Dead to Me

by Pamela Murray

  ‘But she might have a silent partner?’ Francis posed a question which Fielding hadn’t considered.

  ‘Good point; I’ll mention that to Burton when he gets back. Oh, by the way, we now have a new face to add to the list.’

  ‘The murder victim this morning; how is he connected to this?’

  ‘I’ve got a feeling that he’s strongly linked to our enquiry in some way. Maria Turnbull dies after visiting someone who practices astrology and fortune telling, then a man is murdered and the killer leaves an astrological symbol on the body. That’s too much of a coincidence to ignore for my liking.’

  ‘Me too,’ Francis agreed.

  ***

  ‘Take a seat, Joe,’ DCI Ambleton said to Burton when they were in her office. He was curious as to why she’d asked him in for a ‘quick chat’, as she’d put it.

  ‘As you know,’ she continued when he was seated, ‘I haven’t got long to go now before I retire. The new death this morning, and the possibility of it being connected to Maria Turnbull’s death, poses the question: do we have a serial killer on our hands? And if we do, there’s a good chance that the investigation may continue past my retirement date. So, if that’s the case, I’d like you to hand the reins over to Fielding for this one. You’ll need to be able to step straight into my shoes when I’m gone. Giving her the lead at this point seems to be the right way to go. Besides, it would be good if you could spend some time with me before I leave. You can still work the case, of course; I wouldn’t want you to relinquish that. I’d just like to show you a few things before I go.’

  Although delighted by the prospect of promotion, Burton knew that this was the beginning of the end of his seven-year work partnership with the woman he now considered to be his soulmate. It was the end of an era for them professionally, but he felt certain that their paths would still cross at some point during the day despite that. Besides, they were now talking about moving in together, so there was the prospect of that to look forward to.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Ambleton said, ‘and I know it’s going to be hard, but Fielding is more than able to take up the role, don’t you think?’

  ‘Yes, of course she is, but it’s not that . . .’

  ‘It’s the fact that you can’t spend time with her as a partner, I get it. I know it’s completely different, and that’s how I felt when I was promoted to this position. I lost you as a partner and I was devastated, so I know how hard it’s going to be for you too. But it’s not like you’re moving to a different city or anything like that; that would be much worse for the pair of you. You’ll be sitting here in my office and she’ll be coming in to report to you on a regular basis. And, if you feel so inclined, you can step in at any time and take over a case. That’s the beauty of it.’

  Although what she said made perfect sense, Burton still felt heartbroken. The prospect of becoming the new DCI was all well and good when just thinking about it, but now it was about to happen for real he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  ‘You two are strong,’ Ambleton continued, ‘strong and devoted to one another enough to get through this. I know you can do it.’

  Burton just nodded in acknowledgment.

  ‘Well, while you’re here, and while the team are working on the case, we might as well begin with the introduction right now. It’ll only take thirty minutes initially, and I’ll take you through a few things to see how you get on, although I’m sure you’ll breeze right through it. Like I said, you need to shadow me for a week at least, but that doesn’t mean that the days have to be consecutive ones. We can play that by ear.’

  ***

  Fielding was at her desk when Burton returned. He quickly stopped to look at the board to see how far things had progressed before sitting down at the desk next to hers.

  ‘Oh, hello,’ she said looking across to him. She’d been so absorbed in looking into Marilyn Parkinson’s background that she hadn’t even noticed him come back into the room. ‘The team are progressing well, and gathering a good deal of information. I wasn’t sure how long you’d be so I suggested that they carry on by questioning the people the suspects worked with.’

  ‘Good idea,’ he said. ‘About that . . .’ he began, not really sure how to tell her Ambleton’s news.

  Fielding stopped what she was doing and looked at him. She knew him far too well to know that what he was about to say was troubling him.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked, apprehensively.

  ‘Well, it’s Ambleton, she’s asked me to shadow her before her last day, which means that as I’ll be up in her office for a considerable part of the next few weeks I’m going to have to put you in charge of the team. I’m sorry, I didn’t expect this to be happening so soon.’

  Fielding was disappointed, but she did not want to let him down. And both of them had known for the last few months that this was going to happen at some point down the line.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said looking across to the other members of the team. As they were all crouched over their monitors she reached over and took hold of his hand. ‘This is fine. Perhaps we weren’t expecting it to happen right now but we were expecting it.’

  Burton nodded. Like Ambleton had said, if the need arose, he could involve himself in a case at any time like she sometimes did. It wouldn’t be the same, that was for certain, but at least they’d still be in the same building.

  Changing the subject, he asked, ‘So what happened with the body you went out to see earlier?’

  ‘Quite a lot. By the way, Frank Collinson sends his best.’

  ‘Ah, Frank! I haven’t seen him in a while. I thought he might have been retired by now.’

  ‘No, he’s still going,’ Fielding laughed. ‘He recognised me from a few months back, and that was the first time I’d ever met him.’

  ‘Well, you must have made an impression on him.’

