‘I think so. Each seems to be indicating a number from one through to six. Look – one rock, two boulders, three keystones, four stone slabs, five stepping stones and six flagstones on the bridge.’
‘They’re stunning,’ Emma said. ‘I wonder why she didn’t paint them in oil, you know, larger canvases; they’d be worth a fortune.’
‘More importantly, I want you to get your heads together and consider why she would have concealed them. Why are they so important to her? Is there a pattern to these numbers?’
Everybody took a minute to scribble notes.
‘Which brings me to the fact we’ve got to release her name to the press. It’ll cause a stir in the art world and I would imagine a media frenzy, given her reputation.’
Kelly clicked a few more keys and several articles on Angelina Robbins flashed up. In art circles, Angelina was a celebrity.
‘The DNA results are back and the coroner told me this morning that Jamie and Angelina shared 50 per cent familial DNA. They’re siblings from the same parents and the coroner is satisfied that this gives us official ID for Angelina. We did consider asking somebody from Hampton-Dent to ID her but we decided against it given our inquiries around Jamie.’
‘What about dentals, boss?’ Dan asked.
‘Yep, they’ve been sent off for confirmation.’ Kelly took a deep breath. ‘Kate, did you call Tommy?’
‘I did. He doesn’t recall ever seeing anybody after seven o’clock on Friday the eleventh but he was told by a member of staff that she told him she heard voices from room 13 on the Saturday morning.’
‘Emma, do you have the blood results?’
‘Yes, guv. There are two profiles. Angelina’s blood is a match for the stains in the bathroom, the pooling in the shower, the lamp stand, and the bed sheets. There is a second profile, and it doesn’t match anyone on our database, but it is male. It’s not a match for Jamie either; it’s not familial.’
‘Fin?’ Kelly asked.
‘Initial reports from the lab which is testing the prints from Jamie Robbins’ room tell us that the footprint we got from the bathroom in Angelina’s room matches the one left in mud in Jamie’s room. Again, they weren’t Jamie’s. They were too big. Size eleven. They’re assessing it now, but they did tell me that first impressions have it as a CAT boot.’
‘On a side to that, do either of the prints have any workable DNA in them, placing the wearer there at the time of the attack on Angelina or in Jamie’s room?’
‘Yes. The one at Angelina’s does. There was blood splatter disturbed by the shoe, so that proves the wearer was there before and after the time of the attack.’
‘So the CAT boot is solid. That’s our first concrete lead. Let’s get up the footage from the Heron Hall scene.’
They watched as the video played back and forth and they all studied the feet of those in the video carefully.
‘No CAT boots. I was looking at Mercedes man,’ Kelly said.
‘OK. Next, DNA samples. Our hands are tied on this. Hampton-Dent won’t authorise blanket DNA samples of itsstaff. It’s a dead end. To get them we need warrants or at least something to convince the US Embassy with and that’s not happening today.
The VIPs have moved to an exclusive stately home owned by the company, here.’
Kelly brought up a website on Dow Bank House.
Dan whistled.
Kate said, ‘Fuck me.’
‘At the moment I’ve got no reason to go over there to justify an interview, but I received a call from Doctor Sandy Cooper on Thursday which I returned. I thought she had further information for me but it was a strange general fishing exercise for knowledge. She talked about damage limitation to the company as if Jamie’s death was an inconvenience. She really pissed me off. Anyway, I started to ask her about this stuff.’
Kelly tapped a key and an information document came up about Neurohydroxy-14.
‘Dan, you were right, it is a biohazard but it depends how it’s used. Sandy Cooper explained the difference to me. To be fair, it was all nonsense to me, but it must be more important than they’re letting on because she denied it was inYouthBlastat first. Why would she say that if it wasn’t important? She’s covering for something. Fin, can you get on to the lab about Skippy the squirrel ASAP?’
‘Yes, boss.’
‘Dan? The suitcase found in the walls of room 13.’
‘I’m making my way through the scientific papers. There’s lots of information about clinical trials, additives, American food standards law and lots of recognisable names; however, I admit, I haven’t pinned them together with anything obvious yet. And so far no mention of Neuro-whatsit-14; can we please call it N-14 from now on?’
