No stone unturned

Linton's basement

Barolli had obtained a search warrant and gained access to Sara Linton’s property. It was a basement squat in a run-down Victorian terraced house and was only three miles from the estate in Atlanta. Although the present owner wanted to demolish it he was unable to do so due to a preservation order and the premises had not been lawfully occupied for six years. The owner didn’t actually object to the squatters as he hoped it would encourage the council to lift the preservation order. The three rooms used by Linton were filthy and stank of stale food and urine. A team of forensic officers began the careful search for evidence.

The wardrobes were full of dirty clothes and boots and there appeared to be no clean laundry. The single bed was disgusting, with filthy sheets and blankets heaped on a bare mattress. They did find numerous items of woman’s clothing in a black bin liner and these were removed for further examination. The bathroom contained worn, dirty towels and a shower curtain grey with a hideous residue of grime hanging limply over a brown-stained bath. The toilet looked as if it had been out of order for some time, the bowl stank and the chain to flush it was broken. Cannot believe any woman can live like this. The team found numerous knives in the small kitchen annexe, plus a carpenter’s bag that contained hacksaws and hammers and two large sharpened screwdrivers. These were also taken away to be tested by the forensic team. The overpowering smell in the kitchen came from two cases of empty beer bottles lined up by the back door. Opening the back door there were even more bottles, which were smashed.

What an shithole, Barolli told Ulster. Toilet full of piss and crap, not to mention the floor and…..

‘for f**k sakes, I don’t need any more description, Jerry.

This woman is a pig and obviously lived like one, James said shaking his head.

They got bags of stuff to be sifted through at the forensic lab, Jerry further informed James, who walked off into his office.

As Ulster and Barolli prepared for a further interview with Linton, Joan again spoke with missing persons, hoping to identify the woman called Melissa that Linton said he had killed over a week ago, but as yet they had not found a match. James gave instruction for Joan to continue pressing them for a result and asked what she had found out about Linton’s background. She’d discovered from her enquiries with jobseeker’s that she was unemployed and living on benefits. She had worked spasmodically at various building sites as an unskilled labourer, but had been in and out of work of work for many years. She was divorced ten years ago.