, Tennison, so move on to the scene examinations.’
‘SOCO Morgan and I examined the crash site and the burnt-out car—’
Murphy held up his hand again. ‘I am aware of that, but I’d like Dabs to take me through it.’
Jane could feel herself getting worked up, but bit her lip, knowing that standing up to Murphy would only make him come down even harder on her.
Dabs opened the exhibits book to use as a reference.
‘DS Tennison also found two fresh blood drop trails in Woodville Road running from a car’s skid mark, which we believe was left by the Cortina.’
‘How do you think they got there?’ Kingston asked.
‘Sergeant Tennison has a theory on that,’ Dabs said, looking over at Jane.
She checked her notes. ‘A young girl was in Woodville Road when she saw the Cortina hit a parked car at speed then skid to an abrupt halt. A tall man wearing a balaclava got out of the front passenger side, then walked into the middle of the road and started shooting at Juliet 1. Having fired four times he returned to the Cortina, which then left the scene. It’s possible that this man was injured at some point during the car chase and left the blood trails.’
Dabs spoke up. ‘I took swabs and will get them tested for blood grouping. Thanks to Sergeant Tennison’s perceptive thinking we also recovered some blood on the front passenger door sill of the burnt-out Cortina.’
‘Can I see the exhibits book?’ Murphy asked, and Dabs handed it to him.
‘There’s more,’ Dabs said, getting their attention again. ‘She also thought to call out a traffic officer to examine the car’s chassis plate in situ, and as a result we now know it was reported stolen and who the owner is.’
There was silence in the room as Murphy looked through the book.
‘I see the traffic officer took the ignition barrel out of the Cortina — why was that?’ he asked Dabs, who again looked at Jane.
‘I asked him if there was any sign that the Cortina had been hot-wired or if a screwdriver had been used to start the ignition,’ Jane explained. ‘He was positive it hadn’t been hot-wired and took the barrel for microscopic examination to see if the inside had signs of screwdriver damage.’
Dabs smiled, realizing that she’d twisted things slightly to make herself look good.
‘If we know the car was nicked how does damage to the ignition barrel help us?’ Cam asked dismissively.
‘It’s the opposite—’ Dabs said.
‘What do you mean the opposite?’
‘Sometimes it’s obvious why you’re OFD,’ the Colonel said. ‘If it wasn’t hot-wired and there’s no damage to the barrel then a key must have been used to start it — which would suggest...’ He paused, waiting for Cam to answer.
‘That maybe the car wasn’t stolen, and the owner’s lied for some reason.’
‘Finally, you’re thinking like a detective,’ the Colonel said, and Cam gave him a ‘piss off’ look.
Jane held up a bit of paper. ‘The owner reported his Cortina stolen two weeks ago.’
She handed it to Kingston, who said he knew where Mount Pleasant Road was as he’d worked at Tottenham as a DI, but didn’t recognize the name of the owner.
‘This Frank Braun needs to be spoken to asap,’ Kingston said.
Stanley volunteered to visit the address with the Colonel after the meeting. Murphy said it was best to wait until they had the result of the examination of the car’s ignition barrel and handed Kingston the exhibits book.
‘I see you also seized the burnt-out garage door lock.’
‘I thought that if we arrested any suspects with garage keys, we could test them against the lock,’ she explained.
Kingston nodded his approval. ‘Seems you have a good working knowledge of forensics.’
‘I’ve had the privilege of working alongside an experienced lab liaison sergeant at several murder scenes — DS Paul Lawrence.’
‘He’s regarded as the best in the Met,’ Dabs chipped in.
Kingston looked at Murphy. ‘I think it might be a good idea if DS Tennison continues to work alongside Dabs on this investigation.’
Murphy reluctantly agreed, but Jane wasn’t sure whether they were trying to help her fit in or put her in a role where she would be distanced from the team’s outside enquiries and surveillance duties. Again, the thought crossed her mind that there might be things about their working methods they didn’t want her to see or hear.
‘Can you continue supervising the house-to-house enquiries as well?’ Kingston asked.
Jane was quick to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ making it hard for Murphy to object to his second in command. She suspected Cam had lied to her about Kingston saying he was to run the house-to-house.