Chapter 7 – Smells
Ash eyed the front of veterinarian's office warily.
Scribbs rolled her eyes at her partner. "Problem, Ash?"
Kate pointed to the sign on the door. The legend read 'Happy Pet Care - Dogs, Cats, and Exotics'. "I have never fancied cats."
"Oh, I though the exotics might put you off. Like that case last week?"
Kate threw an elbow at Emma and nearly connected for exotics was a CID code for 'Death by Exotic'; usually meaning death with a kinky sexual component.
"No. The smell," Kate replied. "I find their urine to be pungent. Cats, that is."
Emma pushed open the door and took a sniff. "Not too bad." She held the door open wide. "After you."
Kate took a deep breath and walked inside the practice. Pleasantly surprised that the empty reception was well lit, clean, and had little odor of any kind, she rang a single bell sitting on the counter.
A door at the back opened and a frazzled-looking man wearing a long white coat came toward them. "Yes?" He was Asian in coloring, but not accent. "Do you need service? The girl, that is Pam, our receptionist just stepped out." He was about thirty-five and spoke in clipped tones
Emma drew out her badge and showed it to him. "I am DS Scribbins and this is DI Ashurst. You are?"
"Dr. Gupta. Ravindra Gupta. Something wrong, officer?"
Kate spoke. "We were wondering if you knew a Jenny Browning."
"Browning, Browning?" the man muttered. "Let me look at our records." He stepped to a computer on the desk and typed on the keyboard. "No, got a Margie Browning but no Jenny."
Scribbs sighed. "We don't believe that she is a patient, or has pets, or pets that we know of." She looked to Ash for confirmation, who shook her head 'no.'
The vet crossed his arms. "So what is this about?" He glanced at his watch. "I'm to be at a meeting at four - closing early – plus I have a patient in the back.
Ash told him about the missing Jenny Browning. "The people next door say they saw you and her together at times. In a pub perhaps, as well?"
The man laughed. "Now that is interesting, but no. I don't fancy my wife would be keen on that idea. But you must be looking for Dr. Barnard; my business partner. He is away on holiday."
Scribbs got a satisfied look. "Holiday?"
Dr. Gupta nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Majorca. Been gone, oh about ten days." He glanced at a wall calendar. "Yes he left the office on the 11th. I'd been arse over teakettle trying to keep up with the practice. We have three vet techs; one is away on maternity, the second has the flu, and the third is at present trying to take a temperature on a febrile feline." He sighed, pulled up a stained sleeve to reveal a long a string of plasters* covering what must be a wicked scratch. He smiled. "Can be a bit of a struggle. At least with people, a doctor can explain what's happening. Pets?" he shrugged. "This."
Kate sent a silent message to Emma with a surprised look. "May we please have Dr. Barnard's address?"
Gupta nodded. "Right." He scribbled a note on the back of a business card. "Not that far away. He bought a rather rundown place and has been fixing it up. Michael is into that woodworking stuff. Plus plastering and brickwork. Me? I'm for raising tropical fish."
Kate glanced at the front of the card in her hand. "But you care for dogs and cats, etcetera."
"But fish don't bite or scratch," the vet answered. "Now if you don't mind, I must…"
He was interrupted by a feline scream from somewhere beyond the door he'd emerged from.
Gupta coughed. "That would be Sabrina – my patient. Hates to have her claws clipped**. Please excuse me." He turned and exited the room.
Kate showed the card to Emma. "Let's get over there."
Scribbs took the wheel on the drive to the vet's house. "Ash, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Jenny Browning disappears on the 12th about the time this Michael Barnard is to go on holiday." Ash sighed. "Yes. We'll see if we have to call the SOCO*** boys. I hope not."
As they turned onto the target street the property values plummeted. Perhaps one in ten houses looked good, but a few appeared to be derelict.
"Reminds me of where I grew up," Scribbs muttered.
Ash peered at house numbers then pointed to a house on mid-block. "That one." The car crunched into a drive made of crushed stone between two flower beds. The one on the right was filled with bright flowers, but the other a weed-choked mess.
They faced a terraced two-story building. The one on the left had a sheet of gray plywood covering a front window, and had a scratched and battered front door. The right-hand domicile was bright and cheery with woodwork that was freshly painted and the door shone with fresh varnish.
Scribbs shrugged as they got out. "Not too bad." She looked up and down the street.
Ash peered around as well. "What they call a work in progress." She squared her shoulders. "Let's get to it."
