Chris Simms - Shifting Skin

Здесь есть возможность читать онлайн «Chris Simms - Shifting Skin» весь текст электронной книги совершенно бесплатно (целиком полную версию без сокращений). В некоторых случаях можно слушать аудио, скачать через торрент в формате fb2 и присутствует краткое содержание. Год выпуска: 2014, Издательство: Richmond ePublishing, Жанр: Полицейский детектив, на английском языке. Описание произведения, (предисловие) а так же отзывы посетителей доступны на портале библиотеки ЛибКат.

Shifting Skin: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация

Предлагаем к чтению аннотацию, описание, краткое содержание или предисловие (зависит от того, что написал сам автор книги «Shifting Skin»). Если вы не нашли необходимую информацию о книге — напишите в комментариях, мы постараемся отыскать её.

Shifting Skin — читать онлайн бесплатно полную книгу (весь текст) целиком

Ниже представлен текст книги, разбитый по страницам. Система сохранения места последней прочитанной страницы, позволяет с удобством читать онлайн бесплатно книгу «Shifting Skin», без необходимости каждый раз заново искать на чём Вы остановились. Поставьте закладку, и сможете в любой момент перейти на страницу, на которой закончили чтение.

Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

‘And I found this.’ Fiona patted her pockets and pulled out a slightly crumpled business card. ‘It was under the bed.’

‘Under which bed?’

‘The one in the next room. Number nine. The door hadn’t shut properly. I looked around it this morning.’

‘And?’

‘And it was spotless. The bed looked like no one had slept in it. The bathroom was immaculate. Everything had been wiped clean — to destroy evidence, I suppose. This was the only thing there. Oh, and the spare blanket was missing, too.’

The card was still in her outstretched hand, shaking slightly. Jon looked at it. It could have been lying there for days. ‘Fiona, you were attacked by your husband last night. You mentioned you had quite a bit of brandy with the night receptionist-’

‘Don’t say I imagined it!’ she hissed.

‘I’m not. I’m certain you heard something. But this motel

— it’s used on an hourly basis by prostitutes and their clients. All sorts are going on. Doors banging, people coming and going right through the night.’

‘I heard what I heard.’ The card was thrust defiantly towards him.

Reluctantly Jon took it, read the printed writing then flipped it over.

Fiona jabbed a finger at the scrawled biro. ‘I tried her number. A man answered. He hung up on me and when I tried again the number had gone dead.’

Jon raised an eyebrow.

‘Go on. Try it yourself.’

As he took his mobile out he got a surreptitious look at his watch. This was taking up too much time. He rang the number. It went through to a number unavailable announcement.

‘See?’ Fiona insisted. Her voice was beginning to grate. ‘He’s stolen her stuff. The phone’s probably been shoved down some drain by now.’

‘OK.’ Jon got ready to stand up. ‘This Platinum Inn. I’ll stop by and ask some questions, I’ll speak to Cheshire Consorts and I’ll check who this mobile number is registered to.’

Fiona relaxed a little. ‘Thank you.’

‘I’ve really got to go. I’ll call you. Have you got a mobile?’ She gave him her number.

*

When he walked into the incident room on the top floor of Longsight station, a new buzz was in the air.

Rick was at his desk, a couple of other officers complimenting him on spotting the glove. Jon saw the look of pleasure on his face, the easy way he was taking credit for the find. You’ll go far in this job, he thought.

As he got to their desks Rick finally saw him. ‘It was blood on that glove.’

Jon sat down. ‘That’s great news. Anything on who the girl is?’

‘No. She’s been fingerprinted and a DNA sample’s been taken. All missing reports for young female adults are being checked now, and word’s gone out to the neighbouring forces to do the same.’

‘Door-to-door around Belle Vue?’

‘As we speak.’

The other two officers moved off and Rick quietly said,

‘McCloughlin announced that I’d found the glove to the whole room. It’s been a good way of meeting everyone.’

That surprised Jon, and he thought that maybe there was no link between Rick and McCloughlin. But then he realised Rick could easily have told McCloughlin the true story and the announcement to the incident room could be just McCloughlin keeping up the pretence. ‘What about that footprint?’

‘The CSM — what was her name?’

‘Nikki Kingston,’ Jon replied, slightly irritated at the defensive note in his voice.

‘Apparently, she shoved a bucket over it and sent for a casting kit.’

Jon grinned in admiration of her efficiency.

‘But the best is yet to come,’ Rick carried on.

