‘I’m just getting started.’ I carefully packed the skull and mandible back in the box. I’d examine Darren Crossly’s remains in detail later, but I’d seen all I had to for now. ‘Any word on Daniel Mears?’
Ainsley considered the woman’s skeleton. ‘Not so far. You heard he lost the leg?’
‘DCI Ward told me.’
‘Terrible. You were there, I understand?’
I nodded, not wanting to go into it again. ‘It said on the news you’re looking for Keith Jessop.’
I wasn’t going to mention what Ward had already told me, that the police wanted to interview the contractor about the other St Jude’s murders as well. Ainsley’s mouth pursed, perhaps remembering how the contractor had hit him.
‘It wasn’t an easy decision to release his name at this stage, but we need him in custody. The man’s a danger to himself and everyone else. It’s a pity somebody didn’t realize it sooner.’
By ‘somebody’ I guessed he meant Ward. The scapegoating had already started.
‘So which one’s this?’ Ainsley asked, looking down at the reassembled skeleton. He might have been talking about car parts rather than human remains.
‘It’s the woman who was with Darren Crossly.’
‘Ah, yes. The one we think is his Portuguese girlfriend. Are you working on confirming the ID?’
‘That’s right.’
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie. The dental exam had proved this was Maria de Souza, but I’d still to check for healed bone fractures or any other identifying features to support the identification. I could have said so to Ainsley, but I hadn’t liked his implied criticism of Ward. Although he might outrank her, she was still SIO.
For now.
He nodded, not seeming interested in the answer. I knew then that he’d come here for more than a progress report.
‘I approved of DCI Ward’s decision to ask you to take over from Mears, by the way,’ he said, turning from the remains to me. The blue eyes were as impenetrable as a china doll’s. ‘BioGen wanted to send over someone else, but I felt we needed continuity. You’re already familiar with the case so you can jump straight in. And, without any disrespect to Dr Mears, I thought it would be better to have someone with experience.’
To hear him talk it might have been his idea all along. ‘I’ll do my best,’ I said neutrally.
‘I’m sure you will.’ Ainsley brushed a fleck of something off his jacket, too small for me to see. ‘I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the investigation’s under a lot of scrutiny. Frankly, it’s lurched from one disaster to another, and we can’t allow that to continue. Obviously, no one was aware it would develop as it has, but while I’ve the utmost respect for DCI Ward, with hindsight it was probably unfair to expect her to deal with this level of responsibility.’
Here it comes. Whelan had foreseen that the blame would be focused on Ward, and Ainsley wasn’t wasting any time. ‘Because she’s pregnant?’
He quickly backtracked. ‘No, of course not. But this is her first case as SIO, so it’s not surprising she’s been… overwhelmed.’
‘I thought she’d been coping pretty well.’
I wasn’t just speaking up for Ward out of loyalty. She was under a lot of strain, but she’d been forced to deal with fast-moving events no one could have predicted. And Ainsley was conveniently forgetting it had been his decision to bring in a private forensic company, the results of which I was having to deal with now.
He nodded slowly, as though giving weight to my words. ‘Unfortunately, I’m not sure events bear that out. Especially not after last night.’
I couldn’t see how Ward could have predicted Jessop’s attack, let alone prevented it. But I also knew there was no point arguing.
‘Why are you telling me this?’
Civilian consultants weren’t high enough in the pecking order to merit that sort of consideration. There was certainly no need for a Metropolitan Police commander to inform me personally if Ward was being replaced as SIO.
Ainsley regarded me thoughtfully. ‘I know you and Sharon Ward have a strong working relationship, but we can’t afford any more mistakes. Without apportioning any blame, I think it falls to the rest of us to ease the burden of pressure from her in any way we can. That’s why I’d like you to report to me from now on.’
‘You’re asking me to bypass DCI Ward?’
‘Not at all. She’s SIO and you should continue to report to her as usual. But I’d like to be kept appraised of your findings as well.’
So Ward wasn’t being removed. Yet. Just placed on probation, with Ainsley overseeing and no doubt micromanaging in the background.
‘Does she know?’ I asked.
‘DCI Ward’s a realist.’
I took that to mean she didn’t. Ainsley slipped a card from his wallet and set it down on the worktop next to him. ‘Do we understand each other, Dr Hunter?’
‘I think so.’
‘Excellent.’ He shot his cuff and looked at his watch. ‘I need to be going. The post-mortem briefing’s starting soon.’
‘For Adam Oduya?’ It hadn’t occurred to me that might be the reason for Ainsley’s visit.
‘Yes, it’s scheduled for ten o’clock. Not here, at the Belmont Road mortuary,’ he added, seeing me glance at the wall clock. ‘It was felt that was more appropriate when he was killed right outside. I just took a detour en route.’
He started towards the door, then stopped and turned again.
‘Oh, one more thing. I appreciate your bringing Gary Lennox to our attention, but please remember you’re a civilian consultant. Any operational aspects — certainly involving potential suspects — are best left to the investigative officers. That said, I can understand why it happened, and it was a promising lead. It’s just a shame it didn’t work out.’
I was trying to decide if he was thanking me or reprimanding me, so I was slow to pick up on that last sentence.
‘I’m not with you.’ From what Ward had said the night before, they were still waiting to check Lennox’s fingerprints.
‘I thought DCI Ward might have let you know,’ Ainsley said, a shade too smoothly to be convincing. ‘We managed to obtain sets of both their fingerprints. Lennox’s and his mother’s. Neither of them matches the ones from the crime scene, so all that time and effort was for nothing. Well, not quite nothing. Lennox is getting proper care now, which I suppose is something. But a simple call to social services would have been lot easier.’
The doll’s eyes held mine.
‘I won’t keep you any longer, Dr Hunter. You know how to reach me.’
Chapter 27
I took a break after Ainsley had gone. There was a water cooler in the corridor, so I went to get a drink while I thought through what I’d just heard.
The commander’s visit had thrown me. The good news was that Ward was still SIO, and as long as that was the case then anything I had to report would go through her. I’d no intention of going behind Ward’s back, as Ainsley wanted. But the fact he’d asked was troubling. Ward was more than capable of looking after herself, and I’d no doubt she’d be well aware of how precarious her situation was. Even so, for a senior officer to undermine her like that didn’t bode well.
Ainsley’s other news was even more disturbing. He was right about Jessop: the contractor was a threat to himself and others, and the sooner he was in custody the better. But unless the police could find hard evidence that he’d been involved in the St Jude’s murders, the investigation was back where it had started, with no leads or suspects. I’d only just started to believe that Gary Lennox could be guilty and that his mother might be lying to protect him. Now it had emerged that the fingerprints from the crime scene didn’t belong to either of them. We’d been wrong all along.