Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Jacob pulled up at the large derelict factory unit behind the forensics van.
A cool drizzle filled the air and it had caused Gina’s hair to frizz.
They stepped out of his car and walked towards the PC guarding the outer cordon.
She was no longer on her territory which felt odd.
‘I’m DI Harte and this is DS Driscoll. We’ve come to see DI Kempsey. ’
The man turned to a group of people who were huddled by a wall and called out. ‘DI Kempsey?’
Kempsey emerged from the huddle. The first thing Gina noticed was that his huge grey eyebrows matched his moustache, next it was his crooked tie and creased blue shirt. ‘DI Harte?’ He raised his brows.
‘Yes, from Cleevesford. I hear there are similarities in our cases.’ As far as she was aware, Kain Pickering was victim number one.
She wondered if their killer had chosen to leave Kain’s body in Cleevesford because the area was familiar.
If so, was the perp equally familiar with Kidderminster and the factory unit in particular?
The abandoned building would be hard to find if the killer didn’t know the area.
‘DCI Fraser updated me on your case a few hours ago and it appears we do have similarities. I sent him a photo of the teddy bear and we can confirm that it is identical to the one found at your scene.’
Gina had clocked that there was no label on the bear left at Maura’s house. ‘Were there any clues as to where the toy may have been bought from, like a label?’
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘They’re really cheap and sold online and in lots of shops. I did a quick search in the hope that it was some person who made them at home. No such luck.’
Jacob stepped a little closer and pulled out his notebook.
‘Can you tell me a little about the victim and the scene here?’ Gina asked.
‘If you both tog up, you can take a look for yourselves. Forensics have already put the stepping plates down and they’ve been working the scene for a couple of hours.
I’ll just check with Sheila, the crime scene manager.
In the meantime, head over to the cordon, grab yourselves crime scene suits, sign in and I’ll meet you there.
I’ll get Sheila, to walk us all through. ’
Gina and Jacob grabbed a suit each and began to tog up. A crime scene assistant lugging a bag over her shoulder and a tripod pressed under her arm nudged past. DI Kempsey led the way. ‘Follow me,’ he said in a muffled voice from behind his mask.
A metal door leaned against the front wall of the building, leaving a gaping hole for them to go through.
On glancing up at it, Gina was faced with a two-storey factory unit.
Weeds grew through the gaps in the brickwork and wooden sheets had been nailed over all the windows.
She glanced back and saw that the metal perimeter fence had been cut in several places showing how entry could have easily been gained.
‘Be careful where you step. There’s a lot of needles in the first room.’ DI Kempsey stepped into the high-ceilinged dark room, partially lit by a portable light.
To her right, Gina spotted a scattering of syringes and fast-food wrappers. A couple of teaspoons and a portable gas cooker had been placed against the wall.
‘The owners cleared a group of squatters out around six months ago. They thought they’d sealed it up well but our victim and witness had started to make it their home despite the barriers. People always find a way.’
‘Have you interviewed the witness?’
‘Briefly. Her name is Rita Court. Her formal interview will take place later at the station. She’s currently in shock and is being treated by paramedics.
She’s well known in the area by the authorities and the community drug team.
From what they say, she’s a very nice woman who has fallen on hard times. ’
They followed DI Kempsey up a short flight of steps into what would have once been a huge production space.
The smaller rooms positioned along the left of the building must have been offices once, occupied by supervisors and admin staff.
She spotted the broken wood at one of the windows.
‘Is that how they were getting into the building?’
‘Yes.’ DI Kempsey pointed to a room right at the back.
‘Rita told us that she and the victim were entering through that window. She stayed in a hostel last night and we have verified that. Her case worker confirmed that she got a bit argumentative and told them she was leaving at around five this morning. She wanted a fix and there’s a no drugs rule at the hostel.
As soon as she got here, she found the victim, ran outside, flagged someone in a car down and got them to call us. ’
‘What is the relationship between Rita and the victim?’
‘They just agree not to enter each other’s space and sometimes talked in passing. She said he was moody and got angry if she went near him.’
