The Cedar Face: DI Jewell book 3 (DI Elizabeth Jewell) (18 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY

Jessica Oakley pushed back her hair and rubbed her
sleeve across her brow to stop the sweat running into
her eyes. Four o' clock in the afternoon and the
temperature had peaked at eighty degrees.

'Far too hot,' she
grumbled and moved over to the portable air conditioning unit
. The laboratory needed a proper system, not this makeshift machine
with a hose stuck out the window.

She'd looked
through the microscope four times, double checking the result. It
had to be correct and that meant she'd missed
a crucial piece of evidence. Thank God Grayson hadn't
witnessed her mistake or he'd have gone ballistic. For
all she found him difficult at times, right now she
wished he was here. She pulled off her gloves and
pushed open the double doors. Graham, the new lab assistant
was lounging across her desk reading a Formula One magazine
. 'You wouldn't dare sit on your arse if Grayson
was here,' she said.

Graham jumped to his feet and
blushed. 'You didn't tell me what to get on
with.'

'If you want to keep your job I suggest
you use your initiative. There's plenty to do and
I'm knackered.'

'I'll make you a coffee if
you like,' he offered.

Although Jessica felt furious with herself
, taking it out on Graham was unfair. Everyone had to
start somewhere and he needed her support not criticism. Her
tired brain couldn't even decide whether to have tea
or coffee.

'Do you like it strong?' Graham said.

'Go
easy on the strength, I don't want palpitations.'

'Right
boss,' he said and shuffled off to the cupboard-sized
space they used to make drinks.

Jessica flopped down onto
a chair and propped her aching feet on another one
. She estimated it would take at least three hours to
split the sample and prepare the slides. It was imperative
she kept one test result in a safe place before
handing over the others to a commercial forensic testing laboratory
in Bristol. The tests would involve chemical analysis and determining
the elemental constituents of the material and matching it to
a specific metal. Processing the samples single-handed would take
ages. Graham was still relatively inexperienced, but she would have
to make use of him. She checked the time. Depending
on how they got on, she could send him out
for a takeaway.

Her hair was damp and the back
of a neck itched from sweating. Jessica opened a drawer
, took out a packet of baby wipes and used them
on her face, neck and arms. While she waited for
Graham, she was tempted to ring Elizabeth. She was about
to pick up the phone when she changed her mind
, what if her hunch was wrong? Although she was optimistic
, preempting the results was unprofessional and tempting fate. Her lack
of concentration had caused the problem in the first place
, so best not push her luck. In murder investigations scientists
were often weighed down by the burden of responsibility. Careless
work could lead to catastrophic events, like sending an innocent
person to prison, or allowing a guilty one to walk
free.

Graham arrived back holding a plastic tray. He set
it down in front of her. 'I made a couple
of sandwiches to keep us going. If you want me
to, I can run down to the Indian place later
on.'

Jessica grabbed one and took a bite. He'd
obviously listened and wasn't expecting to go home. 'So
you're happy to work late.'

'I wasn't doing
anything special tonight. My girlfriend dumped me the other day
.'

Jessica was glad she was older and wiser. 'Never mind
, watching me tear my hair out will cheer you up
.'

'Any idea how long this will take?' Graham asked.

Jessica
finished chewing and took a swig of coffee. 'Graham, in
this business we don't consider time so I don
't know.'

'I thought you'd finished with the Wilson
case.'

'It's a murder investigation, until the trials over
we're never finished. Before we start I'm issuing
you a strong warning. No information leaves this lab, either
verbal or written. If you blab, you're out of
a job. Think back to your mate, he won't
work as a technician again.'

Graham looked away as he
spoke. 'I wasn't involved. I know the rules. I
'm not like that, not even for money.'

'There are
people out there determined to pervert the course of justice
, remember that. Now, what do you know about paint matching
?'

Graham shook his head.

Jessica went to the sink to
wash her hands before continuing. 'I'll talk you through
it as we go.'

They made their way to the
newest lab at the far end of the complex. 'The
murder took place in the art department at the school
. What I'm uncertain of is whether the killer trashed
the place afterwards or someone did it beforehand. Then we
find out about this missing mask, which from hearsay is
allegedly valuable. I find that ironic, because the students had
recently completed a project on masks and had used a
variety of different media and paints. So here we have
plenty of confusing samples, one in particular arose when blood
and red paint merged. Scraping this grunge off the floor
didn't help either as tiny bits of the flooring
had worn in certain areas. What we ended up with
was difficult to separate. In any crime scene, it's
easy to assume any red stain is human blood, but
in this case it could also be paint. While I
was screening samples I identified tiny chips from the floor
, but when I went back to them I found this
one and it isn't a piece of floor.' Jessica
removed a slide from the microscope.

'And you're not
sure what it is,' Graham said.

'I know exactly what
it is. It's paint. The problem is I don
't know which kind of paint nor do I know
where it came from. It's definitely not from any
of the emptied cans or the huge selection of acrylics
, oils and watercolours used by the students. Just my luck
to get a well funded department with plenty of top
-quality equipment.

Jessica placed a slide back under the more
powerful microscope and pointed. 'We examine each sample and document
the chemical comparison. The flow charts can guide us until
we find the manufacturer. We only have a single reference
sample and we must preserve it.'

They both got to
work on the chemical analysis. Jessica explained which method was
best to isolate the components used in the binders, pigments
and additives. She isolated the silicone, used to make a
paint surface more resistant to marking and scratching.

They worked
in silence. Jessica was tempted to play music but knew
it would distract Graham. With such miniscule amounts to play
with she wasn't taking any chances.

Just before ten
Jessica peeled off her protective clothing and sighed. 'I'm
not too confident about this. It's too complicated, bearing
in mind I'm not an expert in this field
.'

