Two For Mirth

Chapter Seven - Part One

16:30

Riley arrived at his office, greeting his officers as he wandered past them; he had a good team, and he got on well with them all, including a couple of new officers he had gained to his team over the last couple of months.

Once he got into his spacious office at the back of the room, he shut the door and took off his coat, hanging it on the old-fashioned black coat stand that stood in the corner of his office along with the red scarf. Before he sat down, Riley hung his suit jacket over the back of his chair and sat down behind his big oak desk, his waistcoat straining slightly against the buttons where it had become a little tight, it must be all the wonderful rich homemade food Cecelia made him. He would have to start going to the gym again.

Looking briefly at the bank of photos on his desk, he let a smile spread across his face There was one of him with his sister and her fiancée. Two stunning women who he missed dearly. They lived in Toronto and he didn’t see them as much as he would like to, none of their jobs gave them much chance to travel. Beth, his sister was a Homicide detective, and was always busy, busier still than he was, he loved his job, but he didn’t think he would be able to work in Canada as she did. The only bonus that the Canadian Police had, was the fact they could carry guns. Then there was Stevie, which was short for Stephanie, Beth’s partner. She was the head of cardiovascular surgery in the main hospital in Toronto. Next to that was a picture of his mother and father, taken a couple of years ago. His father was a Partner in a Family Law firm, and his mother was an ex-nurse, she had left work after Beth had been born, so she could spend more time with her children.

The Final picture was a picture of him and Cecelia that Sally had taken of them when they had gone out for his birthday last month, that had been a fun night, thinking about it now as well, Cecelia hadn’t had anything alcoholic to drink, had she known then she was pregnant? He would have to ask her. That thought went straight out of his head and a wide grin appeared on his face when he realized that it wouldn’t be long and there would be a new photo to add to his collection. One of his children. Something that until recently, he had never thought would happen. The thought of it made him feel giddy, his children. Maybe he should frame the scan pictures and put them there for now until he got a picture of them for real.

Suddenly there was a knock at his door, pulling him out of his trance, he looked up to see Greg and Suzy standing outside patiently waiting for him to either let them in or tell them where to go. He motioned for them both to come in.

“Sir.” Greg greeted them as they entered the office.

“Come in, sit down,” Riley said. They did. “What do you have so far?”

“Well, Mr. Craggy, the farm owner, he said that the field has been left fallow for the last year, said they plowed it about a year ago and left it as set aside,” Greg explained, not really fully understanding what he was telling his boss.

“What does that mean?” Riley asked looking confused.

“It basically means that the field is put to one side and left until the following year. It’s a government funding scheme, you have to have a certain percentage of your land left as set aside to get funding.” Suzy explained causing the two men to stare at her opened mouth.

“How…?” Riley started.

“My father owns a little farm out in a little village called Morborne. It’s a quiet little place near Peterborough.” She explained.

“Well, you learn something new every day,” Riley said sitting back in his chair heavily. He was silent for a moment as if pondering something. “I’m sorry I can’t see you as a little girl in dungarees and pigtails helping with the farm animals.”

“More so than I can ever see you getting your hands dirty sir.” She backfired. Riley chuckled. Suzy was a good egg, and after the incident when she had first started here when they were working on the Scientists case, she had worked hard to reprove herself in Riley’s eyes, now all he needed to do was get Cecelia to give over and stop being so stubborn about the girl.

She wasn’t as bad as Cecelia thinks, she was just very headstrong and liked to make sure all leads in a case were followed, and she sometimes had a habit of letting her mouth run faster than her brain. Also, she tended to come up against the wrong people. When she tried to go against Cecelia by trying to blame a series of murders on her, she found a very solid brick wall. She had learned her lesson the hard way though as when the promotions were announced, she was passed over for Detective Sergeant.

“So what else did he say?” Riley asked returning to the subject at hand.

“Well, the field is set aside means they didn’t touch it for a year, so we have a time frame of sorts. Did the Pathologists say a time of death?”

“Between four and six months.” He explained.

“That’s a gap,” Suzy said.

“Yes, they have sent off bugs and stuff, and they should be able to narrow it down better, but we will have to wait for that as Cecelia has had to send the stuff out. As for the cause of death, the girl had cut marks to her neck, but Cecelia thinks that was caused when they were removing the skin and muscle from the body, there was a stab to the heart and also blunt force trauma to the back of the head. She has said that the girl was stabbed first and then the head wound came quickly afterward, so it was a mix of the two that was the cause of death.” Riley explained. “They are having the face reconstructed so they will have a photo of that sent to us as soon as they can, then we can do a press conference and release it there, we need to get full coverage of it if we want people to notice. There were no fingerprints and all the teeth were missing. So other than a reconstruction of the skull, there is little we have to go on at the moment.”

