‘Depends on whether or not he admits to stealing the cross, but at least eight to twelve hours. That should give you plenty of time to get out of here. If you want to press charges about the assaults...’
‘Let me think about it.’
Jane didn’t want to force her. She got a pen from her pocket and picked up a piece of scrap paper from the dressing table. ‘I’ll give you my details. Ring me and let me know you’re OK. If you change your mind and want to press charges, I will personally arrest him and deal with the case.’
‘Thank you.’
‘You know where I am if you need me. There’s one other thing. Did Barry say if he found anything else yesterday?’ Jane asked, thinking about the missing knife.
‘No. He only mentioned the cross.’
Barry was sitting back in the armchair yawning as he watched Boon and the crime squad officers search the living room.
‘We haven’t found anything, sarge,’ Boon said as Jane walked in.
‘I said you wankers were wasting your time,’ Barry sneered.
Jane removed the cross from her pocket and briefly held it out for Barry to see.
‘As luck would have it, I just found this around your wife’s neck.’ She put it back in her pocket.
Barry shrugged. ‘So what, lots of women wear a cross... not just nuns.’
‘I asked her where she got it. The strange thing is, she didn’t want to tell me. Did you give it to her?’
‘It ain’t a crime to give your missus a present.’
‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Jane said.
‘Take it how you like, love.’
‘You opened the nun’s coffin yesterday and stole the cross, didn’t you?’ Boon said.
‘I already told you, Dermot wanted to open the coffin. You should nick him and search his fucking gaff. I wanna speak to my missus!’ Barry demanded, getting up from the armchair.
Jane pushed him hard in the chest so he fell back into the armchair, then pointed a finger at him. ‘The only place you are going is to the station for interview. Take him down to the car,’ she told the crime squad officers.
She waited until they were alone in the flat, then told Boon about Katie and her bruises.
‘He’s a real low life.’
‘Barry mustn’t know what his wife told me. Do everything slowly with him so she has plenty of time to pack some bags and get out.’ She took the exhibits bag with the cross in it from her pocket. ‘Take this to the SOCO. Get him to photograph it and print some enlargements for me.’ Boon held it up and looked at it, and was about to put it in his pocket when Jane stopped him.
‘Hang on a sec... there’s something on the back of the cross.’ Boon handed it to her. ‘Stupidly, I didn’t think to look on the other side when his wife handed it to me.’
She looked closely. Engraved on the back was 20.02.58 and the initials MB.
‘Those numbers must relate to a significant date. It could be when she became a nun. This is an important find, Boony. It could help to identify the body and narrow the time frame of the murder.’ She was looking forward to showing it to Father Chris and asking his opinion on the significance of the engraving.
Chapter Nine
Jane arrived at Orpington police station at a quarter past nine, with time to spare before her meeting with DCS Barnes, so she decided to have a poached egg on toast with a cup of tea in the canteen. After ordering her food, she sat at an empty table and opened her briefcase to have a quick read through her report. Her heart immediately sank. ‘No, no, no,’ she said to herself on finding the file was not in the case. She instantly knew that in her rush to get to the old convent, she’d left the report on the dining-room table.
‘Excuse me,’ she said to the uniformed officer on the table next to her. ‘How long does it take to get to Chislehurst High Street from here?’ Her house was a two-minute drive from there.
‘About fifteen, twenty minutes tops.’
‘What’s the quickest way?’
The officer gave her the most direct route which, to her relief, was pretty straightforward.
‘Thanks,’ she replied, hurrying to the canteen door.
‘You forgot your briefcase, love,’ the uniformed officer shouted.
‘Shit,’ she muttered, then turned, grabbed the case and ran as fast as she could to her car.
Thankfully, the traffic wasn’t heavy, and she made it home in seventeen minutes. She dashed inside and grabbed her report.
‘Good morning, Jane, you off to work?’ Gerry was walking his dog.
‘Yes,’ she replied, opening the car door, and throwing the report on the passenger seat.
‘Everything OK with the light socket?’
‘It’s working fine now, thanks.’
‘Any problems, you know where I am.’
‘Sorry, Gerry, but I have to go as I’m running late for an important meeting.’
‘You got far to go?’
‘Orpington,’ she replied, wishing he’d stop asking questions.
‘You know what they say... more haste, less speed.’
Jane looked at her watch, it was a quarter to ten. Angry with herself, and knowing she’d be late for the meeting, she banged her hand on the steering wheel. She didn’t drive fast and the return journey took her twenty minutes. She parked her car, ran to the station and up the stairs to DCS Barnes’s office.
Jane knocked on Barnes’s door whilst dabbing the sweat from her forehead with a tissue. She knew her hair must be a mess from all the running around, but there was no time to do anything about it.
‘Come in,’ Barnes said in a gruff voice. ‘I take it you must be DS Tennison.’ He looked over the top of his half-moon glasses as he put a folder in a filing-cabinet drawer, then used his foot to close it.
Barnes was a short, thin man in his early fifties, with combed-back grey hair. He looked quite dapper, dressed in a brown two-piece suit, light blue shirt, navy blue tie and brown shoes.
‘I’m really sorry I’m late, sir, but I was—’
He held his hand up to stop. ‘In my book, if I give up my time, you should be respectful by arriving on time.’
‘Sorry, sir. I was on an early morning search which took longer than expected. I got here as fast as I could,’ Jane said, feeling foolish.
‘That’s obvious from the state of you.’
Jane dabbed her forehead again and Barnes told her to take a seat. She was surprised at how soft, yet strong his voice was.
‘Was the search connected to the nun’s murder?’
‘Yes, sir. We suspected one of the builders had forced the coffin open and stolen a silver cross. He’s denying it, but we found the cross at his flat.’
‘Good. I like positive results.’
‘I also told the site manger to stop all digging work while I made further inquiries regarding the body.’
‘Is he aware the nun was murdered?’
‘No, and neither is Barry May, the builder who stole the cross.’
‘Good, those sorts of people have big mouths, so keep it that way for now. Have you done a report for me?’
She handed him the folder.
‘I think I’ll have a coffee while I read it.’
Jane stood up, intending to go to the canteen. ‘I’ll get it. Milk and sugar?’
He pulled a sour face. ‘I never drink the dishwater they serve in the canteen.’ He pointed to a cabinet in the corner of the room, on which was an electric kettle, a cafetière and a china teapot.
‘The ground coffee is in the cabinet. If you want tea there’s lapsang souchong. I don’t take milk or sugar. If you want anything different, the canteen is on the next floor.’
Jane flicked the kettle on and put some coffee in the cafetière. She watched Barnes out of the corner of her eye as he slowly read the report, occasionally turning back a page to check something. She decided to have a tea and put some tea leaves in the pot.