‘If Becky was murdered here, Durham must have disposed of her car as well. It’s possible he put her body in the boot and used the car to transport it. If that was the case, he’d need to hide the car, which isn’t easy,’ Jane said.
‘He could have set light to it with her body inside,’ Lloyd suggested.
‘Possibly, but I’d have thought someone would have seen the fire or found it burnt out by now. It’s also a big risk to drive a car a long distance with a body in the boot. Do you know if the underwater search unit work at night?’ she asked.
‘They come out at any time if it’s an emergency. Why do you ask?’
‘There is a small lake down by the woods. He might have weighted Becky down and dumped her body in it, then hidden the car elsewhere,’ Jane said.
Jane rang Stanley while Lloyd took some fingerprint lifts from the coffee cup and other items in Thomas Durham’s house. Jane asked Stanley for permission to call out the underwater search unit. He said he would call them and come down to the scene.
As they waited for the underwater search unit, Jane and other officers went down to the lake with seek-and-search torches. One of the officers found some narrow tyre marks leading from the building-site track to the edge of the lake and down into the water. Jane was certain the marks were from Becky’s car and her body would be in it.
When the underwater search unit arrived they set up four big arc lamps powered by a petrol generator, which lit up the surrounding area, creating an eerie glow on the surface of the still water. Two divers went into the lake with submersible torches. A few minutes later, one of them surfaced and did a thumbs-up. The underwater unit had a cable winch attached to their large truck, which one of the divers attached to the submerged vehicle.
Everyone watched in silence as the red Citroën 2CV was slowly pulled out of the lake and water cascaded out of the vehicle. As Jane moved forward, an officer turned one of the arc lamps towards the boot, casting an ominous shadow of Jane’s body over the car. Jane’s hand trembled as she placed it on the boot lever. She knew she was about to find Becky’s body but dreaded the moment. As Jane lifted the boot lid, she saw a black canvas suitcase wedged inside. She asked the search officers to remove it. It took two of them to lift it out, then place it on the ground. Jane unzipped it. Becky’s body was curled up in a foetal position with a blood-stained towel tucked into one corner of the case. Fighting back the tears, Jane stepped to one side to allow Lloyd to take some photographs. She walked over to Stanley and Boon.
‘Durham must have put her body in the suitcase to get her out to the car,’ Jane said.
‘DS Johnson can bag the body and arrange for it to be taken to the mortuary,’ Stanley said. ‘We’ll do the post-mortem first thing tomorrow morning. You two go home and get some rest. I’ll go and tell PC Rogers and his wife we found Becky,’ he added in a sombre tone.
Walking to the car, Jane could see Boon was struggling to hold himself together. She had dealt with grieving parents, friends, and relatives too many times to remember, but at this moment she couldn’t think what to say to him.
Chapter Thirty
As Jane drove back to Orpington Boon sat quietly staring out of the passenger window. She parked the car in the station yard and switched the engine off.
‘I know how you’re feeling, Simon...’
‘I don’t think you do, sarge,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m cut out to be a police officer anymore.’
‘I lost two colleagues during a bank robbery explosion when I was a probationer at Hackney,’ Jane said. There was a catch in her voice.
Boon turned and looked at her with an expression of surprise.
‘WPC Kath Morgan was my best friend. I was in a relationship with the other officer at the time. His name was Len Bradfield.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Boon said. ‘It must have been a terrible time for you.’
‘It was. And I still miss them both. But I came to realise you can’t change what’s happened and have to move on.’
‘But how did you do that?’ Boon asked.
‘Through my work, and helping to bring those who caused their death to justice. You’re a good detective, Simon, and have the potential to go a long way in the CID. I think Becky would have wanted you to carry on.’
He let out a deep breath. ‘Thanks for the advice, sarge, I appreciate it.’
‘If you want to take a few days leave, I’m sure Stanley won’t mind,’ Jane said.
He shook his head. ‘I’d rather carry on working the investigation for now.’
‘OK, but don’t bottle things up. If you’re feeling down or want someone to talk to, I’m always here for you.’
‘OK,’ he said, smiling. ‘I appreciate it.’
Inside the station, Jane spoke with the duty sergeant and asked what hospital Thomas Durham had been taken to.
‘Queen Mary’s in Sidcup,’ the sergeant replied.
‘Has Nick Durham been informed about his father’s heart attack?’ she asked.
‘I’ve just spoken with the officer who’s guarding Thomas Durham. He’s in the intensive care ward and his son is with him.’
‘Is he expected to live?’ she asked.
‘The doctors don’t know at present. He’s in a coma.’
‘A coma?’ Jane gasped.
‘He took a turn for the worse on the way to the hospital. The doctor said the coma was due to a lack of oxygen to his brain after the heart attack.’
‘Does Nick Durham know it happened during our search?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t give him details of who you were looking for or why. The PC at the hospital said he’s very distressed and has been asking a lot of questions.’
‘What did the PC tell him?’
‘Nothing, other than what I told him to say.’
‘Which was?’ Jane asked.
‘That he didn’t know anything about the search as it was a CID matter, and DI Stanley was in charge. I hope that didn’t give away too much for you,’ the sergeant replied brusquely.
Jane could see her questions were irritating him. ‘I only ask because I may have to interview Nick Durham.’
‘I’d leave that for a while as you suits ain’t his favourite people at the moment,’ the sergeant said, before walking off.
Jane wanted to go to the hospital and speak with Nick but knew a heated confrontation with him wouldn’t do anybody any good.
It was nearly two in the morning by the time an exhausted Jane got home. After a large glass of wine and a sandwich, she went to bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Jane woke to the sound of her bedside phone ringing. Worried it might be an angry Nick, she was relieved to hear Lloyd’s voice.
‘Morning, Jane. Sorry to bother you so early.’
‘It’s six o’clock, Lloyd. What do you want?’ she yawned.
‘You should moan. I’ve been up all night working on the bleach bottle. Thomas Durham’s prints weren’t on it.’
‘He must have wiped them off, then,’ she said. ‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Durham’s in a coma so I can’t question him. I’ll call you back when I get to work.’
‘God, you are crabby in the morning. Hear me out, will you?’
‘All right, I’m listening,’ she yawned.
‘I found two prints on the bottle, which didn’t match any of the ones I took from Durham’s house.’
‘They’re probably the cleaner’s then.’
‘For Christ’s sake, let me finish! I asked the fingerprint bureau to check them against criminal records. They just rang me with a result.’
‘Whose were they?’
‘Lee Holland’s. I thought I best let you know ASAP in case Holland tries to do a runner.’