Линда Ла Плант - Unholy Murder

‘Looks like a dull day at Bromley just got exciting,’ Boon remarked as he hurried out of the room.

‘You’re right about DS Lawrence being good at his job,’ Pullen said. ‘I’ve met him a few times whilst assisting Prof Martin, who also rates him highly. Paul is a very nice man.’ She hesitated. ‘Do you know if he’s single?’

Jane wasn’t sure what to say as Lawrence had confided in her he was gay and lived with his boyfriend. ‘Paul’s not married, but he’s in a relationship with someone.’

‘Is it serious?’

‘As far as I know...’

Pullen sighed. ‘That’s a shame. I was thinking of asking him if he’d like to go for a drink sometime.’

A smug-looking PC Rogers was on the phone as Boon entered his office.

‘I’ve some new info for you about the—’

Rogers put his hand over the mouthpiece. ‘Can’t you see I’m speaking to the coroner?’ he growled, before resuming the conversation. ‘Yes, sir. I’ll write the death up as natural causes on my report and contact the Catholic archdiocesan office in Southwark so they can arrange a reburial of the nun.’

Rogers was about to put the phone down when Boon grabbed it from his hand.

‘Sir, it’s Detective Constable Boon from Bromley CID—’

Rogers reddened. ‘What do you think you’re doing!’

Boon ignored him. ‘Dr Pullen has found evidence that suggests the nun was alive in the coffin, which means she might have suffocated to death. DI Tennison would like your permission to treat the death as suspicious and also asked if Dr Pullen could carry out a full forensic post-mortem examination.’

As Boon informed the coroner of Pullen’s findings, Rogers’ face turned pale and he slumped back in his chair. Boon handed the phone to Rogers, whispering, ‘He wants a word with you... and he don’t sound happy.’

As Jane walked in, a glum-looking Rogers was putting his raincoat on. ‘I take it DC Boon has updated you?’

Rogers said nothing as he trudged out of the room and Jane looked to Boon for an explanation.

‘Coroner said he wanted to see him pronto in his office.’

‘I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes, but he’s only himself to blame. We OK for a full PM?’

‘Yeah, and he’s happy for Dr Pullen to do it as long as Prof Martin agrees. Shall I give him a call first then ask for a lab sergeant to attend?’

‘Yes, please, and I’ll update DI Stanley,’ Jane said, lifting the phone receiver on another desk.

‘Do you think he’ll form a murder squad?’ Boon asked.

Jane shrugged. ‘Depends on the outcome of the full post-mortem and X-rays.’

‘Surely the coroner will want further inquiries made to ascertain who she is and when she died,’ Boon suggested.

‘Yes, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be making them,’ Jane said.

‘Why not? We were assigned the investigation so surely we should continue it.’

‘I agree, but more senior officers may not. If there’s no other post-mortem evidence to justify a murder investigation the coroner may NFA the case, and return the body to the Church.’

‘I hope it is a murder,’ Boon said.

‘Well, don’t get your hopes up. Like I said, even if it is you may not be on the investigation.’

‘I know I’ve not been a DC long, but this would be a good case for me to gain more experience,’ Boon said, looking hopefully at Jane.

Jane remembered the excitement she had felt on her first murder investigation. ‘If they do form a squad, and I’m on it, I’ll recommend you be part of the team.’

His eyes lit up. ‘Thanks, sarge.’

Jane then rang DI Stanley.

‘We found the body of what appears to be a nun in the coffin...’

Stanley was quick to interrupt. ‘Well, no surprise there then.’ He sounded like he was in a bad temper. ‘Hand the case over to the coroner’s officer then get back here pronto. I need you to deal with an indecent assault allegation against a local councillor and take a statement from the victim.’

‘I’m sorry, but I’m tied up here at the mortuary,’ Jane told him. ‘The coroner wants the death treated as suspicious and a full post-mortem done.’

‘On what grounds?’ Stanley retorted.

‘The death may not have been from natural causes,’ Jane said, then recounted her observations and Dr Pullen’s comments.

‘She was buried alive? Bloody hell, I wasn’t expecting that. What about the body — any idea how long she’s been dead or who she is?’

‘No to both at present, but the Church might be able to help us. The full PM should tell us more about her age and when she died, and we might find something in the coffin to give us an indication of who she is.’

‘So, you haven’t started a full PM yet?’

‘No, we’re waiting for a lab sergeant to attend and Prof Martin’s permission for Dr Pullen to do the PM.’

‘I thought you said a pathologist was already there?’

‘Yes, but... she’s not quite fully qualified yet.’

‘Then her initial conclusions could be wrong.’

Jane was getting irritated by Stanley’s attitude. ‘She explained her suspicions to me and pointed out visual evidence to back it up. I think she’s right and the nun may have been murdered.’

‘You’re not a pathologist, Tennison... and Pullen is a rookie. Personally, I think it best if Prof Martin does the PM.’

She sighed. ‘You’re beginning to sound like PC Rogers.’

‘Who’s he?’

‘The coroner’s officer dealing with the case.’

‘Oh, so he agrees with me?’

Jane waved her hand at Boon who was still on the phone. ‘Have you spoken to Prof Martin yet about Dr Pullen doing the PM?’ she whispered.

Boon nodded as he put the phone down. ‘Yep, he’s happy for Doc Pullen to do the PM and said to ring him if she needed his assistance or advice. DS Lawrence is already working on a murder in North London, so another lab sergeant will be allocated this case and be with us shortly.’

Jane smiled and did a thumbs-up. ‘Prof Martin is happy for Dr Pullen to...’

‘I heard what Boon said,’ Stanley interrupted.

Jane smiled. ‘Well, the Prof obviously has faith in her ability and judgement... unlike some people.’

‘I’ll be with you in half an hour. Don’t start the PM without me,’ he added and banged the phone down.

While Boon went to the hospital canteen to get a sandwich, Jane looked in the Yellow Pages for Father Floridia’s phone number and called to update him about the discovery of the body, but there was no answer. She was about to return to the mortuary examination room when Pullen walked in. Jane told her that the coroner wanted a full post-mortem and Professor Martin was happy for her to do it, and if she needed his assistance to call him.

‘Thanks, Jane,’ she replied nervously.

‘You don’t look pleased.’

‘I know it sounds silly,’ Pullen sighed, ‘but I feel like a schoolkid about to do my first recorder solo on stage.’

Jane smiled. ‘You’ll be fine. Believe me, Prof Martin wouldn’t let you go solo if he didn’t think you were up to it. Plus the audience will be much smaller.’ Jane added, ‘Are you going to do the X-rays in the hospital radiography department?’

Pullen shook her head. ‘For health reasons they won’t let me, due to the state of the body. But it turns out they have a mobile X-ray machine on site and the radiographer is doing them as we speak. I had a quick look in the nether regions of the body and can definitely say it’s a female. I also measured her height and she’s only five foot two.’

Jane frowned. ‘That’s a small body for a big coffin.’

Pullen nodded. ‘The coffin is just over seven feet long.’