Asante frowns; they must clean on-site, he can smell the chemicals. ‘What do you mean, “no”?’
‘She asked for an express job, didn’t she – two-hour turnaround. It’s been done already.’
Asante sighs. RIP any chance of forensics. Sometimes luck is on your side; sometimes it just isn’t.
‘Can I take it anyway?’
The lad shakes his head. ‘No, sorry, mate. Like I said.’
Asante grits his teeth; frankly, it would be easier pulling them. ‘Why not, if you’ve finished doing it? Look, if it’s paperwork you need –’
The lad grins. ‘No, it ain’t that, mate. It’s been cleaned, yeah. But it’s not here. The van picked it up an hour ago.’
‘I’m not with you.’
‘We clean here, but alterations – hems, that sort of stuff – that’s done off-site. And according to the docket, this one was a repair job.’
Asante’s eyes narrow. ‘Exactly what kind of a “repair job” are we talking about?’
* * *
Adam Fawley
7 July 2018
18.43
I’m not in the room when CSI process Marina Fisher, but I am waiting at the coffee machine when Nina Mukerjee comes out. She doesn’t look surprised to see me.
‘Waiting for an update?’ she says, going over to the water cooler. She sticks a paper cup under the dispenser and presses the button. ‘We’ve taken all the usual swabs, but the only thing visible to the naked eye was the slight bruising on her right wrist.’
I frown – I don’t remember seeing that. And the sundress was sleeveless –
But then it comes to me. She had a heavy silver cuff bracelet on one wrist. A bracelet big enough to cover any damage. And it was her right wrist.
‘What did she say about it? The bruising?’
‘Claimed it was probably her kid, but couldn’t remember exactly how it happened. If you ask me, the marks were too big for a small child, but there’s no way to prove it one way or the other.’
‘And it couldn’t have happened at another time? Earlier that day, say?’
‘Impossible to say for sure. It might be worth trying to get hold of any photos taken at the dinner, see if they show anything.’
‘Is there likely to be any DNA?’
She raises an eyebrow. ‘I wouldn’t bet on it. I took fingernail scrapings though I doubt they’ll yield much. But you said Morgan hadn’t showered, so if there are marks on him and she made them, we’ve got a pretty good chance of proving it.’
‘And how did she seem to you, in general?’
Mukerjee considers. ‘Surprisingly composed, actually. She was a bit stressed when she first came in, and the lawyer fidgeting about like a mother hen probably didn’t help, but as soon as we got into it she calmed down at once.’
‘I guess she’s a scientist. Of sorts, anyway.’
‘Funnily enough, that’s exactly what she said. That she found the environment soothing, because it’s what she’s used to.’
Mukerjee picks up her water. ‘One thing’s for sure – she was a lot more composed than most people in her position. The lawyer couldn’t wait to get out of there but Fisher made a point of stopping and thanking me. She said that when it came down to it my job was the same as hers: it was all about the facts. And the facts would prove she’s telling the truth.’
* * *
When Clive Conway gets to the St Luke Street house it’s a uniformed PC who opens the door.
‘Afternoon, Puttergill. Some sort of rave round here last night, was there?’ he says, scraping his shoes on the mat. ‘There’s bits of glass all over the step.’
Puttergill looks blank, then ducks his head outside to look. ‘Is there? I can’t see anything.’
‘Curse of CSI,’ says Conway with a sigh. ‘Every random bit of crap looks like trace evidence.’ He unloads his forensic case in the hall and closes the door behind him. ‘So you got dumped on too, did you?’
Puttergill grins. ‘I was on roster anyway and this place is a hell of a sight nicer than the Cowley Road squad room. Doesn’t smell of cabbage for a start.’
Conway smiles drily; Puttergill’s only six months out of police training college. He’ll learn.
‘Anyone else here?’
Puttergill shakes his head. ‘There’s a cleaner around looking after the kid. Funny little bugger – took one look at me and ran off like a bat out of hell.’
Conway looks sardonic. ‘Next time, try not to pull your baby-frightening face.’
Puttergill laughs. ‘Just wait till he sees you in your nuclear war gear.’
The other curse of CSI – airtight onesies in a heatwave. Brings a whole new meaning to ‘high’ summer.
Conway raises an eyebrow. ‘Well, unless you’ve stumbled over a corpse in the conservatory, I think I can wing it with the basics.’ He opens his case and pulls out a mask. ‘Right, sooner I start, sooner I get a beer.’
* * *
Video-Recorded Interview with Caleb Morgan, conducted at the Holm Oak Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Oxford
7 July 2018, 6.15 p.m.
In attendance, DC V. Everett; observing by video link from adjacent room, DC G. Quinn
VE: OK, as I explained outside, I’m going to try to get as much detail down now as I can, so we have as full a statement as possible. We don’t want to ask you to go through this again if we can avoid it, so please try to tell me everything you can remember, OK?
CM: OK.
VE: And like I said, we are recording this, and if there’s a court case this tape may be used in evidence. Do you need me to explain anything more about that?
CM: No, I understand. And I’ve got the leaflets and stuff.
VE: OK, perhaps I could ask you to start by telling me how you came to be at Professor Fisher’s house yesterday evening.
CM: I was babysitting. She was at that dinner so I was babysitting Tobin.
VE: Have you done that before?
CM: [nods]
Yeah, I do it a lot. The money’s useful and Tobin’s a nice kid. I have a brother who’s only a bit older than him. Well, half-brother really, but I’m used to being around boys his age.
VE: Is it common for dons to use their students as babysitters?
CM: [shrugs]
I don’t know anyone else who does it. But that’s Marina all over – she’s not really one for sticking to the rules.
VE: That’s what you call her – ‘Marina’?
CM: Most of the postgrads call their supervisors by their first names – it’s no big deal.
VE: How would you describe your relationship?
CM: [quickly]
It’s not a relationship – not like that, anyway.
VE: I wasn’t implying anything. I’m just trying to get a full picture. So you weren’t just tutor and student, would that be fair? Given that she trusts you with her child?
CM: I guess. We have a laugh. And she really is phenomenal. Intellectually, I mean. Seriously cutting-edge. What I said about her not sticking to the rules, I meant it in a good way – you can’t just do the same old same old, not in our field. You’ve got to take risks, challenge the status quo.
VE: Sounds like you admire her.
CM: [shrugs]
Anyone working in AI would give their eye teeth to be supervised by Marina. I was mega excited when I found out. I never thought it would end like this.
VE: But up until last night there’d never been anything else between you? It had been purely professional?
CM: [nods]