Chapter Five
Jack made his way down a dingy lit corridor deep in thought. He'd left Sinead the previous night; he'd watched her being taken back to the cells by a gruff looking police officer. There were dirty tear tracks staining her pale face which had been mixed in with the blood from the cut on her face. Alec had done his best to clean her up, but with each dirty, bloodied layer that was removed only seemed to emphasise the scared look in her face and the haunted look in her eyes.
After that he'd reluctantly gone home. There was nothing he could do until the SIO on the case had decided what tests they'd cough up for. Until then Jack had made his way home with his thoughts full of Sinead, hoping that she'd stay strong until he could work out what this was all about.
But as the watery sun had risen over Yorkshire, so had Jack. He'd dressed quickly, skipping breakfast, and had made his way back to the lab to see if there had been any new developments. As he opened his inbox, a email from the SIO (a DCI Gareth Barnes, no less) telling him to be in the briefing room at 10:30am sharp.
And that was where Jack was making his way to, down the dingy corridor when he heard his name called. He whirled around with a frown but that soon left his face when he saw it was Alec who had called him.
"You look like crap," Alec had said once he'd caught up with the Irishman "How much sleep did you get last night?"
"Enough," Jack shrugged "I-"
"-was worried about Sinead," Alec finished with a nod "You've met her before haven't you?"
Jack reluctantly nodded "Only briefly. A week ago, in a car park. She was hiding from someone. I covered for her and gave her food and a hoodie,"
"You know you'll have to tell the SIO that you have a connection to this case. Even if only for the fact your DNA will be on the hoodie"
"I know," Jack sighed
"Ever been to one of these briefings before?"
Jack shook his head "It's my first killing,"
"Then take my advice: keep quiet, keep sharp and don't let the police try and sway you in regards to the evidence," Alec told him firmly
"They'd do that?" Jack quizzed
Alec shook his head "Not all coppers will, but watch out for DCI Barnes. He likes to keep his arrest stats up"
Jack pondered that information as the pair of scientists took a seat at the back of the briefing room which was soon filled up by officers. There was a mumble of conversation that swept around the room, but soon stopped when Barnes entered the room.
"Right, let's get down to business. Last night we got a call to the Nelson estate. It didn't come into us but rather our colleagues from the Ambulance Service. A female reported a man with wounds to his stomach. He was unconscious and was unresponsive. Paramedics got down to the scene before us and reported the man deceased,"
"Do we have a name for the victim?" an officer asked
"Michael Samuels. Commonly known as Mickey on the Nelson estate. He's known to us. He pimps out the girls on the estate. Which is where it gets interesting. When the paramedics arrived the caller was still on scene. She attempted to flee the scene when she saw the police turned up but was stopped. Name of the girl is Sinead Murray'
Jack started and sat up in his chair
"Sinead might be known to some of you. She's a prostitute and even more specifically she's one of Mickey's girls. One of his more troublesome girls given the cuts and bruises she's sustained when she has gotten in contact with services. Anyway, police found her covered in blood at the scene which is where we need science to come in: Dr Garfield?"
Alec stood up and cleared his throat "The victim is male and in his mid-forties. I haven't done the post-mortem yet but the main wound is a stab wound to his stomach made by a knife. I found the tip of the knife in his wound but forensics are yet to recover the rest of the blade,"
"Okay," Barnes said "Forensics?"
Jack stood up "Sinead had blood on her clothes, but it needs to be tested to see if it matches positive"
"Do it quickly, we need some evidence or we'll have to release her,"
"Just because she has blood on her doesn't mean she was the one who stabbed him. If it was Sinead that phoned 999 then she could have been trying to help him,"
"Or just make it look that way. The force in this area have known Mickey for a long time and Sinead has popped up on our radar. He's her pimp and she's trouble for him'
"Let's wait to see what the post-mortem says," Alec cut in "I'll start it at 2pm," he said and Barnes nodded
"Right, well I think we can end the briefing for now. I want our main targets to be as follows: Placing Sinead at the scene and finding the blade and tying it to our killer," Barnes said and turned back to his papers
The room emptied quickly and Jack was just going to follow suite when Barnes called out
"Forensics?"
"Jack Hodgson,"
"You're new around here," Barnes said and Jack nodded "First murder case?"
"The PM hasn't been done yet; it may not be murder," Jack retorted
"True...true..." Barnes said "There was something I wanted to ask you. One of the custody sergeants told me you seemed to know Sinead when you went to collect samples. Could you enlighten me?"
"I met her a week ago in a car park. I thought she was just a rough sleeper so I gave her food and my hoodie,"
"The same hoodie she was wearing when she was arrested?" he asked and Jack nodded "So it will have your DNA on it as well. Where you planing on telling me this?"
"Of course," Jack said roughly "It's not like I have a strong personal connection to Sinead. I couldn't have been with her for 20 minutes,"
"But you know her all the same,"
"Barely. That a problem?" Jack said
"Not right at this moment," Barnes said pondering Jack's question "But it could be. Let's just say I'm keeping a close eye on you Jack Hodgson. A very close eye..."