‘Go on.’

‘The glove. She’s testing it for fingerprints, something about amino acid deposits in sweat showing up on latex. If whoever dropped that glove is on NAFIS, we could have his name and address in a few hours.’

Jon looked around. ‘No wonder everyone’s looking so happy.’

Rick stood up. ‘I’m desperate for a leak.’

Jon waited until Rick had gone out, then picked up the phone and dialled Nikki’s number. ‘Nikki, it’s Jon. This glove.’

‘Bloody hell, Jon. Anyone else and I’d tell them to call back later. It’s right in front of me. We’ve already lifted a partial from the wrist where he gripped it to pull it on.’

‘Enough for a match?’

‘No. But there should be others — on the inside at the fingertips, for instance. If he wasn’t wearing them long enough to get them all smudged, they could prove useful.’

‘Great. Listen, can you tell me who made the glove? Can you see the word “Mediquip” on it?’

‘Hang on. There’s something on the back.’ Her words were drawn out and Jon could tell she was squinting, face inches from the glove. ‘Yes. It says “Size 8” and “Mediquip Inc”. Good news?’

‘Could well be,’ Jon replied, trying to suppress the excitement in his voice. He placed the bag with Pete Gray’s cup in on the desk. ‘Last thing, Nikki,’ he said, lowering his voice. ‘Can you run a couple of tests on a cup for me? Fingerprints and, hopefully, saliva for DNA.’

‘Are you taking the piss?’

‘I don’t mean straight away,’ he protested. ‘Just when you get the chance.’

She sighed. ‘You owe me. Big time. Where’s it come from, anyway?’

‘A suspect left it behind at an interview.’

‘So this is an unofficial test?’

‘Yeah.’ Jon smiled. ‘If it links him to what I’m hoping, we’ll pull him in on something else and then run a DNA mouth swab in line with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.’ Seeing Rick coming back in, he quickly hid the cup in his drawer. ‘Right, I’ll leave you to it.’

‘Sure there’s nothing else?’ she said sarcastically.

‘No, that’ll do for the moment. Cheers.’ He hung up as Rick sat down. ‘I’ve just spoken to the CSM. The glove you found at the crime scene was made by a company called Mediquip.’

Rick raised a finger. ‘Same as the ones Pete Gray was wheeling to the surgical ward.’

Jon winked. ‘Have a check on the PNC, see if he’s got any priors. I’ll see what the internet has on Mediquip.’

Less than a minute later, Jon was reading out the company’s home page in an American accent. ‘Mediquip is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of latex and vinyl gloves for surgical and medical use. Our factory employs the very latest quality control standards in order to produce a range of gloves recognised across the globe for their reliability.’ A row of thumbnail-sized photos popped up across the the screen. ‘Powder-free vinyl. PE gloves for industrial use. Powder-free in natural colour. Latex surgical sterilised by EO gas. Copolymer sterile latex. Pre-powdered nitrile examination.’ He scanned the column on the left of the screen. ‘Here we go: suppliers.’ He keyed ‘United Kingdom’ into the search field. Four names came up, one based in Manchester: Protex Ltd, Unit 15, Europa Business Park, Denton.

Rick’s eyes were on his own screen. ‘Pete Gray. Cautioned for sexual harassment back in eighty-nine. Was going to court, but charges were dropped by his then wife, Helen Gray. There’s an addendum to contact the Domestic Violence Unit for more information.’

He called the unit and got them to pull their intelligence file on Pete Gray. There were two other incidents involving violence towards females, one in 1993 and another in 1999. Neither had resulted in a caution or conviction.

‘So he’s not had his DNA added to the national database,’ Rick announced, hanging up the phone.

‘Looks like he has an attitude problem with the ladies, though,’ Jon replied, printing off the contact details for Protex. ‘OK. I think it’s time for a word with McCloughlin.’

Читать дальше
Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

Похожие книги на «Shifting Skin»

Представляем Вашему вниманию похожие книги на «Shifting Skin» списком для выбора. Мы отобрали схожую по названию и смыслу литературу в надежде предоставить читателям больше вариантов отыскать новые, интересные, ещё непрочитанные произведения.


Отзывы о книге «Shifting Skin»

Обсуждение, отзывы о книге «Shifting Skin» и просто собственные мнения читателей. Оставьте ваши комментарии, напишите, что Вы думаете о произведении, его смысле или главных героях. Укажите что конкретно понравилось, а что нет, и почему Вы так считаете.

x