Relief. Relief. Relief . . .
‘It’s early days.’ Hannah sighs. ‘I know I owe you one, Mel, but don’t build your hopes up.’ Her voice, relayed by speaker to the area outside the lab, is slightly distorted by the microphone inside her cubicle. Tinny. Mel and Matthew can’t go inside without gowning up and they don’t have time.
‘I know, and I appreciate this. But do we have anything helpful yet? Anything at all?’ Mel’s fidgeting and Matthew shares a small, encouraging smile with her. She’s under even greater pressure. The press have been told the final graduation is going ahead. Everyone assumed safe. And now this . . .
‘Right. So the dolls are called Tiny Tears. Famous brand. Global success. First launched in the fifties and sixties. This modern version is by a new manufacturer – readily available. Not very expensive.’
‘I didn’t know they still made these.’ Mel looks puzzled. ‘My mum had one. Think it’s still in the loft.’
‘Well, you should get it out. Originals are collectable now.’ Hannah adjusts her protective lab coat and goggles.
‘OK. So the blood coming out of the eyes. How the hell?’ Matthew’s not interested in the value of the bloody dolls.
‘Tiny Tears was designed to cry real tears and wet her nappy. Basically, you feed her water from a bottle and that’s pumped back out of the eyes . . . and other parts.’ Mel clears her throat. ‘Our sender, as a malicious twist, decided to pump these two full of blood. Well – not real blood.’
‘It’s definitely not real?’ Looked like real blood to Matthew. Thick. Dark. Nasty. Sally was convinced it was blood when she first saw the doll.
‘It’s good quality but definitely fake blood – the kind you can get from any joke shop. Popular at Halloween. We’ve run tests to try to identify the brand.’
Matthew stares at the blood on the dolls’ faces, which is staining their lemon Babygros. He’s remembering Sally’s quick thinking when Amelie first saw the red leaking from the eyes when they set the box upright. It’s a Halloween doll. Sent by mistake . . .
‘OK. So we all agree our sender has a warped mind. But what about prints? What have we got?’ Mel narrows her eyes as if dreading the response.
‘Sorry. Nothing. All we’ve got so far are a few carpet fibres from the box. Regular wool mix. Not unusual. Very popular colour. Not very helpful I’m afraid.’
‘And nothing else?’ Mel looks crestfallen.
‘Sorry, Melanie. I’ll run the tests again. Update you when I do the full report.’
‘Thanks. Appreciate that.’
‘But good it wasn’t explosives.’ Hannah has lifted her voice but Mel has already turned away, and Matthew follows her out of the viewing area and through a door to the narrow corridor beyond.
‘Right. So we’ll get the team checking distribution of these dolls. We’ve got the hospital CCTV. It was a motorcycle courier, wearing a bloody helmet. He – or she, hard to tell – persuaded a hospital volunteer to take the gift up to the ward.’
‘Still don’t get how that was allowed.’
‘Let’s not go there. The volunteer was wearing a tabard labelled “Can I help?” Meant well. Had read about Gemma in the papers and thought it was nice for someone to send her something. She thought she was sparing hospital staff some time. So what about your delivery? Has Sally remembered anything else?’
‘No. Just that she heard a motorbike too, then the doorbell. Bike had gone by the time she answered. She found the box on the doorstep and when she saw the message, she thought it was a gift from me to cheer Amelie up.’
‘Yeah. That printed card – “For Daddy’s girl”。 What do we make of that, Matt? Are we wrong? Is this from a guy, not a woman?’
‘Not sure. Could be deliberate, to throw us off.’
‘Suppose. Whatever – it makes me think you’re right. This is about the baby, Matt. Gemma’s baby.’ Mel checks her watch. ‘Right. I’ve got to speak to the suits upstairs. Meet you in the canteen for a sandwich later?’
Matthew pulls a face. He’s delighted to have persuaded Sally last night to let him take up Mel’s offer to work officially on the case. Now that it’s personal. Now that they need to get this sorted, for Amelie’s sake as much as anyone’s. But he’s not enjoying the prickly response from some of Mel’s team. A few don’t seem to understand why he’s been brought in.