TWO – Evidence
"Alan Tomlinson," Spencer informs them succinctly as he puts the telephone receiver down. He shakes his head at their expectant looks. "They still haven't charged him."
"They're running out of time," Stella announces. The laconic statement is completely unnecessary – doubtless they are all thinking exactly the same thing. Boyd has been in custody for over thirty hours now, and unless Grant applies to a magistrate very soon…
Grace takes a deep, steadying breath and then exhales slowly and deliberately. Into the tense silence that has settled over the squad room, she says, "Then we continue to do exactly what we've been doing until they either charge or release him."
No-one says anything. Stella looks down at her keyboard. Spencer stands up. Grace looks expectantly at Eve, and receives a cursory shrug of acknowledgement. Standing in front of the largely-forgotten evidence board, Spencer folds his arms across his broad chest. "We can't afford to forget that this isn't our investigation, Grace."
She stares at him in disbelief. "So what are you suggesting, Spence? That we should just sit back and watch Boyd get thrown to the wolves?"
"No, of course not," Spencer says sharply, his impatience betraying intense underlying stress, "but, c'mon, realistically what else is there left that we can do? We're skating on increasingly thin ice as it is…"
It's an effort not to loudly censure him, but she replies as calmly as she can, not raising her voice. "I know that. I'm not proposing we attempt to go directly to Grant again – just that we carry on doing whatever we can. Anything we can clarify and feed back via Tomlinson has got to be worth the effort, surely? Eve, you've already said that you've seen the forensics – "
"Unofficially, Grace," Eve stresses quickly, "and from the brief look I was able to take there's absolutely nothing there that helps."
"That's not a reason not to attempt to look more closely," Grace says doggedly. She looks round at her colleagues, surveying each familiar face in turn. "Unless anyone here is actually starting to think that he's guilty?"
"No-one thinks that, Grace," Spencer retorts. He shakes his head. "Whoever killed Erin Jackson, it can't have been Boyd."
"Yet suddenly you're not interested in helping to establish that beyond any doubt?" Grace challenges.
For a moment the already strained atmosphere in the gloomy room threatens to become one of genuine hostility, but when Spencer abruptly sits back down, the fierce tension slowly eases. His voice quiet and level, he says, "All right. Let's look again at what we have. Eve, what can you tell us?"
She shrugs slightly. "Really not very much. I was only able to take a quick look, but everything I saw appeared… consistent… with what we know of Boyd's statement."
"'Consistent'?" Grace prompts. There's something about the unusual hesitancy in Eve's voice that draws her attention.
The younger woman looks very far from happy. She's almost scowling as she says, "Just how specific do you want me to be, Grace? He definitely had sex with her, okay?"
"There was… forensic evidence… to that effect?" Spencer questions, his voice still very calm, very professional.
Evidently deeply uncomfortable – a highly unusual phenomenon – Eve doesn't look at anyone as she replies, "According to the post mortem report, presence of semen was confirmed by both vaginal and oral swabs. Crime scene technicians found further traces on the living room sofa and in the bedroom. Actually, according to their report, Boyd's fingerprints and DNA are pretty much all over Erin's flat."
"Well, we know he admitted going back there and having sex with her," Stella says, glancing round as if for support. None is forthcoming.
"As I said," Eve continues, "the forensics seem to be entirely consistent with the statement he gave to Grant."
"And the cause of death was definitely asphyxiation due to manual strangulation?" Spencer inquires.
Eve nods. Her relief at moving on to a considerably less awkward topic is palpable. "Petechiae present in the skin, hyoid's fractured and there are contusions around her throat. An almost classic presentation."
It is Stella who cautiously asks, "So… could Boyd have done it?"
"I assume you mean physically? No question. Erin wasn't a big woman by any means and he's easily heavy enough and powerful enough to have held her down and throttled her." Eve pauses. "There's something else. When the FME examined Boyd, he found several fresh minor excoriations on his chest and shoulders."
Grace has been involved in more than enough violent crime investigations over the years to not only understand the terminology but also the possible implications. She looks straight at her colleague. "DNA…?"
"Textbook example of Locard's exchange principle, I'm afraid. At some point that night, Erin scratched him hard enough for the medical examiner to be able to find the evidence the next day."
-oOo-
"Just because she scratched him it doesn't mean he attacked her, though, does it?"
Seated behind her desk, Grace studies Spencer silently for a moment, noting his barely-contained antagonism, his unusual restlessness as he prowls her office. It's not difficult to understand – his relationship with Boyd is as complex and contradictory as hers in its own way. It's not really surprising that he doesn't seem to know what to think, what to do. Unconsciously, she leans forward slightly. "Are you asking me or telling me, Spence?"
"Either. Both." He briefly stops pacing. "Christ, Grace, I simply can't believe he would ever… but you've got to admit, the evidence doesn't exactly support his version of events, does it?"
"Which is why he needs us now more than ever." Grace sighs and rubs her temples. The lack of sleep and the high stress of the last couple of days are definitely catching up with her. "Look, you were there the other night; you saw the way she was flirting with him. We all did."
"Doesn't mean that when it came down to it…" His words trail away into silence.
"This is Boyd we're talking about." She takes a steadying breath, refusing to let herself get angry with him. Less brusquely, she continues, "Even if she took him home and then suddenly changed her mind – which I don't for one moment believe she did – we're not just talking about dubious issues of consent, are we? She was brutally murdered, Spence. Someone held her down and forcibly choked the life out of her. Tell me you really think Boyd is capable of doing something like that?"
He looks straight at her. "Man's got a temper on him, Grace, everyone knows that."
She's appalled. "Oh, come on…"
Spencer starts to pace again. "All I'm saying is that it really doesn't look good."
"We're approaching this the wrong way," she says abruptly. When Spencer glances round at her, Grace continues, "Instead of trying to prove that Boyd didn't do it, we need to try and prove that someone else did. If this was our case and Boyd wasn't involved, where would you look next for a suspect?"
"The boyfriend," Spencer replies promptly, "Mark Fuller. But we already know he has a cast-iron alibi. He was seen in Dagenham at around seven that morning by at least one reliable independent witness, and again by his landlady not long after eight. Erin's neighbours say they heard a disturbance in her flat just after seven, and you say you picked Boyd up on Haverstock Hill at eight. Even the damned timeline's against us, Grace."
She doesn't want to admit it, but Spencer's right. She shakes her head stubbornly. "So if it wasn't Boyd and it wasn't Fuller…"
"You're forgetting something."
"What?"
Spencer gazes at her steadily. "Forensics didn't turn up any other significant trace of male DNA. Not on Erin's body and not in her flat. I don't like it any more than you do, but it looks like a straightforward two-horse race, Grace."
"Then we need to check Fuller's alibi. See if it's really as cast-iron as Grant believes."
"You're clutching at straws," he tells her.
She stands up quickly, mounting anger making her movements jerky. "Then give me another explanation, Spence. One that doesn't involve Boyd, because even if he wasn't our friend and colleague, I'd still tell you that he simply doesn't profile for something like this."
"He's an angry man with poor impulse control – that makes him a pretty good suspect in my book."
Grace glares at him. "So now you're saying you think he did do it?"
Spencer's defensive reply is lost as Stella taps on the open office door's glass and almost immediately says, "Spence? The DAC's office just called. They want to see you at the Yard in an hour."
The news is hardly unexpected, but it only adds to Grace's ever-increasing sense of foreboding.
-oOo-