Page 6 of The Truth Will Out
“It wouldn’t be YouTube, but I get your drift. Are we done here? Do you need to ask any further questions?” Des asked. “If not, I want to get this chap back to the lab as soon as possible.”
“Will it be all right if we continue our search outside, in the hallway?” Sam asked.
“Feel free. And before you ask, I’ll get the results back to you as soon as I can.”
Sam smiled. “Thanks, Des. I don’t care what the other officers say about you.”
He glared at her and tilted his head. “I think you and I need to have a quiet chat later.”
Sam laughed. “I was joking. Just winding you up.”
Des jabbed a thumb in Bob’s direction. “That’s usually your partner’s job.”
“Hey, you two, leave me out of this.”
Sam smiled and pushed Bob out of the room. “Come on, let’s see what we can find out here. Any idea how they got in?”
“I’m presuming through one of the boarded-up windows. It looks like it has been removed and then replaced to me. This one here.” He pointed to the large board on the right-hand side of the reception area.
“How can you tell?”
He puffed out his chest and announced proudly, “Footprints beneath it, a few drops of blood, and some of the screws are missing.”
“Wow, go you. When did you work that out?”
“I told him,” one of the techs said from behind her.
Sam laughed. “I thought it was too good to be true.”
Bob grinned. “Go on, admit it, you were super impressed for a millisecond, weren’t you?”
“Pass, ask me another,” Sam retorted. She should have known better than to expect Bob to come up with anything half-plausible at a crime scene.Stop it, you’re being too harsh on him.She examined the area as her mind raced. “The intent was clear. The murderer chose this place for a reason. Until we find out why that was…”
“Yeah, don’t bother finishing off that sentence.”
She searched the rest of the area and the other rooms available on that level. Finding nothing of any use, she and Bob ascended the stairs.
“Shit, it stinks up here.”
Sam withdrew a mask from her pocket. It did little to block out the disgusting smell. Bob went ahead of her.
He pushed open a few of the doors and tentatively stuck his head into each of the rooms. “Fuck, don’t go in there. I think I’ve found the source of the smell.”
Sam had no intention of finding out what he was talking about. She backed up, and they descended the stairs together.
“Overflowing toilets are stomach churners.”
“Too much information. Thanks for that! Yet another unwanted image for me to deal with during the rest of the day.”
He grinned an apology. “You’re welcome. That might explain the mould in the room where the body was located.”
“That makes sense. Right, there’s nothing else for us to do here. We’d better break the news to Mrs Morgan before the press get wind about what’s gone on here.”
“I agree. Can I meet Tilly first?”
Sam nipped back to the crime scene and said farewell to Des. “We’re off. Ta-ta for now.”
“Hope all goes well with the wife.”
