By the end of the afternoon they had eliminated another eight suspects from their enquiries and had found another six possible people with grudges against Jean Innocent.
'None of them live in Oxford,' said Robbie.
'But they all live within easy travelling distance of Oxford,' said James, 'which makes any of them possible.'
'But none of them seem that probable.'
'No, Sir.'
'Get on to the relevant CID's in the morning, ask them to check them out.'
'Yes, Sir,' said James, not bothering to point out how many favours they were racking up against them. Finding Jean Innocent's attacker was worth doing any amount of legwork for other forces.
'Anything from forensics yet?'
'Ask and ye shall receive,' said Laura, coming in to the office carrying a file.
'What have you got?' asked Robbie eagerly.
'Preliminary report only…'
'Understood.'
'Most of the blood at the scene wasn't Jean's, she's B positive, her attacker is O positive.'
'The most common blood type,' said James.
'Yes,' said Laura, 'but there was plenty of it so we can get a DNA profile. It also means that he is definitely injured.'
'Mr Jackson thought that Jean had broken his nose,' said Robbie.
'That would tie in with the blood found at the scene; there was splatter on the bedding, then small pools all down the stairs, consistent with the rapid blood loss you'd get from a broken nose.'
'Anything else?'
'Fingerprints on the belt from three different people. They could all be from the staff at the shop where the belt was sold but the positioning of one set is where you'd expect it to be if someone was hitting someone with the belt.'
James winced and Laura said,
'Sorry, James.'
'No, we need to know this.'
'Anything else, Laura?' said Robbie.
'SOCO went over the outside of the house today in daylight and found some faint smudges on one of the windowsills where someone might have climbed in. They're comparing the fingerprints with those on the belt and running them through the criminal database.'
''I doubt there'll be a match,' said Robbie, 'He would have worn gloves if his fingerprints were on file.'
'True but at least it tells us how he got in and provides more evidence to convict him.'
'And shows that she didn't let him in.'
'Yes though SOCO didn't find any evidence of the window being forced,' said Laura.
'Would the chief super have left a window open when she wasn't there?' asked James.
'Seems unlikely,' said Laura.
'Painters,' said Robbie.
'Painters?' echoed Laura and James.
'The chief superintendent's having her dining room painted. James, find out who she's using and give them a ring, see if they were there on Friday and if they left the downstairs windows open at any point.'
'Yes, Sir,' said James, leaving the office to search for the information.
'Anything else?' asked Robbie.
'No evidence of a second attacker, which is what we expected. The tools are all from a DIY chain store and the belt is a cheap one from a chain store too. Very little chance of tracing any of them, I'm afraid. DNA results will be through on Monday.'
'That's quick.'
'I pulled in a favour.'
'You're a wonder,' said Robbie gratefully.
'Just remember it next time I want a favour.'
'Really, Doctor? And what sort of favour might you want?' said Robbie suggestively.
Laura smiled flirtatiously and said,
'I'll let you know…'
Robbie reached for Laura and she stepped into his arms, reaching up and looping her hands round his neck. They kissed tenderly, then held each other, taking and giving comfort to each other.
After a couple of minutes, Laura reluctantly pulled away, saying,
'Back to the coal face. There was a nasty crash on the ring road a couple of hours ago, they should be bringing the bodies in about now. I'll see you later.'
'And I need to think…'
'Something?'
'I don't know,' said Robbie, running his hand over his head, 'There's something in the back of me mind and I just can't remember it…'
'It'll come to you, Robbie.'
Robbie smiled at Laura, thinking again how lucky he was that she hadn't got fed up of waiting for him. He bent and kissed her again then let her leave.
James parked in the driveway behind the van bearing the legend, "J. Squires & Son" and got out. As he approached the van a young man carrying a stepladder came out of the house.
'Mr Squires?' said James.
'Yes?'
'Sergeant Hathaway, Oxfordshire Police. Do you have a minute?'
'Tom Squires. Is this about Mrs Innocent?'