“Well this one is going to be an interesting case to put away,” Greg said with a sigh. “What is our next move then sir?”

“Get Benjamin and Cherry to go through missing person files for the area, and see what we can find there. She was between the ages of twenty and twenty-five, female and she has given birth at some point. What else did the Farmer have to say?”

“Well, they get a lot of comings and goings around the field. He said that they are forever moving travelers on who think they can set up home in the fields, they have kids bombing around on motorbikes scaring their horses, which apparently they have complained about to the police on numerous occasions, and they were told that there was nothing we could do for them.”

“Right get Benjamin and Cherry on that too, get them to pull all the complaint files and I want to see a timeline on the case board of when the calls came in, maybe we can match it up with the time of death. You never know. It could be our initial break. Maybe they called us when our killer was burying the victim. See if we can’t do something about the motorbikes, we should be able to do something, it is private property after all. A trespass charge may be needed. It’s the least we can do. See if we can get a couple of PCs to look into them.”

“Very good sir. What would you like me and Suzy to do?” Greg asked, he was itching to get on.

“For now, help Mark and Cody out with the missing Person’s files, the sooner we can get an ID the sooner things should hopefully start to fall into place,” Riley said. “I will need to speak to Benjamin and Cherry concerning their door-to-door and see what they found out.”

“Of course sir,” Greg said with a smile.

“Have you written the report for the suicide yet?” Riley asked.

“Not yet sir no, we thought this may be a priority.”

“It is yes, but let’s clear off any paperwork we can before we get too deep into this case and it’s forgotten,” Riley said. “Suzy you start with the missing persons, Greg get me a quick report written up and then you can help Suzy out.”

“Yes sir,” Greg said.

“I want the two of you to keep me informed as much as possible on it,” Riley said as his phone began to ring on his desk.

“Don’t move, I haven’t finished with you yet.” He said as he picked up his phone. “Blackman!”

“Riley, it’s Neil Roe, from HMP Whitemoor.” Came the voice of a friend of Riley’s. He was a prison guard at the prison Wayne Johnson had been sent to serve his time. Riley felt his stomach drop. Neil only called him at work when there was a problem.

“Neil, what is it?” He asked, a feeling of anxiety dropping on his shoulders heavily. This was all he needed.

“Just thought I would let you know. Johnson is on his way to Peterborough City Hospital. Someone made the connection as to who he was and let the other inmates know. He was in trouble as soon as it hit the first set of ears.”

“Oh dear, what a shame,” Riley responded sarcastically. It was hard for Riley to dislike someone, but when it came to Wayne Johnson, he despised him like no other.

“I just thought I had better let you know, I know Cecelia does some work up there when they need her, I didn’t want her to come in contact with him,” Neil said to him. I highly doubt she will, but just in case, I thought I should inform you.”

“What are his injuries?” Riley asked, his curiosity peaking.

“Mostly minor injuries, but he has a razor blade inserted somewhere which he needs removing,” Neil said. “Which I suspect will need some sort of surgery. He will need to be stitched for a few of the cuts he received, and he now has quite the collection of bruises.”

“Congratulate the inmate who did it for me, won’t you,” Riley said. “How did they work out who he was?”

Neil chuckled. “One of the inmates who was transferred to us last week recognized him as the copper who put him away. We had managed to keep his identity quiet, but I am surprised it lasted this long, to be honest. His life won’t get any easier now either.”

“His own fault for thinking he could get away with attacking all those women,” Riley replied. “Karma’s a bitch.”

“This is true, he will be safe in the infirmary for a little while once he gets back, but it means we will have to keep an eye on things now, maybe even move his blocks. As bad a man as he is, it’s not justice for him to be killed. Right, my shift is about to start, I will keep you informed.”

“Thanks, Neil,” Riley said before hanging up the phone.

“Everything ok?” Greg asked with a frown.

“Yeah, Wayne Johnson is on his way to the hospital he was attacked by another inmate,” Riley explained, a smile on his face. “Apparently they found out who he really is.”

“Oh what a shame,” Greg said.

Johnson had been a well-respected officer and a very good Detective Inspector. He had worked alongside Greg for quite a few years and they had become quite good friends as well as colleagues, but he had done the stupid thing of trying to teach Cecelia a lesson by r****g her and had come out of it worse off than he had expected. He was now a member of Her Majesty’s prison.

Now with the exception of one or two who still believed in his innocence, most of the officers now despised him about as much as Riley did, this included Greg.

