A collection of photographs from the crime scene was doing the rounds along with a preliminary post-mortem report. Rachel realized the DCI had gone straight from the crime scene to the post-mortem and she had probably worked all night collating this while they had trotted off home. Now seven a.m. and her ladyship was sparky, her face a bit pale maybe but her eyes shining as she got into her stride.
‘Lisa Finn,’ the DCI said, ‘seventeen years old, looked-after child until this April. Lisa is known to our Community colleagues for drug abuse and shoplifting. Cautions. Boyfriend Sean rang us at five past four to report the death, found Lisa on the living-room floor at the flat. Last saw her around ten the same morning, Monday thirteenth December. Cause of death is haemorrhage due to a stab wound to the chest. Defensive mark on the left wrist. Slight abrasions at the back of the neck. Not fingerprints, according to Ranjeet, something thin. The skin wasn’t broken, so it may not have any significance.’
‘A necklace?’ Janet said, peering at the mark in the photographs.
‘Possibly. Though it might simply be localized irritation – she was wearing something that rubbed at her neck, or she was slightly allergic.’ Gill now looked to Lee. ‘Was there a necklace at the scene?’ Lee would be the exhibits officer, responsible for ensuring the chain of custody for the whole case.
‘Some jewellery in the bedroom drawer, nothing in the living room,’ he said.
‘We also have a drop of blood here’ – she indicated the ground plan of the flat – ‘halfway to the kitchen, and another just inside the kitchen door.’
‘The killer moved into the kitchen holding the knife – and what, washed it?’ said Janet.
‘No traces in the sink,’ Gill replied. ‘Post-mortem shows signs of recent sexual activity, a forensic test found traces of lubricant from a condom.’
‘Rape?’ asked Janet.
‘We don’t know. Some bruising, could just be rough sex. No condom at the scene.’
So he flushed it or took it. Either way, it made things harder. Rachel knew that from Sex Crimes.
‘DNA swabs from the body are with the lab.’
‘In that case we can all go home till Christmas,’ Pete said, and everyone laughed. The lab took a while to process stuff. Fingerprints could be done with fingerprint-recognition software by the officers themselves. And blood groups were pretty quick to get a label on, but all the other biological gubbins took a day or two at best.