She opened the top drawer of the filing cabinet and
quickly flicked through. 'I'm sending the first sample to
GR Austin Forensics in Bristol. Then I need an outfit
that specialises in commercial paint analysis. Trouble is, I'm
not sure where the nearest one is. I seem to
remember there used to be one close to Didcot.'

'Let
me look,' Graham suggested. He reached up and removed a
box file from a shelf. Within a minute he'd
found what he was looking for. 'This is it, and
you're right. It's on an industrial site on
the outskirts of Didcot.'

Jessica thumbed the pages then checked
the time. 'It's too late to ring now. I
'll have to contact them first thing in the morning
.'

Graham checked the address. 'I'll deliver them if you
don't want to drive all that way. Save you
two journeys which are in the opposite direction. I can
take the slides home with me and set off early
tomorrow.'

Jessica shook her head. 'An hour down the M5
is hardly a great distance then straight onto the M4
. As for taking the samples, there's absolutely no way
.'

Graham started the cleaning up process. 'I'm only trying
to help, but if you...'

Jessica was tired and couldn
't wait to go home. She interrupted before he started
to annoy her again. 'I'm not saying I don
't trust you, but I have to deliver these in
person. Too much depends on it.'

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

'How
did your meeting with Les Harper go?' Elizabeth asked Patterson
who was tucking into tagliatelle.

'He swears blind he didn
't know his daughter was shagging Wilson.'

'Be careful Tony
. Until Jade Harper admits to having a sexual relationship with
Wilson, we can't state it as fact.'

'I called
in at the pub on the way back and spoke
to the landlord. He confirmed she definitely came in with
Wilson. He said they were into each other. His words
, not mine.'

'Like I said, we need to hear it
from Jade. By the way, Eldridge just phoned to tell
me Yeats had to go back to Belfast. He emailed
Eldridge last night and didn't come in this morning
. He should have contacted me first. My God, the penny
's just dropped that I'm now Senior Investigating Officer
.'

Patterson grinned. 'We better make the most of it.'

'No
senior officer should bugger off without any pre-warning. He
must have left straight from home, wherever that might be
. After all this time I still haven't a clue
where he lives.' Elizabeth said.

Patterson finished chewing a mouthful
of pasta. 'No one does. He told us from the
start he liked his privacy.'

'Let's hope Belfast wants
him back,' Elizabeth said and turned her head. The canteen
was filling up. If she didn't get in the
queue soon, the tuna bake would sell out.

'We could
always try a few prayers. Strange he didn't mention
he was going,' Patterson said.

Elizabeth wasn't convinced Yeats
had gone anywhere. 'What if he hasn't?'

'Why would
he concoct an elaborate lie when he knows we can
easily find out?'

'Maybe I should ring the station and
ask to speak to him,' Elizabeth suggested.

'That's asking
for trouble. Just be glad he's gone.'

Elizabeth grabbed
her purse and stood up. 'I'm starving. Do you
want seconds?'

'I haven't got any cash.' He glanced
down at his empty bowl. 'I put this one on
my tab.'

'I'll get it if you make sure
nobody nicks my chair.'

On the way into work Elizabeth
had decided to cease looking into Yeats' life. It was
a stupid idea and she'd risk Patterson's career
for her own selfish whims.

'Tony. This business of rifling
through his office is a waste of time. We wouldn
't find anything incriminating, so let's forget it. I
've decided to quit obsessing about him.'

Patterson nodded his
head in agreement. 'For once you've arrived at a
sensible decision.'

Elizabeth accepted his friendly criticism knowing he was
right. 'How did Harper senior react when you told him
about his daughter?'

'He's a crap actor. He pretended
to be all shocked and upset. He's not stupid
and would realise we'd see it as a motive
to get rid of Wilson.'

'I can't see him
risking everything just because Jade was promiscuous. Why would he
care who she had sex with?'

Patterson scraped up the
last remnants from his bowl. The noise made Elizabeth flinch
. 'Wilson might have tried a spot of blackmail. Maybe this
money coming to him had nothing to do with a
valuable mask.'

Elizabeth thought Patterson had a good point. Wilson
might have made up the mask story to cover himself
. 'Right, if Jade doesn't come here voluntarily you'll
have to bring her in, but not tonight. Loads of
people are staying on for Katie Gardiner's birthday bash
. It's in the old conference room and I've
promised I'll look in for half an hour. Are
you coming?'

Patterson's sounded miserable. 'Eldridge is back in
favour. To be honest, I don't fancy watching him
swan around trying to impress everybody.'

Elizabeth checked the time
. 'I must go and show my face at Katie's
little party. Then I'm going out tonight.'

'Where are
you off to then?' Patterson asked as he peeled the
wrapper off a Mars bar.

'To the cinema with an
old friend, it's been planned for ages so I
can't cancel. Make sure Eldridge doesn't cause trouble
later on. He can be aggressive when he's had
a few. Where is he anyway?'

'I believe he's
dealing with a couple of yobs who nicked a very
expensive car. Don't fret, if he acts up I
'll lock him in a cell.'

'Don't forget, with
Yeats away I'm responsible for what happens here and
petty arguments won't help the situation. So forget the
macho talk.'

'Fine, whatever you say,' Patterson grumbled.

'I need
you to locate the rest of the student's masks
. Jessica Oakley left me a message. 'She wants four more
.'

'I thought she'd processed everything from the scene.'

'She
only had room for a few at a time because
of storage. Papier-mâché is vulnerable to temperature change and
she needed to keep an eye on them. What if
I send Eldridge over with them and while he's
gone you can wish Katie a happy birthday?'

Patterson picked
up his plate. 'I need a slice of lemon meringue
pie first.'