All extra names and dates are made up. Dates are based off when they filmed Series 9.
Barnaby walked out of the office into the cool morning breeze. He remembered the day that Dan had called in sick, it was the desk sergeant who informed him that Dan would not be coming in. Maybe he should've checked in on him and maybe he wouldn't have wound up dead. The past was the past and it couldn't be changed. He decided to go talk to Joyce and Cully first before contacting the Met.
The drive back to his house was a blur, it was like he was on autopilot. He still couldn't really believe that Dan was now dead and clearly it was no accident. He parked his car and entered the house where Joyce was getting ready to go out to meet up with some club she was involved in. Tom had lost track of which club his wife was involved with now but he couldn't care less about it right now. Joyce was a little surprised to see Tom back home but she knew something wasn't right by the look on his face.
"Tom? Is everything alright?" she questioned.
"Joyce, I think you better sit down" Tom said with a sigh.
Joyce proceeded to sink down into a dining room chair, looking at her husband the entire time.
"A body was found last night and it turns out to be the body of sergeant Scott, Dan."
Joyce's mouth fell open in shock. She knew he had called in sick one day and she and Tom thought he had gone back to London after recovering from whatever illness he had. She was stunned at the news and immediately gave Tom a hug.
"What happened to him, Tom?"
"That is what I'm going to find out. It looks like murder from initial findings."
Joyce put her hand over her mouth and shook her head. Murder was a terrible was to go and she knew that Tom would find out who did this. Before anything else could be said, Cully walked in through the front door. The same information was relayed to her and just like Joyce, she was in shock. Tom asked them both if they had any information that could be helpful. Neither Joyce nor Cully had anything of use. Cully had seen Dan the day before he called in sick but he seemed fine to her, no signs of illness.
As the Barnaby family discussed Dan, Ben was busy at the station gathering information. He had found all of Dan's previous addresses. Dan didn't have any immediate family that Ben could contact and he knew his boss was going to get in touch with his old colleagues at the Met. He had looked into Dan's bank accounts. He only had one and there wasn't much money in there. The last time his card had been used was 3 days before he called in sick. Ben had called the landlord of the flat he was staying in. He told Ben that Dan hadn't paid his rent for a month and it didn't look like he had been living there for a bit since there was moulding food in the fridge and dust covering much of the furniture and rooms. He had packed up all of Dan's belongings and kept them in storage along with his own things he didn't have room for. The landlord told Ben where the stuff was being kept and Ben told him he would collect them that afternoon.
So, Dan's rent was due on the 3rd of every month. He had paid rent for the month he disappeared in. Ben quickly called Tom to update him on this information. They agreed to meet up at the storage facility later on. Ben was instructed to carry on information hunting, looking into phone records and CCTV around the area at that time if it was still available. Tom was going to call the Met now.
The phone call proved to be not that helpful. Dan's colleagues hadn't heard from him since he moved to Midsomer. They all said that Dan was pissed off that he had to transfer there, so he didn't keep in contact with them. They were all troubled to hear that he was dead and they would co-operate with Tom if he needed any information or help. Tom thanked them and proceeded to drive to the storage facility to meet Jones and Dan's old landlord.
When Tom arrived, Ben and Mr Raymond King were already there waiting. Mr King opened up his storage and pointed out Dan's things. Some PC's were also there, helping to cart away what could be vital evidence. Tom thanked Mr King and asked him a few questions.
"Mr King, when was the last time you saw Dan Scott?" Tom began.
Mr King stroked his chin and thought "Hmmm... I never had much interaction with him. He always paid his rent on time so when he didn't pay, I went to see if he was alright and he wasn't there. I probably saw him..." He scratched his head "A few weeks before June the 6th, that's when I went to visit him because he hadn't paid."
Barnaby nodded "Well, the day he didn't turn up for work was the 23rd of May, so you must have seen him before then."
"Yes, it was around the middle of May I saw him, only briefly mind you" Mr King recalled.
"I'll be in touch if I need anything else" Barnaby gave a small smile and walked away, back to his car. He drove back to the station where the PC's were carefully going through Dan's possessions. Ben was still working on obtaining more information. George strode in with a file, it was the autopsy report.
"Please tell me you have some answers, George" Tom said wishfully.
George hummed "Well, as seen at the crime scene, there was damage to the skull. Definitely hit from behind with something heavy like a hammer, struck multiple times. It wouldn't have been easy to knock down someone of Dan's height. I would say the attacker was male but a strong female could have done it too."
Tom bit his bottom lip and nodded "Any other broken bones?"
"A neck fracture, possibly occurred when he was struck on the head. It's not a major fracture. Doing autopsies on skeletons isn't easy, Tom. There could have been more evidence on the skin but he had been dead for 3 years so obviously no flesh left."
Tom hung his head "We don't have much to go on do we. Jones, found anything else?"
Ben swivelled around in his chair "Awaiting bank transactions and phone records, sir. Maybe, hopefully some leads in there."
"I do hope so Jones, we need to find out who did this and why" Tom looked at Ben with a serious 'I mean business' face.
