The Colour of Mystery by Joy Ellis

Author:Joy Ellis [ELLIS, JOY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The murder room was hushed. Introductions had been made, and the joint investigation was underway.

DCI Craddock had provided the team with all the information available to them regarding the suffocation of the six young people at Elizabeth Ryder’s shelter; the death of Edith Higgins, apparently at the hands of, the now also deceased, Staff Nurse Lily Frampton; and the murder of the priest, Father Dominic Hearn, allegedly by the twelve-year-old Charlie Keene.

DCI Foreman followed on with everything they knew about Roderick Black’s suspected murder of five schoolchildren and intended murder of a sixth. As yet they were still collecting evidence on the death of another child, seven-year-old Tanya Jones, who had been found by one of his officers, hanging from a tree near a caravan site where her family frequently stayed. This one was in the Kent Police’s area, but as it had all the hallmarks of Operation Innocents, they were sending a motorcycle rider with all the details later that day.

The men and women, both CID and uniformed, listened intently to their commanding officers. The onus to find the reason for all these terrible deaths hung heavily on them.

The meeting continued by taking each crime individually and with the officers involved filling in as much detail as they could.

A prematurely balding detective, who had been first on scene to the Edith Higgins murder, addressed his colleagues in a sombre and depressing voice that Wendy Brown felt would not have been inappropriate coming from Eeyore.

‘Forensics will show, without doubt, that no one else was involved in the death. The security guard arrived only minutes after the killing. No one had entered or left the D-corridor while he was there. Video footage of the corridor also confirms that. The nurse was covered in Mrs Higgins’ blood, and she was still holding the scalpel that has been proved to be the murder weapon. The scene of crime officers established that there was no other evidence of anyone else present at the scene. Pretty conclusive, I’d say.’ He sat down heavily, his worried countenance remaining.

A young PC who had been researching the nurse’s history then stood, and with a slight lisp, gave a glowing account of the dead woman’s reputation.

‘After extensive interviews with family, working colleagues, friends and ex-patients, I’ve only ever heard good spoken of Staff Nurse Frampton. As far as I can ascertain, she was simply a good person, kind and compassionate, with no skeletons in the cupboard that I can come up with.’

Bob Foreman stared at his notes, then asked the PC what he knew about old Edith Higgins.

‘Not much to know, sir. A widow, no family to speak of. She was an Alzheimer’s patient. Harmless, and often confused. Regularly wandered off, scantily dressed, and completely unaware of where, or who, she was. Lily Frampton was very good with her. Her and all the other patients with senility problems.’

‘Would you think it possible that Staff Nurse Frampton had had enough of her dotty patients and just flipped when the old lady wandered off, yet again?’

‘No, sir.

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