Chapter 8 – The Search

Back in the school hall the Manchester group were still playing I spy. By this time they had been joined by the couple Pete had got talking to the evening before plus a few other people who were glad to have found a way to remain occupied.

'I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…N' Jenny took her turn.

'Notebook' David guessed, indicating a woman who was writing in one.

'No' said Jenny.

'Nail clippers!' Tania Ormsby from Levenshulme guessed, watching a young girl trimming a damaged nail.

'No' Jenny said once again.

'Um…Nectarine' a local man sitting near the group had a go at guessing, remembering seeing a bowl of fruit in the canteen earlier.

'No, not nectarine either!' Jenny smiled at him.

'Narcissist!' Pete spotted the man who had been causing trouble they day before grumbling by himself in a corner.

'Good guess but no!' laughed Jenny, and the others who had encountered this man smirked.

'Numbers!' Karen guessed, looking at a numbered list of school rules on the wall'

'No' said Jenny.

'Nothing!' Tania's daughter Daisy guessed looking around her and seeing a lot of people looking bored with nothing to do'

'No…it is something!' laughed Jenny.

'Netball hoop!' Brian Ormsby pointed to the hoop attached to the wall with no basket hanging from it.

'Yes…finally!' Jenny patted Brian on the back.

'But that's N H!' complained David.

'Bad loser?' Brian teased him.

'Not at all, just a bit unfair!'

'Well I did get it!'

'OK gentlemen please!' Karen jokingly intervened. 'Is anyone else getting fed up of this game?'

'I am a bit' answered Daisy.

'Me too if I'm being honest' said Pete. The others nodded in agreement.

'Why don't we play charades!' suggested Brian.

'OK you go first since it would have been your turn at I spy' Jenny urged him.

'Fine…but it looks like the police are coming over and we will have to wait a while!' Brian indicated two officers searching the pockets and bags of a couple sitting a few yards away. Sure enough, the officers made their way over to their group next.

'Ladies and gentlemen, please may we have a look in all your bags and rucksacks and also any large pockets?' the young male officer requested.

'Sure' Karen complied and the officer checked her overnight bag.

'Is this something to do with the murder?' David asked as his bag was searched.

'We are looking for any item that may be related to last night's incident, yes' J P confirmed.

'My partner Adam Williams is being held in custody over this incident' Karen took up with J P. 'Do you know if any witnesses have come forward to confirm he was not responsible?'

'We have not found any evidence to either convict or acquit so far, I'm sorry Madam'

'Oh' Karen's disappointment was apparent. 'Would it be possible for me to see him?'

'I believe he is being questioned at present but I will speak to the Detective Inspector'

'OK, thank you' Karen conceded.

'You again!' Pete said as Ruby took his bag from him.

'Nice to see you too Sir' Ruby replied sarcastically and got on with the job.

'Nothing in here then?' Pete commented as Ruby handed him back his bag.

'Pete!' Jenny rebuked him.

'No you don't appear to have any weapons… or cotton buds!' Ruby smiled.

'Cotton buds? How could I kill someone with those?'

'Use your imagination!' Ruby continued the joke. 'No, seriously, we are looking for some cotton buds to use as DNA swabs'

'Like they use to tell where people's ancestors came from?' asked Jenny.

'Yes, or to place someone at a crime scene'

'Oh Ok, I see' Pete shook his head as the officers moved on to the next group of people. 'Honestly, the police here don't seem to take their job very seriously!' he commented to his friends once the officers were out of earshot.

'I don't know about that' said Karen. 'The male officer there seemed genuine and helpful when I asked about Adam, and he was also very professional when he came to evacuate us from the hotel last night. The Irish detective also seemed assertive enough'

'The young female does seem a bit wild, it has to be said' David sided with Pete.

'Well, let's just hope she doesn't miss the murder weapon or whatever they are looking for' concluded Jenny. 'So, shall we have that game or charades?' she called out to the Ormsbys and the others who were going to play.

'OK, well at least I have had a few minutes to decide what I am going to start with' laughed Brian, standing up in front of everyone. He made a square with his fingers.

'TV programme' said the others.

Brian held up three fingers.

'Three words'

He then held up two fingers.

'Second word'

Brian held his thumb and index finger close together.

'small word'

'a?' said Pete. Brian shook his head.

'is?' said Jenny. Still wrong. 'it? if?'

'or? of?' guessed Tania and on the last word Brian touched his nose and pointed at her. He then held up one finger.

'First word'

Brian held out his hands indicating the gathered group.

'People?' said Daisy. Brian continued what he was doing.

'Group?' said Karen. No result.

'Circle?' ventured the local man. Wrong again.

Brian tried another tactic and pretended to hit a golf ball with a club, then kick a ball.

'Balls?' said David. The whole group erupted into laughter and Tania covered Daisy's ears. David looked embarrassed. Brian did the action again.

'Sports?' said Tania. Brian continued what he was doing.

'Strike?' suggested Pete. Brian tugged on his ear lobe.

'Sounds like'

He pretended to walk with a stick.

'Injured?' said Jenny. Brian continued what he was doing.

'Lame' said Daisy and her father touched his nose and pointed at her.

'Sounds like lame' recapped David. 'Same? Fame?'

'Game!' Pete hit his head recalling the games Brian had been trying to get across. Brian touched his nose and pointed at him.

'Game of…?' said Daisy, thinking'

'Game of thrones!' Karen got it and Brian sat down.

'Gosh why did it take us so long to get that one?!' said David. 'Anyway, Karen's turn'.

Karen stood up and mimed holding a camera while turning a handle at the side of her head.

'Film' said the others in chorus.

Karen held up four fingers.

