Ken McClure - Eye of the raven

‘ Black, no sugar,’ said Steven.

McClintock left the office and returned a few moments later, holding two plastic cups by the rims with the tips of his fingers. ‘I couldn’t believe it when Santini told me about the samples this morning,’ he said to Steven as he handed him his coffee. ‘You must be thinking we’re a right bunch of hicks up here.’

‘ If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that there’s no such thing as a completely efficient organisation and the bigger an outfit is, the less likely that becomes,’ said Steven. ‘Scratch the surface and you’ll find the flaws. ‘Doesn’t matter if it’s a hospital or a bank, the police force or the army, they’ve all got things to hide and usually plenty of staff only too willing to do the hiding.’

‘ A cynic after my own heart,’ said McClintock ruefully.

‘ Realist,’ said Steven.

‘ It’s still bloody embarrassing,’ said McClintock.

‘ It’s a damned good thing you got the DNA match.’

‘ Bloody right.’

McClintock’s sergeant knocked and came in carrying a cardboard file holder. ‘The chief super said to give you this,’ he said. ‘It’s the MO’s report on the prisoner, Little.’

Steven nodded his thanks as the phone started to ring. He heard McClintock say, ‘Right, we’re on our way.’

McClintock dropped the phone in its cradle and said to Steven, ‘Forensics have come up with the log.’

As they drove over to the lab, Steven asked, ‘Any idea what happened to your Doctor Lee when he left?’

‘ Last I heard was that he and his wife had sold up and bought a cottage somewhere up on Speyside. Makes perfect sense I suppose,’ said McClintock.

‘ How so?’

‘ It’s distillery country,’ replied McClintock.

‘ And the others?’

‘ George Chisholm moved to the south of Spain; spends his time playing golf with former clients I shouldn’t wonder. Bill Currie became a security consultant with a big insurance company in Glasgow. Twice the pay for half the effort they tell me. I’ve no idea what happened to Hutton. Why?’

‘ Just wondered,’ said Steven.

They arrived at the lab and McClintock showed his warrant card when asked to do so. Steven did the same.

‘ Dr McDougal is expecting you,’ said the white-coated woman who had been detailed to escort them. Steven recognised the smell of medical labs the world over, a mixture of chemical solvents and air that had been heated by Bunsen burners, the ever-present hint of something vaguely unpleasant in the air but not enough to permit precise identification. He looked through the glass windows on one side of the corridor as they moved along and counted half a dozen white-coated workers sitting on stools at lab benches. It made him wonder about perception and reality. Forensic science was perceived by the public as being a glamorous occupation. The reality was analysing vomit and poking about in other people’s dirty underwear. What did the workers see, he wondered, the glamour or the reality? He noted three high quality Leitz microscopes, a couple of Perkin Elmer spectrophotometers and a wide range of Hybaid DNA sequencing apparatus: the lab was well equipped.

McDougal turned out to be a serious-looking man in his early forties. He was balding at the front and wore spectacles with unfashionably large frames, which when worn on a pear shaped face that almost narrowed to a point at his chin, gave him the appearance of a large insect. He smiled however and got up to hold out his hand when Steven was introduced. ‘I’m hugely embarrassed at not being able to comply with your request,’ he said. ‘But my predecessor… well, let’s just say that things could only get better.’

‘ I appreciate the problems were before your time,’ Steven assured him.

‘ This is the scene of crime forensics log that you wanted to see,’ said McDougal, handing over a large manila envelope.

‘ May I hang on to this?’ Steven asked him.

‘ Of course, it’s your copy. Is there anything else I can do to help?’

Steven was pleased to see that McDougal’s desire to help seemed genuine. ‘Are any of the forensic team who worked on the Julie Summers murder under Dr Lee still on the staff?’ he asked.

McDougal thought for a moment before saying, ‘To be honest, there was a bit of a radical shake-up in the lab after Dr Lee’s departure. Quite a few people left for pastures new. I think maybe Carol Bain is the only one left from that time.’

‘ Do you think I could have a word with her?’

‘ Of course,’ replied McDougal. ‘Just give me a moment.’ He left the room and McClintock got up and said, ‘I’ll wait outside in the car.’

Steven nodded his appreciation. He was considering opening the manila envelope in the interim when McDougal arrived back with Carol Bain.

Steven’s first impression was that there was a woman like Carol Bain in every lab he’d ever known. His guess was that she had been there for over twenty years, did everything by the book and gave unswerving loyalty to whoever was in charge. He’d put money on her not being married and possibly still living with her mother — with whom she went on holiday with to the same resort and same hotel every year.

Carol Bain gave Steven a cautious smile and sat down opposite, taking practised care to keep her knees together and turned slightly to the side. She kept her back straight and clasped her hands together in her lap. Her greying hair was swept back and held in a bun; a cameo brooch secured the collar of her high blouse collar.

‘ Carol has been with the service for, what is it now Carol? Twenty-three, twenty-four years?’ said McDougal.

‘ Twenty-three,’ smiled Carol.

‘ And no time off for good behaviour,’ said McDougal.

Carol looked down and smiled wanly as if she’d heard the joke many times before.

‘ Well, I’ll leave you two to talk,’ said McDougal. ‘Let me know when Dr Dunbar is ready to leave, will you Carol?’

‘ I understand that you’re the only member of staff left from the team who worked on the Julie Summers murder, Miss… Mrs Bain?’ said Steven.’

‘ Miss,’ said Carol. ‘I suppose that’s right,’ agreed Carol. ‘Dr Lee retired after the case, John moved on to pastures new and Samantha decided that lab work wasn’t really for her — she was the most junior member of the team: she’d only been with us a few months.’

‘ Did you actually attend the scene of the crime yourself?’ asked Steven.

Carol Bain shook her head. ‘No, it was just John and Dr Lee as far as I remember.’

‘ John?’

‘ John Merton, the senior scientific officer on the team at the time.’

‘ Did you personally deal with Julie Summers’ body?’

‘ No, there was no reason to, I worked on the lab samples that John and Dr Lee brought in.’

‘ Can you remember which particular aspect you worked on?’

‘ Of course, the semen recovered from the body. Recovery of the DNA was our top priority. It always is in rape cases.’

‘ Couldn’t have been easy,’ said Steven. ‘I read that an attempt had been made to clean her up.’

‘ I don’t remember that being a problem,’ said Carol. ‘There was certainly enough material for our purpose. You don’t need much.’

‘ You actually did the DNA sequencing?’ Steven asked

‘ John and I both did it. We didn’t have an automatic sequencer at the time. We did it manually and independently of each other, pouring our own acrylamide gels and doing everything the hard way. Nowadays we have a machine.’

‘ Why did you both do it?’

‘ It was a sensible precaution. DNA sequencing could be a bit iffy in those days. Gels could leak; bands could run together, smudging often occurred. As it turned out, we both got reasonably clean gels with identical banding so there was no doubt.’