Slings & Arrows by Tony Black

Author:Tony Black
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down & Out Books

Chapter 21

Tricia Durham found her voice when the police van arrived, kicking off like a cornered wildcat. Her howls of protest were still ringing in Gillespie’s ears as he and Harris drove away. All in all, though, the visit had gone as well as could be expected. Harris stopped for a red light at the foot of Liberton Brae as Gillespie began fumbling around in his jacket pocket for his mobile.

‘I’m just going to let Gemma know we’ve got a couple of guests checking in.’

It rang for nearly a minute. On another occasion this might have annoyed him, but he took it as a sign she was busy.

‘Sergeant Dickson.’

‘Gemma, how are you getting on?’

‘Almost done, sir. We’ve got Tricia Durham on camera, handing over cheques to the cashier.’

‘And you can definitely tell it’s her?’

‘Unless she’s got an identical twin we don’t know about.’

‘So she didn’t even bother with a wig and sunglasses like they do on that old Police Squad show. I don’t know. Criminals, they just don’t make the effort these days.’

Dickson let out a laugh so loud that Harris could hear it. Gillespie saw the sergeant give him a sideways frown. Probably jealous because Dickson hadn’t so much as cracked a smile at any of his jokes. And by the way he tore across the junction and up Mayfield Road, it looked like he was trying to take out his frustration on the accelerator.

‘Oi, Simon, take it easy, you’re not in Traffic any more. Sorry, Gemma, I’m getting distracted by Lewis Hamilton over here. Anyway, the Durhams are on their way in. Just let them sweat in the cells till we get back. And do me a favour, will you, and grab all the cheques and print out some screen-grabs of Tricia paying them in. I’m going to give them both barrels and then watch them squirm.’

‘No problem, sir. When are you planning to be back?’

‘Give us a couple of hours. We’re on our way to see Davy Henderson, so it depends how helpful he is, and whether Simon can get us there in one piece.’

He shot Harris a grin, but he didn’t get one in return.

‘There’s one more thing before you go, sir,’ said Dickson. ‘The lab report has come in from Elena Enescu’s post-mortem.’

‘About time. What does it say?’

‘I’ve only had a minute to scan it, but they’ve confirmed that she was strangled. They also know for sure the attacker was male, based on the position of the contusions.’

‘So far, so vague. Did they find any DNA?’

‘None.’

‘Okay. Anything else to go on?’

There was a pause and a rustle of paper. ‘There was sexual activity, but it looks like it was consensual as there’s no sign of sexual assault.’

Gillespie thought for a moment. ‘Let’s not rule anything out yet. I’ll give you another call when we’re on our way back.’

‘Righto, sir. Bye.’

The detective hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. He reached for his cigarettes and wound down the window. Harris’s face was still a picture of concentration as they headed down Causewayside and then on to the Meadows.

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