The complex housing the swimming pool and gym had been built by the council in the 1960s and as such was an unattractive concrete affair with an entrance that was surprisingly hard to find given it was a public building. Over the years various attempts had been made to soften its appearance with trees and shrubs but there was no disguising its ugly grey form rising up from the ground and clashing, aesthetically at least, with the elegant Edwardian villas that made up the streets surrounding it. The car park underneath was damp and poorly lit and, as he parked, Robbie considered that it was possibly the least inviting way to start a workout he could imagine, not that he had a lot of experience in that regard. He considered himself fortunate that his relatively slim build combined with an active job meant he didn't have to worry too much about that sort of thing. Although it didn't stop him pulling in his stomach as he passed what he supposed was a fitness instructor heading to their own car, their lithe body visible beneath a well fitting tracksuit. Not for the first time the thought of possibly trying to cut down on the beer and chips crossed his mind. Lyn was constantly on at him to take better care of himself. It would seem she'd decided to add the role of 'nagging wife' to her repertoire, which already included 'listening ear' and 'overly concerned daughter:. But by the time he reached the crime scene the idea had already faded.
His long faced Sergeant looked about as pleased to have been called in as he felt. Innocent had at least had the good grace to sound apologetic when she'd called and knowing they were short staffed he'd tried not to give her too much of a hard time. But whilst he'd not had the most exciting of weekends planned he had been looking forward to it nonetheless, if only to get a break from the exact person who was staring stone-faced at him right now.
"Sir," James started, "Body of an adult male, Kevin Maloney. Keeled over in the changing rooms by the looks of it, he's still in his swimming trunks. Dr. Hobson's with him now."
Robbie gave the slightest nod of acknowledgement. "Who's that?" he asked, gesturing to a young adolescent draped in a striped towel being comforted by a uniformed constable, a lifeguard trying to be helpful by offering tissues and a snack of some kind.
James glanced at his notes, "Dead man's son, Thomas. He had a swimming lesson this morning and apparently it was usual for his dad to get in a few lanes in at the same time. We've called his mum."
Robbie grimaced. He hated cases where kids were involved on the scene, knowing that it was going to be a memory that scarred their young lives for many years to come. "Family liaison en route?" and seeing James nod in confirmation continued, "Ok, well see if you can at least get get a sense of what happened." He looked towards the centre of activity, adding, "Maybe Laura can confirm its natural causes and we'll be home by teatime, eh?"
James considered that was rather wishful thinking given someone had thought to call CID in, and not just leave it to uniform to handle, but nevertheless moved to carry out the orders he'd been given.
As he got closer Robbie could see Laura bent over the body, busy forming her first impressions of what might have happened. He knew she'd already be anticipating what the assigned detective would want to know and none of them was any different from the other. Whomever she had to work with she understood their thirst for information.
The body itself was lying half in, half out of a changing room, its brightly coloured door open to reveal a small, cramped space with a bench. A towel was lying on the floor by the man's arm, a bag hanging from a peg. Given the limited space available for her to work in, Robbie was careful not to get too close, whilst keen to assess the situation for himself and form some kind of working hypothesis. She looked up as he approached.
"At first glance a straightforward heart attack."
Picking up on her tone, he said "Except?"
She smiled very slightly, he knew her too well. "Except look at this."
She used her little finger to point to a series of bruises that had started to appear on the left forearm. "Looks like someone tried to grab him shortly before he died, and there's this," shifting her position and turning the man's body to reveal a nasty gash on his back. "Probably ante-mortem that one too, and the bruising around it looks like it might have been delivered by some kind of boot. I'll know more when I get him to the lab."
Robbie sighed, this was not looking promising.
"Anything else?" he asked. She nodded, "There are pills in his bag," glancing up to the peg, "And just for fun there's also a syringe containing an unknown substance." She studied him and with dead-pan delivery took a punt at what he was thinking, "No pie and mash for you this afternoon, Robbie, even if they do miraculously secure a win."
He lifted his eyes from the body and saw her looking directly at him, he raised an eyebrow at her slight towards his beloved team but chose to let it slide. "And no afternoon wandering the galleries at the Ashmolean for you," he retorted but sympathetically.
Yes, she thought, rewarding his insight with a smile, he really does know me too well.
James hadn't been able to get much out of the boy, he was simply too upset to be able to put a coherent sentence together, let alone explain what might have happened. However the lifeguard had volunteered a little more but not much. Aged 13, Thomas Maloney was a promising swimmer and could be found at the pool several times a week, either for a lesson or to practice. As a result he and his dad were well known and well liked, often exchanging friendly greetings with the staff and fellow regulars. Thanking him for his time, he went in search of Lewis, as curious as anyone to know what Dr. Hobson had been able to share with him at this early stage. He found him sitting in one of the spectator areas, his elbows resting on his knees, staring out over the now empty pool.
"No gig for me tonight then, Sir."
Robbie regarded his Sergeant, "Very perceptive Sergeant. Ever considered a career in the police force?" he said dryly, causing James to smirk. Robbie sat up, accepting that there was work to be done. "Laura reckons it's suspicious at the very least so let's start treating it as a murder and hope for the best. Anything from the boy?" Hathaway shook his head. "Right, well. Let's get back to the station and see what we can find out about this Kevin Maloney. Uniform are informing next of kin but let's wait for a bit more from the PM before we start bothering them, especially given there's kids involved."
He looked at his watch, three hours until kick off. "And let's grab some lunch on the way. My breakfast was barely adequate and that already feels like a long time ago."