“This is not to leave this room. I don’t want Cecelia finding out, not in her condition. It would be better if she didn’t know, as she will just worry herself sick about it all.” Riley said before mentally kicking himself for his faux par, hopefully, Greg wouldn’t pick up on it.

“Her condition?” Greg asked with a frown.

“Damn,” Riley said. “We were supposed to be keeping it quiet, but I am just so excited about it. Cecelia is pregnant.”

“Wow, that’s great news mate,” Greg said with a grin.

“Bit quick.” Suzy blurted.

“If nearly twenty years is quick, then you have another thing coming.” Greg snorted.

“I have known Cecelia since we were both in school,” Riley said to her. “We just had a long timeout from one another until we re-met over the scientist case.”

“Send her my love, when is she due?” Greg asked.

“End of August beginning of September,” Riley explained. “But we aren’t supposed to be telling anyone yet, she has two more weeks till she is passed the first trimester.”

“Well, congratulations. I take it Sally knows all about it.” Greg said.

“Do ducks sit on water?” Riley snorted. “Of course Sally knows, I’m surprised she wasn’t the first person Cecelia told.”

“At least when I speak with her I won’t drop my foot in it then.” He chuckled. “Right, well, I had best get on with the case, I will call you if we find anything out.”

“Right. Thank you.” Riley said. “Can you send Benjamin in, I will have a chat with him.”

“I will do sir.” Greg smiled and then he and Suzy left. Moments later there was a knock on the door and a tall man with short black hair came into the room. He wore a brown suit and pink shirt, his tie was loose at the knot and his top button was undone. Riley wasn’t certain, but he was sure the man was nearly forty. He had transferred here from Scotland due to his wife’s job moving them this way.

“Greg said you wanted to see me, Sir,” Benjamin said in a deep voice that suited his build.

“Come in and sit down Benjamin,” Riley said. The man did as he was asked. “How are you settling in?”

“Fine thank you, sir, settling in quite pleasantly.” He told him, “Everyone has helped me get my foot in, it’s a nice team to work with.”

“So what came out of the door to door?” Riley asked.

“Nothing much sir, most people just get irritated by the sound of motorbikes screaming about. They haven’t really noticed anything out of the ordinary, they said it's difficult to define what is out of the normal in the countryside, as there are so many different pieces of machinery around here.” He explained. “I was just about to make my way down to see how the rest of the field search was going when you called me in here.”

“Yes, I will need to find out how that is going.” He said with a sigh. “It’s very strange that no one saw a body being dumped.”

“It is a small place, I admit, but if it was done in the dead of the night then I don’t suppose you will see much going on, I mean there are no street lights, so most of the time, it’s going to be pitch black. The fields are a little away from the houses, so unless you are looking for the light, you won't see it, and as far as anyone knows, it could be the farmer tending to something.”

“Well they would have had to transport the body somehow.” Riley mused. “But you have a point.”

“Most the time all they hear is the motorbikes buzzing around sir.” He said.

“Right, go and see how it is going down there and keep me informed.” He said, standing to signify the little meeting was now over with. “No news is good news I suppose.”

They both left the room and whilst Benjamin returned to his desk to get his car keys, Riley waltzed out of his office and up to DCS Archers.

17:30

Riley walked into the outer part of his boss's office and nodded to the secretary who was sitting at the tidy little desk in front of a closed door. She smiled and picked up the phone to let the DCS know that Riley was here to see him.

His boss, Detective Chief Superintendent Archer was also his Uncle and it depended on the day and what mood David Archer was in as to whether he was called Sir or Uncle. It also tended to depend on who else was in the room at the time. Riley stood and looked at a print on the wall whilst he waited for his cue to go on through, he recognized it, and he was sure it was Monet or Manet or something, Cecelia would be able to tell him, she was good with her artists, she had always been a fan of the one who did the ballet dancers, Degas or something like that.

“He’s ready for you DCI Blackman.” The secretary said in a timid voice as she brushed some of her soft blonde hair back behind her right ear. He smiled at her before knocking on the door to his Uncle’s office and walking in.

“Ah, Riley.” His uncle said. “Have a seat. This is DCI Valentina Trainer, she is the new head of public and press relations.”

“Pleasure,” Riley said with a smile as he looked at the older, weather-beaten officer. The woman had short-cropped black hair and dark eyes and she reminded him of the battle axe of a matron he’d had when he was at boarding school.

“Quite.” Was all the other woman said. Riley raised an eyebrow at his Uncle. His uncle gave him the look that said save it.

“I didn’t realize you were busy Sir, I can come back later. I just wanted to update you on a few things.” Riley said, a smile plastered across his face.

“The two cases?” David asked, there was something in his voice that made Riley think he was having a tough time with this woman and he was glad for the interruption.