'Yes,' said James, suppressing the urge to correct Jean's title.
'Hang on, I'll get Dad.'
Tom Squires put the ladder in the van, then went to the door of the house and called,
'Dad! It's the police, about Jean Innocent.'
James heard a faint reply and then Tom came back, saying,
'He's coming straight out.'
A few seconds later an older man came out of the house and joined them, holding his hand out and saying,
'John Squires.'
James shook his hand and introduced himself then said,
'Were you working at Chief Superintendent Innocent's house yesterday, Sir?'
'Yes, we're painting her dining room.'
'Did you leave any of the windows open?'
'Only while we were there. I checked that all the windows were shut and locked and set the alarm before we left,' said John.
'Were you away from the house at any point?
'No.'
'What about your lunch break?'
'We sat in the garden to eat.'
'Front or back garden, Sir?'
'Front. Why?'
'Did you leave the back windows open whilst you had your lunch?'
John Squires paled and sat down heavily on the wall,
'Is that how he got in?'
'We think so. Did you notice anyone hanging around, Sir?'
'No. Tom?'
'No. Well, not Friday.'
'Sir?' prompted James.
'There was that bloke who asked if we had any work for him. He only asked for work when I challenged him, he was just hanging around.'
'Which day was that, Sir?'
'Thursday, wasn't it, Dad?'
'Yes, it was.'
'Can you remember what he looked like?'
'He was white, about my height, wearing jeans and a dark blue hoodie,' said Tom.
'How old would you say, Sir?'
'Not sure. Late twenties, early thirties maybe.'
'Do you agree?' asked James, looking at the older Mr Squires.
'Yes. Looked as though he'd been sleeping rough.'
'Would you be willing to come down to the station and work with a sketch artist?'
'You think it was him?'
'Perhaps. It fits with the description we have but it might only have been a coincidence.'
'We'll be down as soon as we've finished packing up,' said John Squires.
Delighted to have a possible lead at last, James drove back to the station.
Back at the office, James said to Robbie,
'You were right about the painters; they left the back windows open whilst they sat in the front garden eating their lunch.'
'And didn't notice a thing,' said Robbie cynically.
'Not Friday they didn't but Tom Squires, the son, noticed someone hanging around on Thursday. When they challenged the man, he asked if they had any work for him but he matches Mr Jackson's description of the attacker. I've asked them to come in and work with a sketch artist.'
'Good work, James.'
'Thank you, Sir.'
'There's some more good news; the chief super's second scan came back clear so they're going to stop the sedation. She could regain consciousness any time from tomorrow morning.'
James felt a weight lifting off him. Jean was going to be all right. Feeling euphoric, he said,
'How was your meeting with the fourth estate, Sir? A joyous exchange of information?'
Robbie snorted,
'I let the Chief Constable do all the talking, which suited us both. It was the usual nonsense. I don't know why he wanted me there really.'
'It's your handsome physique, Sir. He finds it irresistible.'
'He just wanted someone to blame if it all went pear shaped.'
James smiled wryly, acknowledging the truth of Robbie's words and changed the subject, saying,
'Anything new, Sir?'
'No. We're going round in circles.'
'Why don't you see if Laura's ready to go home? I'll call you if we get any new leads.'
'Might as well I suppose. Make sure that you get off home early too.'
'Sir.'
'Night, James.'
'Night, Sir.'
Two hours later, Robbie and Laura were sat on the sofa in her cottage, sipping some wine as their food went down. Robbie put his arm around Laura and she curled up into his side. After a minute Robbie said,
'I was wondering…'
'Yes?'
'Whether I should go to the doctor to get some Viagra.'
'Why? I wasn't aware that you'd been having trouble sustaining an erection.'
'No...um…I, uh, no. I've been thinking about us and well…uh…you're so much younger than I am, I wasn't sure if I was…you know,' said Robbie, running his hand over his head and looking acutely uncomfortable
Laura looked at him quizzically, saying,
'You aren't sure if you're what, Robbie?
