Page 4 of Her Deadly Promise

Gina nodded. ‘See you in a few minutes.’

Wyre stood in the doorway, waiting to head out. ‘We best go.’

‘I’ll meet you by the car. I just need a second.’

Wyre nodded and Gina listened to her colleague’s footsteps tapping down the corridor. She pulled her window closed as she imagined the tiny boy sitting outside, waiting for his mother to call him in while she was being brutally murdered. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she headed out of her office. Who could kill a young mother like that, and while her young child was so close? Her heart skipped at the thought of entering the scene and seeing such horror and all she could think about was that poor little boy. She was going to catch the murderer and bring them to justice.

THREE

Silence filled the car as they took the turning into Church Road with its terraced houses on both sides. Gina pulled up behind O’Connor’s car, just making it before an outpouring of work traffic began to fill the roads. She spotted the forensics van with its back doors open. Bernard Small, their gangly Crime Scene Manager took large strides while holding his toolbox and evidence kits. He’d tucked his long, grey beard into a beard cover. PC Jhanvi Kapoor stood guard at the open garden gate with the crime scene log, checking in everyone who passed the threshold and PC Smith was positioned outside another house a little further down.

Gina took a deep breath knowing that the best thing she could do for their victim was to find her killer. Her heart sank for the little boy that had been left behind. She stepped out, the heat and exhaust fumes hitting her instantly. Cars began to slow down in the road, their passengers and drivers rubbernecking, causing a queue of traffic. Horns beeped as people inched past. Wyre hurried past the outer cordon that was tied from lamp post to lamp post and met Gina at the gate.

‘Alright, guv. I’ll get you logged in.’ PC Kapoor began to scribble their details on the log sheet, then she passed Gina and Wyre a forensics suit, hair covers, gloves, masks and booties.

Gina waved PC Smith over and he ran across. ‘Is that where Mrs Pearlman lives?’

‘Yes, I’ve just left her and the boy. The woman is in a state of shock. There’s a paramedic with her now so I’d give it a few minutes. Her husband has put some cartoons on for the lad.’

‘Have you managed to speak to her?’

‘No, not yet. She wasn’t up to talking when I walked her into her house. It’s not every day you see a woman lying dead and bleeding out.’

‘And it’s something we never get used to. Poor Mrs Pearlman. I’ll wait for the paramedics to finish with her before heading over. It’ll give me a chance to speak to Bernard. Can you get this traffic flowing?’

He nodded. ‘Yes, we could do without this chaos. They’re only slowing down to nose. I’ve already waved two cars on because they stopped to take photos. It’s probably all over social media by now and we haven’t even managed to speak to the relatives yet. I’ll keep telling them all to move on.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I wonder if we can go around the back yet.’ Wyre peered up the alleyway.

PC Kapoor stepped forward. ‘Bernard said he’ll be out the front in a few minutes. They’ve got the stepping plates down, but his team are just videoing and photographing the scene. Apparently, it’s tight and messy in there. They are also working with officers to secure the back garden and the path that runs alongside the back of the house. Another couple of officers are there, blocking it off as a walkthrough.’

Gina hated the wait. She wanted everything Bernard had and as soon as possible. Then she could start looking for whoever did this. ‘Do we know anything about Billie Reeves?’

‘No, guv. Only that she lived alone with her son.’ Kapoor pressed her lips together.

Gina turned to the alleyway as she heard clunking on the stepping plates and Bernard came out. ‘You can come through to the back garden but not go in the house yet. We still have so much to do and there’s no room for anything or anyone.’

Wyre nodded and they both followed Bernard. Gina enjoyed the cool alleyway even though the stench made her stomach roll. As they came out into the back garden, she peered around, taking in the old breeze-block shed. A shell-shaped sandpit filled the small patio beside the kitchen window and the back fence looked rickety, like it had been patched up by several different types of wood. The yellowy-brown patches of grass looked like they were crying out for water. One thing stood out, the ground was so hard there probably wouldn’t be much, if anything, in the way of footprints.

‘Step on this.’ Bernard pointed to the large plate under the window. Wyre and Gina joined him.

‘What can you tell us?’ Gina clunked back on the plate with one foot.

‘Victim is a woman, aged mid- to late-twenties. One single stab wound to the neck.’

‘Murder weapon?’

‘Not at the scene. The blood spatter and volume tell us that she was stabbed in that spot. She fell to the floor and bled out. It’s bloody and tight in there, which is why we can’t allow anyone but our specialist team in at the moment. The crime scene photos won’t take long to get uploaded and sent so you’ll be able to work from them for the time being. When we’re done, you’ll be able to search the house.’

‘So, we can’t go in at all?’

‘Not yet. There’s too much for us to process and I don’t want the scene tampered with at all. You’ll see what I mean when you look inside.’

‘Any sign of further assault or sexual assault?’

Wyre began jotting down some notes.

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