‘We need to speak to you about the Joshua Reynolds case,’ Dewar began.
‘Joshua who? Names mean nowt to me, they’re all dead when I get to them. What were his injuries and where was it?’
‘Gunshot wound to the head in a flat in Bayswater, November sixth last year.’
‘That were chap who owned a fanny club up town. Suicide job, as I recall.’
Harrow got up from his seat and shuffled over to the filing cabinets, blatantly ignoring the ‘no smoking’ sign above them.
‘Joshua Reynolds, you say?’ he said as he removed a file and took it back to his desk. ‘So what’s problem?’
‘I think that Reynolds may have been murdered and the scene staged to look like a suicide,’ Dewar said.
Harrow leaned forward, peered over the rim of his glasses, frowned and then took a bite out of his digestive biscuit.
‘You must be bloody FBI, cummin’ out with crap like that. There weren’t a single mark on his body to show a struggle.’ Crumbs from the biscuit dropped from his mouth onto the table as he spoke.
‘Would you argue if someone held a gun to your head? The position of the body and the blood distribution were wrong for his death to be a suicide. I think he was kneeling on the ground, holding his hands up in the air when he was shot.’
‘Can I ask you, what exactly do ya do in the FBI?’ Harrow asked as he opened the file and spread his notes and photographs around the desk.
‘I’m a supervisory special agent in the Behavioural Science Unit. I study offenders and their behaviours at crime scenes, advise on interview strategies…’
‘But ya don’t go out and get yer hands dirty, do ya?’
‘Admittedly, it’s rare that I actually attend a scene as I work from Quantico and cover the whole of the United States. Most of my work is with unsolved murders.’
‘Well, let me tell ya, young lady, I’ve been ta more crime scenes than you’ve had hot dinners. I draw me conclusions by looking at dead bodies, not bloody pictures!’
Harrow pushed forward a picture of Josh Reynolds’ body on the floor and close-ups taken at the post mortem of the entry and exit wounds to his head. The entry wound was smaller and quite symmetrical in comparison to the exit wound and the stippling effect from the hot gunpowder burning into Reynolds’ skin was clearly evident. Bits of skull bone and brain tissue protruded from the ragged exit wound on the left side of his head. Another photograph showed the skin of his head peeled back, revealing the holes in his skull. A metal rod ran from the entry to the exit wound to show the trajectory of the bullet. Harrow lit up another cigarette and took a large puff, exhaling the smoke in Dewar’s direction.
‘Right, so you think he had hands up in t’air.’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘So how come there’s not a large mass o’ back-spatter blood on his upper right arm?’ Harrow demanded, using his index finger to point to the exact position on the photograph.
‘There is some blood there.’
‘Yes, but it’s downward, having arced backwards from entry wound.’
‘There’s no blood on the back of his right hand and there should be,’ Dewar pushed.
‘So bloody what, that proves nowt. Although this were a close-range gunshot, barrel were not pressed right up against his head.’
‘How do you know that?’ Dewar asked indignantly.
‘’Cause if gun was touching victim’s head, you’d get an abrasion ring, and also a clear imprint of the weapon’s barrel on victim’s skin.’ Harrow made the shape of a gun with his right hand and held it to his head to demonstrate what he meant, then continued.
‘So say gun is inch or two away from head. He pulls trigger, bang equals recoil equals shooting hand moving back away from body so blood back spatter doesn’t reach it. Simple as that.’
‘Well, you’re not a blood-pattern expert so I think that is an opinion best left to a scientist.’
Harrow glared at Dewar. ‘Neither are you, Miss Fancypants. We have a saying where I’m from: “If tha knows nowt, say nowt an ’appen nob’dy’ll notice.”
Anna couldn’t believe how restrained Dewar was being but felt she needed some support against the unsavoury Harrow.
‘There’s no need for you to be so rude to my colleague,’ she objected.
‘RUDE, me bloody rude! You’re the ones who came in here making out I’m some incompetent bloody idiot. You’ve read me report and the Coroner agreed with me so that’s t’ end of matter.’
‘I also have some concerns about the Reynolds scene and the lack of forensic examination,’ Anna said firmly.
‘I don’t have to talk to you. Now get out of my office.’
‘As the DCI in charge of the case, I am considering asking for a full independent disciplinary inquiry to be made concerning every detail of the original investigation.’
Harrow sat back in his seat and looked directly at Anna, who knew the mention of such an inquiry would get his full attention.
‘I’m sure that’s the last thing you would want at the present time,’ Anna continued, as Dewar looked perplexed, wondering how the DCI had got Harrow to back off so quickly.
Harrow said nothing as he stubbed out his cigarette and instantly lit another one, tilting his head upwards and blowing the smoke away from Anna.
‘Josh Reynolds’ stomach contents – I didn’t see any mention of them in your report,’ Anna observed.
Harrow looked through his report. ‘That’s because there were none.’
‘None recorded or none in his stomach, Doctor?’
‘I’ve got down here “stomach empty”.’
‘His blood-alcohol level was very high so he’d been drinking on an empty stomach.’
‘Yes.’
‘Can you be any more specific on the time of death.’
‘No, too many variables like the empty stomach, intoxication and the central heating was on.’
‘You said Reynolds had been dead between eight to twenty hours.’
‘That’s right.’
‘We believe he made a phone call at seven p.m. on the fifth.’
‘Entirely possible – as I said there were many variables, so I could not be more specific.’
‘Did you voice any opinions about the scene to the Crime Scene Manager, Freeman?’
Dewar glanced at Anna, as Harrow let the smoke belch from his nose. ‘We were both there, discussed it and agreed.’
‘What did you agree?’ Anna was keeping her voice quiet and controlled.
‘That it could have been a suicide. We kept an open mind until I completed the post-mortem.’
‘So if it could have been a suicide, it could also have been a murder. Did you advise Freeman to call a forensic scientist to the scene?’
Harrow scratched his head. ‘That’s not my responsibility – you’d have to ask him.’
Anna had got the exact measure of Dr Harrow and he knew it. He pursed his lip angrily.
‘Thank you for your time, Dr Harrow. We will see ourselves out,’ Anna said.
Returning to the car, Anna asked Dewar to drop her at the lab so she could collect her own vehicle. Dewar nodded but had a puzzled look on her face as she turned round.
‘Have you got something on him?’ she asked, and Anna nodded.
‘Spill the beans on the big fat toad,’ Dewar said, grinning at her.
Anna took out the newspaper article from her pocket and read it aloud.
‘Why didn’t you tell me that before we went in there?’ Dewar demanded.
‘Because I didn’t want you to attack his ability from the get-go. I’d rather you formed an opinion from meeting him in the flesh.’
‘The article doesn’t do him justice. He’s far worse than that,’ Dewar said, and they both laughed.
Chapter Twelve
Back at the station, Anna found Joan and Barbara sitting together in the canteen when she went to get a coffee, so she went over to join them. Barbara was tucking into a slice of steak and kidney pie that was smothered in brown sauce, with mashed potato and baked beans. Joan had a cheese salad and was much more refined in her eating, taking steady bites and chewing slowly, whilst Barbara appeared be in a race against the clock. Anna asked Barbara how the house-to-house enquiries had gone.