‘Do you think she could have been pushed?’
‘I can’t say. There’s no bruising on her face or lower arms to suggest she was punched or grabbed, but the post mortem might reveal bruising on her chest or shoulders, which could be consistent with being pushed.’
Paul went over to the beer barrels and gently lifted each one an inch or two off the ground. He said nothing as he walked upstairs.
‘What are you doing?’ Jane asked, following him.
In the lounge bar he picked up a clean beer glass and handed it to her.
‘Pour me a pint of Heineken, please.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘You should know by now there’s always a method in my madness.’
She held the glass under the spout and pulled the tap forward. At first there was the sound of air, then a few small foamy splutters of beer coughed their way out of the spout, followed by a large sputter, which hit the beer already in the glass. It splashed back up and almost over Jane.
Paul smiled. ‘As I thought... The Heineken barrel in the cellar is a fresh one and hasn’t been run through the pipes to ensure an uninterrupted flow of lager from the keg to the glass.’
‘What the hell do you two think you’re doing?’ Murphy shouted.
An embarrassed Jane quickly put the glass on the counter, wishing the ground would open and swallow her up. But Paul knew Murphy of old.
‘Good morning, sir. I’m demonstrating to Sergeant Tennison that Fiona Simpson most likely changed a beer barrel just before her death.’
‘What are you talking about, Lawrence?’
‘It’s not a great revelation, but it could be relevant to her time of death.’
‘Get to the point and don’t give me all the Sherlock Holmes shit!’
‘Someone changed the Heineken barrel and it hasn’t been used, until now. It would explain why Fiona Simpson went down the cellar, but not if she fell or was pushed on her way back up.’
‘Show me the body,’ Murphy said.
‘My pleasure, sir.’
Lawrence showed Murphy the body and repeated his and Jane’s observations.
‘The bottom line is you don’t know how she died?’ Murphy asked, leading the way back up to the bar.
‘Correct. However, my advice would be to secure the scene, remove the body to the mortuary and have a post mortem this afternoon. If the pathologist finds any sign of a struggle, or contentious injuries, then the coroner will decide if a suspicious death or murder investigation is required.’
‘OK, arrange for the PM and finish what you need to do here.’
‘Will you be attending?’ Lawrence asked.
‘No...’
‘May I?’ Jane asked.
Murphy glared at her. ‘Not unless you’d like an instant transfer back to division.’
‘What do you mean, sir?’
‘The Flying Squad don’t deal with suspicious deaths or murder. Division can deal with it and inform me of the PM result.’
‘But one of our suspects might have pushed her.’
‘Right now, you’re pushing me to the limit, Tennison. I had the duty inspector on the phone to me at home last night, about a Mr. Jones who made an official complaint about you and Teflon interviewing his daughter without his permission.’
‘She’s seventeen, and legally an adult.’
‘I don’t give a toss what age she is — I specifically told you not to speak to her and you disobeyed me. I want you and Teflon to go back to the office right now.’
He marched off, and Lawrence could tell Jane felt she’d been deliberately humiliated in front of him.
‘Ignore him, Jane, he’s always been an overbearing twat.’
Jane sighed heavily. ‘He’s been on my case since day one and is determined to get rid of me. He told me I was only transferred to the squad as an experiment.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ll tell you later. Is it OK to ring you at home this evening?’
‘You know you can call me any time, day or night. But the best way to shove two fingers up at Murphy is to do what you do best — and that’s being a damn good detective.’
‘I’m trying, Paul. Believe me, I’m trying.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jane was still preoccupied by Murphy’s dressing-down as Teflon drove back to Rigg Approach.
‘That’s what he must have been raging about when he spoke to Cam this morning.’
‘Murphy bent my ear before he spoke to you in the pub.’
‘I hope you told him it was my fault.’
‘I told him you were right about Abby Jones lying, then repeated what she told us at her house — that the gunman wasn’t wearing a mask and had a cut to his head.’
‘How did he take that?’
‘I think I hit a nerve. He asked me if I thought Abby would be able to identify him. I said I was almost certain she could, but her father pressured her to lie and say she couldn’t.’
‘What did he say to that?’
‘Just that he’d speak to the pair of us later. I think he’s just testing your mettle to see if you’re up to the job. Murphy told me Jones attended the station wanting to make an official complaint, which suggests the duty officer persuaded him not to and we’ll be given words of advice.’
‘He might still make a formal complaint.’
‘So what? It’s not a sacking offence. Worst we can get is a slap on the wrist and a caution for disobeying him, which means it’s the end of the matter.’
‘I’m not so sure he’ll do that with me—’
‘Nah, I backed you up. He can’t treat us any differently.’
‘Thanks for your support, it means a lot to me—’
He shrugged. ‘That’s what we do on the squad — we watch each other’s backs.’
Now that Jane could feel a mutual respect growing between her and Teflon, she wondered if she should tell him about her conversation with Betty, and how Kingston had dismissed her as an unreliable witness. Stranger still was the fact he’d never mentioned Betty’s evidence in any of the office meetings. She looked out of the passenger window, sighed to herself and decided not to say anything to him, worrying that all it might accomplish would be to damage the bond that was forming between them if she were to question Kingston’s integrity. Which meant she either had to keep her suspicions to herself or confront Kingston about it face to face.
Murphy sat at his desk writing a misdemeanor caution in their pocket notebooks, while Jane and Teflon stood to attention. Jane felt like she was back at school, standing in front of the headmistress and being told off for her bad behavior in class. Teflon gave her a side-on glance and a ‘told you so’ smile. She tried not to smile back in case Murphy looked up.
‘Next time I won’t be so lenient.’ He handed back their pocket notebooks. ‘You’re lucky the Leytonstone duty officer persuaded Mr. Jones not to make a full-blown complaint. I suggest you find out what he drinks and buy him a bottle... each!’
‘Yes, sir,’ they replied in unison.
‘Type up a detailed report of your conversation with Abby Jones and her father, then file it as no further action.’
‘Excuse me, sir,’ Jane said, ‘but I wondered if this would be a convenient time to tell you about our visit to the Wilson sisters yesterday?’
‘Was the result as bad as the Joneses?’ he asked in a sarcastic tone.
‘To be honest... yes and no,’ Jane admitted.
‘Let’s hear it then...’
Jane gave him a summary of what she’d learned about the twins.
‘Bloody hell, those girls have had a tragic life,’ Murphy remarked.