慒rom the outside??says Nelson. 慡he was locked in??
慣hat抯 what it looks like,?says Judy. 慔er body was found by her cleaner at midday yesterday. The pathologist thought she抎 probably been dead for twenty-four hours. Case was passed to the Serious Crimes Unit this morning.?
慦e should interview the cleaning lady,?says Nelson.
慦ho says the cleaner is a woman??says Judy.
態ut is she??
慪es.?
Nelson breathes deeply. 慏id this Avril Flowers have any family??
慉 daughter,?says Judy. 慡he lives in Scotland but she抯 coming down today.?
慦e should talk to her too,?says Nelson. 慖抣l send SOCO in now. The scene will have been contaminated by the emergency services but they might find something. With any luck they抣l have finished by the time the daughter gets there. Did you find anything about cold cases from Intel??
慖 spoke to Liz Forbes, the information analyst, ?says Judy, 慳nd she抯 been going through suicides recorded in the last six months. I think there are three that we might look into.?She opens her laptop and props it on Nelson抯 desk. Her screensaver, Nelson notes, is her crazy-looking bull terrier.
Karen Head, aged 48. King抯 Lynn. Cause of death: overdose.
Rosanna Leigh, aged 55. Snettisham. Cause of death: hanging.
Celia Dunne, aged 59. Terrington St Clement. Cause of death: suspected overdose.
慖抳e chosen these three,?says Judy, 慴ecause the deceased were all of a similar age and from the King抯 Lynn area. Information is quite sketchy, but it appears that all three had jobs and families. Therefore, suicide might be seen as unexpected.?
慔anging抯 very different from taking an overdose though,?says Tanya, peering to look at the screen.
慣hat抯 true,?says Judy, with just a touch of impatience. 態ut the other factors are there. Age, location, date of death. It抯 about triangulation.?
慓ood work, Judy,?says Nelson. 慣ony, you can look into these. Talk to the families but be sensitive. These are recent tragedies. They抣l still be grieving. Judy and Tanya, you take the Avril Flowers case. Find out about the locked room. There may be an innocent explanation, but I can抰 think of one right now.?
The team file out. Judy closes her laptop and seems to have something to say.
慪es??says Nelson, not very helpfully.
慖 was just wondering,?says Judy. 慖s Leah OK??
慖 think so. Why??
慡he seems a bit quiet, that抯 all.?
慡he抯 not one for chatting,?says Nelson. But, as he says this, he remembers Leah talking to him about Samantha Wilson. You never know when people are desperate, do you? He resolves to pay more attention to his PA.
Ruth is in the caf?attached to Norwich Cathedral. It feels like skiving on a work day but, she tells herself, she has just visited the site where the body was found on Monday and she is talking to Janet Meadows about local history, something that might be seen as valid outreach work. True, she and Janet have also discussed children, pets and coronavirus but now Janet is asking about the Tombland skeleton.
慖 haven抰 got the results back from the lab,?says Ruth, 慴ut I think it抯 a woman. Probably medieval. The graveyard of St George抯 would have covered that area.?
慖 had a student of yours in yesterday asking about it,?says Janet.
慠eally??says Ruth. 慦hich student??
慖 can抰 remember his name,?says Janet, 慴ut he had one of those Victorian beards. A Lytton Strachey beard.?
Ruth remembers the student asking her about the plague. Victorian is a very good description. She pictures an intense face, dark eyes above facial hair like a mask.
慖 wonder why he didn抰 ask me,?she says.