Gina stopped outside the room and the lights on stands almost blinded her. ‘Does the victim have a name?’
‘Not yet. His fingers have softened and swelled up so fingerprinting him has been a bit more challenging. We’re working on it though.
Hopefully when we get the chance to properly search the scene, we’ll be able to get fingerprints from his personal items. There’s always dental records to fall back on, but we haven’t started that process yet. Are you ready to go in?’
Gina adjusted her face mask, to stop the elastic pulling at her hair. ‘Yes.’
The crime scene manager called them in and beckoned them to stand on the plates by the entrance.
‘Sheila, can you fill DI Harte and DS Driscoll in on what we have so far. They’ve come from Cleevesford Station and are working on a similar case. We have reason to believe they’re linked.’
The tiny woman stood by where Gina imagined the wheelie bin had stood earlier. ‘There is a tap at the far end and we’ve already bagged up the hose that had been fixed to it. There are no prints at all on the sink. It has also recently been cleaned.’
Gina glanced over. The sink was wide and deep. It reminded her of the sink that she used to clean her paint palette in at school, in the arts and crafts room.
Sheila continued speaking. ‘The body has been removed from the scene, along with the bin but I’ll talk you through what we found. See the metal beams above.’
Gina nodded.
‘The victim’s legs had been tied together at the ankles using washing-line cord.
Marks on the beam disturbing the dirt and dust along with the start of a groove have showed us that he was hoisted up above the open bin and lowered into it, head first. The cord has been taken to the lab but I can send you photos later. ’
‘I can’t see any scuff marks on the floor.’ Gina pictured the strength it would take to hoist a human body up like that. Had the killer wedged their heels into the floor while pulling hard?
‘We can also confirm that the floor has been cleaned with a bleach solution so the killer has made an attempt to clear tracks. As for the victim, we have a male, looks to be in his fifties and he was very thin. He was lowered into this wheelie bin when it was full of water. I can confirm that he drowned. There are a few defence wounds but not many. He died here after being submerged in that bin. The cold water would have slowed down rigor mortis. He was still stiff when we got here which is why he had to be taken in the bin. Estimated time of death, between seven last night and five this morning.’
‘That’s a kill gap of almost a week between victim one and victim two. Thank you,’ Gina replied. A crime scene assistant nudged past her. She couldn’t help but stare at the windowless room, imagining what their victim must have gone through.
‘There’s a water supply here?’
‘Yes, in this room and the toilet blocks.’
‘Any electricity?’
DI Kempsey interjected. ‘None at all.’
‘So, all this would have happened in pitch-darkness?’
He nodded. ‘Unless the killer had a light source.’
The killer must have known that there was a water supply.
Given that it looked like Kain Pickering had died in the bathtub, drowning seems to have been the killer’s choice of death for the victims. The building had to work for the perp.
She was picturing a male given the amount of strength it would take but she wasn’t excluding a team of two or use of equipment to help.
She shivered slightly at the thought of their victim being literally treated like rubbish.
Was the bin symbolic? Kain had been dumped in the car boot belonging to a deceased woman but was that just out of necessity?
Victim two had been left at the scene; Kain had been moved.
She wondered if he’d tried to cover up the first one because it was closer to him and gave up on the second because the industrial unit offered no clues as to his identity. ‘Where was the teddy bear left?’
DI Kempsey turned away from the bin. ‘It was on the draining board.’
‘What’s upstairs?’
‘Another huge production floor. I believe it used to be a printworks but there’s not much left now.
There’s a room just off the top of the stairs where Rita said the victim had been sleeping.
There are a couple of bags containing clothes and an almost empty bottle of white rum next to a rolled-up sleeping bag.
We’re obviously going to be doing a full search of that floor soon. ’
‘Can we take a look?’
They stepped out of the room and Gina took a deep breath underneath her mask. The heady scent of bleach and death combined had started to cause a throb at her temples.
She followed DI Kempsey and Jacob up what was left of the bare concrete stairs, the banister long gone. On reaching the top, she saw the sleeping bag next to an almost empty bottle of rum. ‘Has someone been through his things?’