Clearly Barnard had been hard at work for his address was the well-kept and repaired side. A knock at the door gave no response. Holding the door buzzer in gave no better reaction.
Scribbs went around the back to a rear door, where she tried to peer through a curtain. She could just make out a kitchen table and some cabinets but not much else. She pounded on the door. "Hello? Dr. Barnard? Police!" Silence was the reply. She looked at the windows top and bottom and they all appeared to be tight and unbroken.
She walked around the other home and saw more decayed woodwork, a sagging rear door, and a dirty window which was open a few inches. She tried to look in there as well but a layer of grime and dirt defeated her. She got a whiff of moldiness and decay from the opening. The garden, though muddy, appeared to be unmarked but there had been a lot of rain recently.
Finishing her inspection she returned to the front to see Ash pressed to the front window shielding her eyes.
"Can't see a thing Scribbs. Bloody dark in there," Ash told Scribbs.
Scribbs laughed. "Kate Ashurst – such language. Shocked that you learned such words at Lady Margaret's College for Posh Young Desirables****."
Kate stuck out her tongue. "It was Surrey College for Ladies, if you must know. He school was founded by Lady Petra Wolsingham in 1838 for the education of her many nieces and great-nieces." She sighed. "And it wasn't that posh. Now… no more school talk."
Scribbs grinned. "Our school was rebuilt after a V-1 took it out in the Blitz."
Kate cut her off. "Right. No more history. Work. What do you think?"
"There's a window half open on the left house. Shall we take a peek?"
Ash sighed. "Searching adjacent premises without a warrant…"
"While seeking evidence which may prove important in the solution of a crime?" Scribbs finished.
"If it is a crime," Ash replied bighting her lip. "Okay. Gloves though and let's be quick." She looked up and down the street and saw no nosey parkers wondering what was going on. "Get the torches."
Scribbs went to the car and came back with two large torches. She hefted one in her hand. "I like these. Heavy, solid, good for bashing if it comes to that."
Ash took the other torch and flicked it on to test the beam, blinking in the glare. "Bright as well."
"The open window is just around here," Scribbs pointed. She led her partner to the rear of the building and after they gloved up a few shoves opened the window wide.
A musty smell of damp and rot billowed out with an undercurrent of something else nasty.
Scribbs coughed as the odor hit her nose. "God."
Ash sniffed and gagged. "I think… oh damn, no help for it. Boost me up."
Scribbs put her laced hands out for Ash to use as a step. "Nice boots," she observed but grunted as Ash's weight fell on her arms. "Hurry Kate."
Kate clutched at the window frame for a few moments until she could get her upper body up and in through the opening.
Scribbs rubbed her aching arms. "You need more of a workout Emma than boosting your partner… hey Kate!" she yelled into the open window. "See anything? Ash?"
Kate covered her nose and mouth, for inside the house the smell was something fierce. It was a smell that any police officer smelled once and never could dismiss; the sort that told her that violence had been done with deadly will.
The interior of the house was a shambles. She stumbled over piles of trash, mostly plaster from the ceiling, plus mounds of ruined furniture. She carefully edged around a gaping hole where stairs had been taken out, formerly leading to the basement.
Kate heard Scribbs calling her name, just as she looked down into the basement and saw what was causing the smell. A glance was all she needed to confirm her suspicions, so returning to the back of the house she pried at the door until it opened with a mighty heave.
"Ash?" Scribbs asked as Kate pushed her aside so she could a breath of clean air.
Kate shook head to clear it then breathed deeply. "Scribbs I hope you ate a large breakfast for we'll be here all night," Kate told her.
She pulled out her mobile and quick dialed. "Boss?" she said to Sullivan. "Found two bodies. I assume it will turn out to be Jenny Browning and perhaps a veterinarian named Michael Barnard. We'll need SOCO. Here's the address…"
Emma rubbed her arms as a cold wind blew and it began to drizzle. "Should have worn my heavy jumper," she said sadly.
Author Notes:
* Plasters – Sticking Plasters (what the Americans call Band-Aids)
** Just like our two cats!
*** Scene Of Crime Officers; the team which investigates the scene of a deadly crime. A forensic evidence team.
**** In MIS Series 1, Episode 1, "Applejacks", Scribbs accuses Ash of attending 'Lady Margaret's College for Posh Young Desirables'
Author's Note II:
Since Thursday May 12 reviews are being sent to the authors by email (if they have that set for their accounts) but are NOT being posted to the website. Lest you think your reviews are gone, they are not; merely stuck in limbo. I have contacted the admins and hopefully this recurring problem will get sorted!