‘Has something interesting turned up?’
‘Not as yet. Just some loose ends from the original inquiry that need tidying up.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Tell Barbara to get cracking on the house-to-house enquiries in Bayswater. She can go with Barolli to the court and then they can do the house-to-house together. You got all that?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Anna found Pete Jenkins in his office. He was his usual affable self, gave her a warm hug and took out photographs of his baby daughter before he got round to asking exactly why she had come to see him. She did not mention Dewar, but said she was reinvestigating the Joshua Reynolds case, and wanted to go over the forensic examination and results with him.
‘Seems strange that we both work for the Met now,’ Pete said, making reference to the closure of the Forensic Science Service in March of the previous year.
‘Oh, yeah, right, great shame about the FSS. How’re you finding things now?’
He shrugged. ‘Met took over our labs and renamed it Specialist Forensic Services, but the transition’s not been an easy one.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘Problem with police “in house” forensics is it’s all too often about cost-saving and cutting corners and that means an investigation can be compromised.’
‘Change is inevitable, Pete, and it takes time for things to settle. As for cost-saving and budgets, that’s something we’re all up against,’ Anna pointed out.
‘I know, but at times I feel like my skills and expertise are being ignored.’
‘Well I’m interested in your opinion on the Josh Reynolds case.’
He shook his head. ‘That case is a prime example of what I’m talking about.’ He went over to a filing cabinet and removed the Reynolds case file.
Pete explained that on the afternoon of the day Josh Reynolds’ body was discovered he received a phone call from John Freeman, the Crime Scene Manager, saying that he was at the scene of a suspected suicide and was sending up a gun that had been found in the victim’s right hand and a bullet retrieved from the sofa. Freeman wanted a fast-track comparison of the dead man’s fingerprints against the gun and also for Pete to examine the recovered bullet to see if it came from the gun.
‘I offered to attend but Freeman said as CSM he decides who to call to a scene and if he needed me he’d let me know.’
‘What about the scene and post mortem photographs, did you get to see them?’
‘No.’ Pete shook his head in frustration. ‘The only other exhibits I received for examination were after the post mortem. That was Reynolds’ clothing, blood and urine samples for DNA and toxicology, and some bullets and firearms swabs from a safe at the scene.’
‘What about the laptop with the suicide note on it? And Reynolds’ mobile phone?’
‘They would have gone to Technical Support at Newlands Park.’
She was stunned. ‘They didn’t come to you first for fingerprints or DNA work?’
‘Nope, and full fingerprint treatments were never done at the Reynolds flat either.’
‘I’ve got a copy of the scene and post mortem photographs on a memory stick,’ Anna told Pete as she took it out of her handbag. ‘Would you mind having a look at them for me?’
Pete loaded the scene photographs into his computer as Anna told him about her visit to Reynolds’ old flat with FBI Agent Dewar and Dewar’s re-enactments of how the shooting might have occurred. Anna chose to make no mention of the fact that she thought Dewar was prone to making the scene fit her theories, as she wanted an unbiased opinion from Pete.
‘I’ll have a look but it’s never easy doing blood-pattern analysis from photographs,’ Pete said, beginning to get anxious. He pulled out a picture from his case file of the gun recovered from the scene.
‘It’s an old Enfield number two mark one revolver developed in the late thirties for the British Tank Corps.’
Anna was taking notes of Pete’s comments as he tapped the photograph.
‘Firing tests proved the bullet that passed through Reynolds’ head and lodged in the settee was fired from the Enfield.’
‘What about the bullets in the safe?’ Anna asked.
‘Same, point thirty-eight with 178 grain and by the worn look probably issued with the gun. Firearms residue from the safe, gun and Reynolds’ hand all matched as well.’
‘You know something, we don’t even know if the gun actually belonged to Josh Reynolds,’ Anna sighed.
‘If it’s any help you don’t see this type of gun being used by street gangs or professional criminals. These tend to be family heirlooms. Relative who fought in the war, kept it after demob then passed it down.’
‘Do you think Reynolds shot himself?’
‘From what Freeman sent me to examine all I can say is he was shot with the Enfield revolver.’
‘That’s not what I asked.’
‘I know, but for me to offer an opinion on whether Reynolds pulled the trigger or not would have been dependent on a meticulous on-scene examination of the blood and brain tissue distribution.’
She pressed on but could feel Pete was getting uptight.
‘Could you commit yourself when you’ve examined the scene photographs?’
‘I’ll need to spend time examining the entire scene and post mortem photographs in minute detail,’ Pete told her. ‘For now let me have a quick scan through them and see if there’s anything blatantly obvious. You can put the kettle on in the meantime.’
Anna thanked Pete as she went over to the corner of the room and started making the coffees, conscious that she was beginning to get an ominous feeling about the Reynolds case. It was the first time she had sensed real doubt about his death being a suicide. If all the initial lines of enquiry and loose ends had been thoroughly investigated at the time then she wouldn’t be in the position she was now. Delon Taylor’s allegation had opened up a can of worms and the chances of resolving the inquiry before she went to the FBI Academy were rapidly fading.
Anna took the coffees over to Pete’s desk.
‘Agent Dewar has made some well-founded observations,’ Pete said.
‘I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.’
‘Although there’s no blood on the back of Reynolds’ right hand and the body position is… let’s say awkward as opposed to unusual, there are many variables that come into play.’
‘Such as?’
‘The exact position of the hand, distance between the gun and the victim’s head, and of course the recoil when it’s actually fired,’ Pete told her.
‘There were powder burns around the injury.’
‘Yes, I noticed the stippling pattern on the post mortem photographs. Can you send me a copy of Harrow’s report?’
‘Weren’t you sent it?’ Anna asked, amazed.
‘Nope, I did phone Freeman and asked for a copy but he just said cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.’
She threw up her hands. ‘Even the pathologist’s report didn’t say self-inflicted! Didn’t you complain about Freeman withholding information?’ Anna asked emphatically.
‘I’d only been working for the Met for a few months, Anna, and the last thing I wanted to do was upset the apple cart.’
‘Bloody Freeman’s got a lot to answer for,’ Anna fumed.
‘As I said, I need to do more work from the photographs on the blood distribution. I can get started on Monday…’
‘Monday?’
‘It’s Saturday tomorrow, and as much as I’d do anything for you, I’m afraid working weekends is a no-no.’
‘The week’s gone so fast I’d totally forgotten,’ Anna admitted.
Pete paused. ‘There is something that struck me as unusual in the scene photographs.’
‘What?’
‘Reynolds’ toxicology results showed no trace of any drugs but his blood-alcohol level was high.’