'Fulfilling your needs.'
'But Robbie, surely you know…'
'Yes, I know I'm getting the job done when we…you know.'
'So if you know I'm having orgasms then why do you think you need Viagra?' said Laura, puzzled.
'I wasn't sure if we were…um…often enough for you.'
'Oh I see,' said Laura, amused, 'You're talking about quantity not quality.'
'Yes.'
Robbie waited whilst Laura thought about it. After a moment she said,
'I'm generally happy with how often we have sex. I'm not saying that I'm not frustrated occasionally but that's been caused by circumstances not by you being uninterested. Being called out is a hazard of the job for both of us unfortunately. What about you? Would you like more sex?'
'In me mind, yes, but me body's very happy with the way things are.'
'Good. So what brought this up?'
'We brought Simon Innocent in and he has to use Viagra and it got me thinking.'
'And you started wondering if you were too old for me.'
Robbie smiled ruefully,
'Not so much too old as not virile enough. Sorry, Pet, I still find it incredible that you're willing to be with an old man like me.'
'And I still find it incredible that you don't understand how sexy you are.'
'Sexy?' said Robbie, pulling Laura gently on to his lap, 'You're the sexy one.'
Laura turned so she was sitting astride him and put her arms round his neck saying teasingly,
'You know, if you are worried about your virility, I can help you with that.'
'Oh?'
'We had lectures about male sexuality at medical school. Want to help me do some revision?'
'I'm always happy to help a scholar,' said Robbie, following eagerly as Laura stood up, took him by the hand and led him upstairs.
Once they were in the bedroom, Laura undressed Robbie then slowly removed her own clothes. She kissed Robbie a couple of times, then said,
'Come and lie down.'
Robbie lay in the middle of the bed and Laura began exploring his body, using her fingers, tongue and teeth to find spots that he had no idea were responsive. After a few minutes he was fully aroused and Laura smirked happily when he stopped her exploration and pinned her to the bed, saying,
'My turn.'
Robbie kissed Laura passionately before using his hands and mouth to bring Laura right to the edge before joining their bodies, knowing that he wasn't going to last. They moved frantically together and after just a couple of minutes Laura climaxed and the sight and sensation of Laura's climax sent Robbie over the edge too.
Robbie absently ran his hands down Laura's back as he waited for his breathing to go back to normal. When he could finally speak, he said,
'If someone had explained to me that revision could be that much fun, I'd have done much better at school.'
Laura chuckled sleepily, saying,
'So you're happy to be my guinea pig then?'
'Yes, whenever you like.'
Laura smiled softly at him, snuggling in,
'Good because there are a few more things I fancy trying.'
'Sounds good. Laura?'
'Yes?'
'Did you learn about female sexuality too?'
'Yes.'
'Reckon an old copper might be able to understand your notes?'
'I could always explain anything you didn't understand.'
James walked quietly through the hospital, making his way to Jean Innocent's side ward. He had gone home and tried to sleep but had given up after four hours of tossing and turning and had decided to visit the chief superintendent instead. He nodded to the officers on duty outside and went and stood by her bed, looking down at her. The bandage had been removed from her head but her face was pale and she was unnaturally still. The bruises that were visible on her shoulders and arms were more vivid today and James felt his guts twist as he looked at them. Her attacker had gone all the way down each arm systematically, leaving no space between each bruise and James winced at the thought of how much that would hurt once Jean was awake. There was no sign of Chris Innocent but the hospital had probably made him leave at the end of visiting hours. Fortunately, it was very hard for the hospital to force one of the investigating officers to leave. Forcing himself to sound calm, James said,
'James Hathaway here, Ma'am. We're still looking for your attacker and we might have found someone who saw him. We've got a photofit and Mr Jackson is coming in at eleven to see if he recognises him.'
James sat in the visitor's chair and took a book out of his pocket and said,
'I wasn't sure what you liked to read, Ma'am, so I brought one of my favourites.'
Opening his copy of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, James began to read.