Take Two (A psychological thriller)

There was a gaping wound in the victim’s throat and a large pool of congealed blood around his head.

 ‘Time of death?’ asked Biddulph.

The technician frowned. ‘Do you mind talking to my boss? He’s in the kitchen. He’s senior to me and he gets a bit tetchy if I do the talking. Sorry.’

‘I know exactly what you mean,’ said Marriott.

Biddulph and Marriott headed down the hallway to the kitchen. ‘What did you mean by that?’ asked Biddulph.

‘I was joking,’ said Marriott.

‘You’re sure?’

Marriott nodded. ‘I’m sure.’

A SOCO technician in white overalls was picking up pieces of glass with a pair of tweezers and putting them in a clear evidence bag. He was a short man, almost as wide as he was tall, with a greasy comb-over.  Biddulph recognised him. John Yates, a SOCO veteran of more than thirty years. Yates  grinned when he saw Biddulph. ‘Hello, Mark. Not often I see you outside of office hours.’ He straightened up and nodded at Marriott. ‘How’s it going, Kim?’

‘I could have done without a Thursday night murder, that’s for sure,’ said Marriott.

‘I think you’ll find it was a morning murder,’ said Yates. ‘Time of death probably eleven, maybe twelve. Knife wound to the throat. Left to right so the killer’s right-handed.’

‘From behind? Left to right?’

‘That’s what it looks like. Something wrong with that?’

‘Burglars don’t tend to cut throats from behind, do they? They tend to stab or slash.’

‘Burglars tend to just run when they’re disturbed,’ said Yates. ‘They only get violent if their escape route is blocked.’

‘He definitely died in the front room?’

‘That’s where the blood is.’

‘No sign of the knife?’

Yates shook his head. ‘Probably took it with him.’

‘Probably brought it with him is more to the point,’ said Biddulph. He smiled thinly. ‘No pun intended.’

‘What pun?’ asked Yates.

‘Knife. Point.’

‘That’s not really a pun,’ said Yates. ‘More of a juxtaposition of bladed terms.’

Biddulph looked over at Marriott but she raised her hands. ‘Don’t involve me,’ she said. ‘I’m still trying to work out what’s funny about Little Britain.’

Biddulph walked over to a knife block. There were slots for four knives and all the knives were in place.  He pulled open a drawer and looked down at a breadknife and a large carving knife.

‘Something wrong?’ asked Marriott.

Biddulph sighed.  ‘I don’t know.’ He closed the drawer and walked back to the sitting room. Marriott followed him.  The uniformed sergeant had gone, probably pleased to have washed his hands of the crime scene.

They stood at the body’s feet. Biddulph pointed at the pool of dried blood around the head. ‘He died in this room, that’s for sure. But, like John said, burglars usually only attack when they’re trapped. The first thing a professional housebreaker does is make sure he’s got an avenue of escape. He’ll unlock a door, open a window, he’ll have some way of making a quick exit. And at the first sign they’ve been rumbled, they’re off.’

‘Unless they’re high on drugs.’

‘This happened in the morning and most druggies don’t get up before midday.’

Biddulph walked around the room and went to stand at the head of the body, with his back to the window.  ‘The victim was in this room. The burglar broke in through the kitchen. So how does the killing happen here?’

‘Dunbar doesn’t hear the burglar break in. Maybe he’s out at the shops. The burglar is in here. Dunbar comes home. Walks in here and the burglar is trapped.’

Biddulph nodded. ‘Nice,’ he said.

‘You think that’s what happened?’

‘No. But it’s a nice theory.’

‘So where am I wrong?’

‘I’m not saying you’re wrong. I just think it’s unlikely. There’s nowhere in here to hide so I don’t see the burglar can have come up behind him.’

‘Behind the door? Then he grabs Dunbar from behind. Cuts his throat. Then turns as he struggles and dies.’

Biddulph smiled. ‘You really like the disturbed burglar theory, don’t you?’

‘Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one. That’s what you always tell me.’

‘Yes. And usually I’m right. But Dunbar worked from home. Any burglar worth his salt would have known that and moved on to easier pickings.’ He held up a hand. ‘And before you say that the burglar could have waited until Dunbar left the house, he was wearing slippers and no coat and no sign he’d brought anything in from the shops.’

‘The burglar could have been drugged up? Not thinking clearly.’

‘Clear enough to kill with one cut?  The average druggie tends to lash out a bit more. And other than the broken window, it’s all a bit clean and clinical, don’t you think?’

‘I suppose so,’ said Marriott. ‘Where does that leave us?’

‘With a dead body and a broken window,’ said Biddulph. ‘You might be right. It might be an opportunistic druggie who lost the plot, but let’s have a good look around, shall we?’

CHAPTER 53