“Yes.” He said with a smile. “I have news on both.”

“I would like to hear about those as well.” The battle axe announced. “The press is in want of a conference.”

“The press will get a conference when I have what I need for them,” Riley said. He had taken an instant dislike to the woman’s rudeness. He had tried to be civil, but he would not be spoken to in such a way as she was. “And not before. I am the SIO on this case, so I make the final decision."

“Well, what is it that is holding you back?” The woman argued.

“Well, for starters, the body was only found this morning, on both accounts, my team is an excellent team, but they can’t turn stone into gold any more than you or I can.” He told her. “Doctor Montage is working on the report of the body found in the field, she is waiting to hear back from an entomologist and Toxicologist as to whether they can narrow down the time frame, in the meantime, she is having a facial reconstruction done of the skull. Once we have that we can release the picture to the press. The unofficial Cause of death is a stab wound to the heart and blunt force trauma to the back to the head, it looks like they were stabbed first and then thrown to the floor where her head bounced off something, causing it to be just as fatal. The time of death is between four and six months. As for the other one, my officer is writing his report as we speak, but it was a suicide, so there is nothing more we can do there. The name will be released once the family has been informed.

“So when do you think Cecelia will have the report ready?” David asked.

“The initial report will be ready by the end of today. She has had a specialist in to look at the bones, and she has a presumed cause of death but isn’t ready to release it I believe.

“Why is she not releasing it yet?”

“I think she is a little concerned about the cause, I think she wants to be sure of it herself before she releases it.”

“But it is definitely a murder?” David asked.

“Yes, without a doubt of it, the girl was stabbed and parts of her skin and muscle removed, no way could it be anything else,” Riley explained.

“How is Cecelia doing?” David asked. She had been back at work for quite a few months now since her ordeal with one of his officers, but he didn’t seem to see or hear from her as much as he used to. It concerned him, most of his current knowledge of her was from brief passings and also conversations with his nephew.

“She is ok, a little fragile at the moment, what with her condition,” Riley said before he realized what he said. Cecelia was going to kill him.

“Her condition?” David asked, a little confused. Was she ill?

“She is pregnant.” He said he couldn’t really say anything now, not with his uncle anyway.

“What on earth has this got to do with anything?” Trainer burst angrily. “I don’t have the time of day for this, I am a busy woman.”

That was the final straw, David erupted with pure anger “I have just about had it up to here with your insubordination DCI Trainer, this is my office and I am your superior, not the other way around. If you want me to put a complaint into your superior then carry on, if not then shut the hell up whilst I discuss my great niece or nephew with my nephew.” The woman went quiet, anger filled her eyes. “Now, Riley congratulations, you and Cecelia must come for dinner tomorrow night, we can discuss things then. Is there anything else pertinent to the case you wish to tell me? I wouldn’t wish to keep the DCI any longer than is needed.”

“There isn’t a lot to know yet, I have the team doing interviews and going through missing person files. But until we have an identity there isn’t a lot for us to go on. The reports should be on my desk by the end of the day. Cecelia is pretty busy at the moment as they are short-staffed and have a lot in, but as things start to filter into her, she is going to let me know. She had already signed off on the suicide victim and released the body back to the family. The picture of the reconstruction of the body found in the field should be with me by the end of the day at the latest.”

“So if we set up a press conference for tomorrow afternoon, you will be ready to release the picture,” Trainer asked anger still in her voice, her face tight.

“Yes, that would be adequate,” Riley replied stoically. “About one o’clock would be preferable.”

“Good.” The woman stood, nodded, and then left without a goodbye. Once the door was shut behind her, Riley turned his attention back to his uncle.

“She reminds me of matron,” Riley said with a shiver.

“I knew she looked like someone, I just couldn’t place her,” David said with a chuckle. “Now dinner, tomorrow.”

“Yes, I will make sure we are there,” Riley said. “One other thing, just so you know, I had a call from Neil Roe at Whitemoor today, Johnson was attacked and is in Peterborough Hospital awaiting treatment.”

“Oh well, that’s a shame. Does Cecelia know?” His Uncle said, voicing the same phrase Riley and Greg had said.

“I haven’t told her as of yet, not sure if it is a good idea to tell her at all, to be honest, she will only worry and become anxious.”

“She should know,” David said as he sat back in his chair. “If she finds out about it and it’s not from you, there will be fireworks.”

“I know, but if I can keep her from becoming anxious, I would prefer that. If the need to tell her arises then I will do so. I will keep you updated with the case, but I should get back to things now.” Riley said standing to leave.

“Very well, I will see you later.” He replied as Riley left the room and made his way back to his own office.