'Four words…'

The morning had passed endlessly for Adam who had not yet had any further visits from the police or food deliveries. He felt as though it must be well into the afternoon by now but in reality it was only quarter to one. Finally the door was unlocked and the Irish Detective Inspector from the night before entered, followed by two women, both attractive he thought, and a few months ago and in different circumstances he would have been thinking it was his lucky day. One was young and dark haired and more than likely local, the other blonde and probably British. In fact, he was sure he had seen the blonde woman before somewhere.

'Good morning Mr Williams' the Inspector began. 'This is Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell who will be interviewing you along with me today' he indicated the dark haired woman, 'and this is Dr Nikki Alexander, a pathologist who is going to take fingerprints and a DNA sample from you'

'DNA sample? How is that done?' Adam was nervous.

'It's very simple' Nikki assured him, sure enough in a refined southern English accent. 'I will just rub this swab against the inside of your cheek' she held up one of the cotton buds that had been donated.

'Sure, whatever it takes to prove my innocence' Adam complied and the sample was bottled. Adam was then asked to dip his fingers in ink and provide samples of his fingerprints. Nikki remained for the interview so that she would know what she might have to prove or disprove.

'OK Mr Williams' Jack began the interview. Could you tell me once again, in your own words, everything you did last night from when you arrived at the school until the moment you say Gavin Harper's body landed in your arms?' Adam took a deep breath.

'Well we arrived off the bus at around eleven'

'We?' queried Florence.

'My girlfriend Karen and our friends Pete, Jenny and David. We are all over here on holiday together'

'OK, carry on' Florence instructed, noting the information in a school jotter she had procured.

'We arrived at the school and joined the queue for spaces in the assembly hall. It was a long queue and it was going to take some time for us to get in so the girls decided to go and get us all drinks. David had wandered off so it was only Pete and me left in the queue' Adam shifted in his chair as he recalled events. 'We waited for half an hour and were allocated spaces just before eleven thirty. As soon as we got in I left Pete to keep our places while I went to find the gents room. Five minutes later I came out and got lost in the art corridor trying to find my way back to the hall. I was passing the mannequin display when suddenly I thought one of the mannequins was falling towards me and I caught it, only to discover it was Gavin's body. It…it was such a shock. Then people all around me started shouting and calling me a murderer. Then you came…' he looked up at Jack.

'So, you say you were in the queue outside the hall with your friend…' Jack looked over at Florence who showed him her notes. '…Pete up until five minutes or so before you caught Gavin's body?' Jack clarified.

'That's right'

'So Pete will be able to confirm this?'

'Absolutely'

'And do you remember seeing anything suspicious prior to catching the body?' Florence asked. 'Anyone behaving strangely for example?'

'I don't' remember seeing anyone doing anything odd. The only thing I do remember is getting confused by a sign indicating that the way to the assembly hall was along the art corridor'

'And that wasn't the way you had come?'

'No, I assumed it was a shortcut so I decided to follow the sign'

'Interesting' said Jack. 'And tell me, do you remember seeing anyone in the corridor that you knew or would recognise again? Anyone that might have seen the body falling to you?'

'No, as I said I was in shock and didn't take in any faces. Has nobody come forward?'

'No, I'm afraid not' said Jack. Adam looked down despairingly. 'I think that's all our questions for now, but we will follow up what leads we do have. Thankfully we unexpectedly have a pathologist in the house who can carry out an initial post-mortem, although further analysis may be necessary once we can get the body to the specialist labs, but we may have news sooner than we thought last night'

'One thing if I may?' asked Nikki, and Jack nodded his agreement. 'When you caught the victim's body, and noticed he had been stabbed in the chest, do you recall whether there was any blood flowing from the stab wound?'

'I don't think so, not that I remember noticing. No, I seem to remember the body being still'

'OK, that might help, thank you' Nikki sat back in her chair again.

'That will be all, but can I just take the full names of all your friends as we will have to speak to them all since they had made an acquaintance with the victim?' Florence asked and the information was provided.

'And before we go, can we just check your backpack?' Jack spotted Adam's rucksack on the floor beside the chair he had been sitting in.

'Sure' Adam continued to resign to everything asked of him. Jack put on latex gloves and looked through the items in the rucksack and after a few seconds pulled out a kitchen towel which was clearly wrapping something. Adam gasped 'What is that? It's not mine…' and despair took over as Jack unravelled the towel to reveal a carving knife smeared with blood. The Detective looked at the suspect much more sternly than he had to date.

'OK Mr Williams. If you maintain you didn't kill Gavin Harper, can you please explain why this has been found in your possession?'

'I-I don't understand!' Adam muttered incredulously.

'Oh, I think I understand' continued Jack, raising his voice. 'You stabbed Mr Harper and hid the weapon in your rucksack with the intention of disposing of it after you had gotten rid of the body, but since you were arrested before getting the chance it has remained in your bag until now!'

'No! I have never seen it before! I have no idea how it got there! I-Ive been set up!' Adam pleaded but it seemed he was not going to be believed no matter what he said.

'So, if what you say is true, can you then tell us when you last checked in your bag? How recently must this weapon have been planted in it?' Florence tried a different tactic.

'I took a handkerchief out of the front pocket this morning' he told them. 'But I have not been in the main section of the rucksack since I packed it to leave my hotel last night'

'And do you remember it appearing heavier than it should have at any point?'

'Not that I remember, no'

'Right. We will see what Dr Alexander can determine in the science lab' concluded Jack, re-wrapping the knife in the towel since he did not have an evidence bag to hand. 'I was starting to believe your story and was even considering letting you leave this room, but in light of this latest finding you will be remaining in custody here'. The two detectives and the pathologist stood up and left the room, leaving an even more stunned Adam locked inside, head in hands, still in shock and believing his life as he knew it was truely over.