She put the coffee on his desk, and he nodded a thank you. She took a sip of the tea, which was surprisingly refreshing after all the running around she’d been doing. A few minutes later, Barnes put the report down on the desk and removed his glasses. He opened his desk drawer and removed a packet of Sobranie Black Russian cigarettes and a gold Dupont lighter. Opening the pack, he offered one to Jane, who politely declined. He removed one of the long black cigarettes by its gold filter, which was decorated with a double-headed eagle, lit it and inhaled deeply before slowly blowing out the smoke. He folded his reading glasses and put them in the breast pocket of his jacket.
‘Your report is very informative and well written, Tennison. Is there anything you’d like to add?’
She told him about the cross, detailing the engraving and possible significance of the date and initials on it.
‘If the cross is the victim’s, it would be reasonable to assume she was murdered sometime after February 1958,’ Barnes surmised.
‘That’s what I was thinking,’ Jane said. ‘I’ve been told the convent was sold to the developer in 1965, so we are only looking at a possible seven-year time span.’
‘I agree, but you must also consider the cross may have been put on the nun to fool anyone who found her.’
‘You think the cross could belong to whoever killed her?’
He took a puff of the cigarette. ‘It’s not beyond the realm of possibility someone religious, such as a priest, killed her. Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’
Jane knew the quote was from Sherlock Holmes, and wondered if Barnes was trying to impress her.
‘I was told the diocese keep records of all the nuns in their district, so it shouldn’t be difficult to identify individuals with the initials MR,’ Jane said.
‘Who gave you the information about the diocesan records?’ he asked.
‘Father Christopher Floridia. He’s the priest at St Mary’s, which is just down the road from the old convent.’
‘I didn’t see his name mentioned in your report.’
Jane hesitated. ‘I didn’t think it relevant to the investigation, though he was very helpful and informative regarding—’
Barnes folded his arms and tilted his head. ‘Did you tell him the nun was murdered?’
Jane suspected that if she said yes, she’d be taken off the investigation.
‘No, sir,’ she said quickly. She then explained that she’d sought his advice prior to the post-mortem. ‘I wanted to know what the religious rules were regarding consecrated ground and who I should inform if there was, or wasn’t, a body in the coffin. He did ask me to let him know the outcome, so out of courtesy I phoned him after the PM—’
He leaned forward to interrupt. ‘And what did you tell him?’
Jane took a deep breath. ‘Only that we’d discovered a mummified body in the coffin dressed in a nun’s habit. He offered to introduce me to the bishop and help identify her.’
Barnes straightened in his chair. ‘At present I don’t want Father Floridia, the bishop, or anyone connected to the Church knowing this is a murder investigation.’
Jane was taken aback. ‘Surely, sir, the priority is identifying our victim and ascertaining if she was a nun at the old convent. Father Floridia’s assistance would be very useful.’
‘I don’t trust priests or the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to be truthful when dealing with something that reflects badly on them. They’ll make empty promises to keep you at bay,’ he said bluntly.
‘Will it not reflect badly on us if we don’t tell them?’ she countered.
‘I’ve made my decision, and I expect you to obey it,’ he said, stubbing out his cigarette.
‘Yes, sir,’ Jane replied. She wanted to ask why Barnes didn’t trust the Church, but thought it best not to. ‘Does that mean you want me to continue with the investigation?’
‘Yes, for now.’
‘Thank you, sir. Will the murder squad be based at Bromley or here?’
‘I’m not forming a full murder squad just yet. I want everything played low-key for now and no press involvement. If whoever killed her is still alive, the last thing we want to do is give them a heads-up and the opportunity to disappear. Do your best to identify the nun over the next three days, then I’ll review my decision on Monday.’
Jane was confused. ‘How do I do that without speaking to anyone connected to the Church?’
‘I never said you couldn’t talk to them. You’ve already got one foot in the door with this Father Floridia. Tell him the post-mortem is still ongoing.’
‘I don’t think I’d feel right lying to him.’
‘You don’t have to lie. Your report said further expert opinion is needed to determine the nun’s age and how long she’s been dead. That’s quite true, and it’s also true we need to identify her as soon as possible. I’d call it a means to an end. However, if you’re not happy about it, I can always find someone who is...’ He paused to let her answer.
‘I take your point, sir. Of course, I’ll do as you ask. DC Boon’s also been assisting me...’
Barnes frowned. ‘DI Stanley said he’s not very experienced.’
‘But he’s keen and eager to learn,’ Jane said. ‘He’s liaising with the Missing Persons Bureau and was with me at the building site and post-mortem, so he’s up to speed with the investigation.’
‘All right, but if he screws up it’s on you.’
‘What about the building site? Can they start work again?’ she asked.
‘Not yet. To be honest I’m not that concerned about whether or not the land is consecrated. The priority is identifying the nun and finding out who murdered her. That said, it can be used to our advantage as a cover to get information out of the diocese and identify the nun. Once you’ve done that, I’ll review the situation regarding the building site.’
‘Should I report back to you directly?’
‘I’m in meetings at Scotland Yard for the rest of the day and away at a family wedding over the weekend. DI Stanley will supervise you in my absence. Are you rostered to work this weekend?’
‘No, sir, but I’m more than happy to do so without overtime, and re-roster my rest days.’
He nodded. ‘You can claim overtime if your inquiries justify it. Same goes for DC Boon if you need him. We can have another meeting in DI Stanley’s office on Monday morning at ten. Is there anything else for now?’
‘I was wondering if it would be worth getting an anthropologist to do a facial reconstruction. It’s a fairly new thing which involves—’
‘I’m fully aware of what it is, Tennison. Circulating a facial reconstruction this early in the investigation could lead to a lot of erroneous identifications and cause more problems than it’s worth. I’m happy for a forensic odontologist to examine the victim’s teeth to give an estimate of her age at death. If you do identify the victim and recover any dental records, the odontologist can then compare the two; that way, you’ll have a confirmed ID.’
Jane already knew, from a previous investigation, what a forensic odontologist could do and thought she’d raised it in her report. ‘Thank you for letting me continue the investigation. I won’t let you down,’ she said.
‘That remains to be seen. From what I’ve heard, you had quite a chequered history during your eight years’ service in the Met. My advice to you is, be a team player and don’t go behind people’s backs. It only causes friction and distrust.’
Jane thought he was criticising her part in the downfall of DCI Bill Murphy. ‘DCI Murphy was a corrupt officer, and a jury found him guilty,’ she said. ‘If I had to do the same again, I would.’
‘And I commend you for that. I knew Murphy when he was a DS. Like you, I served with him on the Flying Squad. Back then he was an honest, devoted detective who quickly rose to the rank of DCI. Unfortunately, he got himself in financial difficulties and was going through a divorce when he started taking bribes. Then, as you know, he progressed to organising armed robberies.’