Chapter 6- Murder?

About an hour and a half later, Dan and Ton came up to CID. 'Sarge?' Dan said as he approached Sam.

'Dan, Tony. What can we do for you?' Sam asked.

'We've just attended a shout at a house on Goddard Street. A neighbour reported an IC1 female lying dead at the bottom of the stairs. We thought it looked a bit suspicious so we thought we'd pass it on,' Dan replied.

'Thanks, well we'll take it from here, Dan,' Francesca said.

'OK, sarge,' Dan replied and flashed a smile in Francesca's direction before following Tony out of CID.

'Shall we go and check the place out?' Francesca asked.

'Yeah, let's go,' Sam replied and she picked up a set of car keys.

They arrived at the house on Goddard Street about 15minutes later. 'Do you want to go door to door?' Sam asked.

'Yeah, OK,' Francesca replied as she watched Sam enter the property to interview the neighbour.

Sam entered the living room and saw a woman sitting on the sofa. 'Mandy Barrett?' She said.

'Yes?' Mandy replied.

'DS Nixon, Sun Hill CID. You made the emergency call I believe,' Sam said.

'Yes I did,' Mandy replied.

'Can you tell me what happened?' Sam asked.

'Laura was my best friend. Not only that, she was also a neighbour. We'd made arrangements to go out Christmas shopping. When she didn't return any of my calls, I came round to see if she was OK…and that's when I found her…dead…at the bottom of the stairs,' Mandy replied.

'Is there any next of kin that we can inform?' Sam asked.

'Yes, her husband Mark. She was pregnant with their first child,' Mandy replied.

'Can you give us his number so we can talk to him?' Sam asked.

'He should be back here sometime soon,' Mandy replied.

'Well, when he doe call back…,' Sam started as she handed Mandy a card. 'Call me.'

'I will,' Mandy replied.

'Thank you for all your help and I'm sorry for your loss. We'll cal when we have any leads,' Sam said and she left the living room.

Sam went outside and stood by the car. Francesca was stood at a house a couple of doors down, taking a statement from an elderly woman. She left the woman's house and returned to the car. 'What did you get from her then? Sam asked.

'She heard the sounds of an argument coming from the victim's house in the early hours of this morning. She's certain that it was the victim and her husband,' Francesca replied.

'The husband hasn't been seen since,' Sam said. 'Tony and Dan could be right. This could be murder.'

Later that afternoon, Sam and Francesca got the post mortem results on Laura Bailey. 'What do we have here?' Francesca asked as she re-entered CID after her lunch break.

'Post mortem results on Laura Bailey,' Sam replied as her eyes skimmed down the piece of paper.

'Oh yeah, what does that tell us then?' Francesca asked.

'She dies from a hairline fracture to the skull, possibly after being pushed down a flight of stairs. Estimated time of death between 1 and 5 this morning,' Sam replied.

'Shall we hand it over to MIT?' Francesca asked.

'Let's brief the DCI and see what he says,' Sam replied.

Sam knocked on Jack's office door. 'Come in!' Jack called.

Sam and Francesca entered. 'What can I do for you two then?' Jack asked.

'PC's Stamp and Casper handed us an unexplained death at a house on Goddard Street this morning. Me and DS Simmonds have made some inquiries and we've just had the post mortem results back. The victim, Laura Bailey, died from a hairline fracture to the skull,' Sam explained.

'So you want to pass it over to MIT?' Jack asked.

'A neighbour reported hearing a disturbance at about 3 this morning. That was around the estimated time of death,' Francesca added.

'OK, I'll call MIT and ask them to send someone over. Don't worry you two, I'll brief them. Just leave the notes on my desk,' Jack replied.

'Cheers Guv,' Sam said and she and Francesca left the office.

Plz R&r guys, if you don't I have no way of knowing wot u guyz fink of me writing. Plz!!!!!!! By da way Happy New Year to all who've reviewed my stories. I really appreciate it. Luv Gemz xx