  ‘He did say that he always remembers good detectives!’

  Now it was Burton’s turn to laugh. ‘Yes, that sounds like something he’d come out with!’

  ‘Anyway,’ Fielding continued, ‘about the body. The doctor said that he would do a post mortem as soon as he got the man back to the mortuary.’

  ‘Was any aspect of the death questionable?’

  ‘No, he thinks it’s straightforward enough, if you can say being shot with an arrow through the heart is straightforward that is–’

  ‘With a what?’ Burton thought he’d misheard her.

  ‘Yes, and he’d been alive when it happened judging by the blood loss. However, Dr Collinson is also checking to see if he was drugged or poisoned prior to that. I mean, how many people would just stand and let anyone fire an arrow at them?’

  ‘Shock or surprise maybe? So, didn’t he ask you to attend the autopsy then?’

  Fielding knew it; he just had to ask. ‘He suggested that he do it himself and then let me know the outcome.’

  ‘And, of course, you took him up on that!’ Burton smiled.

  ‘Of course I did!’

  ‘You’re so predictable,’ he teased.

  ‘Just like you,’ she retaliated.

  ‘So, an arrow?’ he asked in a more serious mode. ‘That’s an unusual way to kill somebody. And there was an astrological symbol on the body too?’

  ‘Yes, Collinson said that it was sticking out of his shirt pocket. I’ve been looking at the CSI photos on the system, and it looks like what I’ve discovered to be the one for Sagittarius, the archer.’

  ‘I really can’t see how this is linked to our enquiry, though, can you?’

  ‘I’m keeping an open mind on this, Joe,’ Fielding said. ‘I’m wondering if indeed he was poisoned prior to his death. It would have made it a lot easier for whoever killed him, unless they’re a skilled archer, that is.’

  ‘I once tried that you know, a very long time ago, and it was extremely hard on the upper arm and shoulder as I recall, and I was black and blue from it afterwar
ds. Hats off to anyone who can pull that off. However, I’m not condoning the fact that someone was killed in that manner, you understand.’

  Fielding looked at him in surprise. ‘You’re the last person I would have imagined to pick up a bow and arrow.’

  ‘Well, I did,’ he laughed. ‘Mind you, I was in my teens when I did it, and it was when I was away on a school trip. What sort of person would you have imagined to have done it then?’

  ‘Oh, well, you know, Hawkeye, perhaps!’ Fielding gave him a half smile.

  Burton knew of her particular fondness for the Avenger character from the Marvel movies. ‘I should have known!’ he declared.

  ‘And there’s another thing,’ she added, ‘Collinson believes the archer to be left-handed, judging by the angle of entry.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’ Burton adopted a more serious mood. ‘So, until the good doctor gets back to you, we keep digging deeper into our current suspects. Go through CCTV for the area as well. I imagine someone carrying a bow would have been spotted.’

  ‘Unless they were hiding it in some way. Plus, remember York was killed behind the building he worked in, so perhaps whoever it was kept low and avoided any cameras.’

  ‘Still, where can you hide one of those as they’re not exactly small? Maybe the killer was parked up nearby and didn’t need to carry it through the streets then? Actually, I’d better have a word with the others regarding what Ambleton said to me, and promote both you and Jack to acting DI and DS while I’m busy shadowing her.’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Dr Collinson called Fielding first thing the next morning, and what he told her was, to say the least, unexpected.

  ‘It’s a good thing I did an autopsy,’ he began, ‘as it wasn’t a relatively simple case of him just being shot with an arrow.’

  ‘Oh, why’s that?’ she asked, eagerly awaiting what he had to say to her.

  ‘The toxicity results revealed a strong concentrate of poison around the site of the wound.’

  The hairs on the back of Fielding’s neck stood up.

  ‘Was the poison digitalis by any chance?’

  ‘Why, yes,’ Collinson said, sounding surprised, ‘how did you know that?’

  ‘That particular poison was found to be in the bloodstream of a victim in another case we’re working on.’

  ‘Pretty coincidental, don’t you think?’

  ‘That’s the thing, doctor, I really don’t believe in coincidences. So, were you able to tell what the source of the poison was? I mean, was it in a pure form, or was it plant-based?’

  ‘You mean was it taken directly from its plant form and used raw? I’m not sure of the source as the tests only reveal the properties which, in this case, specifies digitalis.’

  ‘I see. Okay, thank you for getting back to me, Dr Collinson. It’s much appreciated.’

  ‘You’re welcome, detective. Take care now.’

  Joe Burton was again upstairs with DCI Ambleton, so she texted him a message to reveal the new findings before announcing the news to the team. Two deaths in a few days, each being poisoned with digitalis, was not a normal occurrence; and for that reason, Fielding had no other option than to officially make Mr York the second victim. But what was the connection other than the poison and astrology? Did Maria Turnbull and Harry York know one another? It was a question they’d now have to immediately find the answer to.

  Harry York had been a hard-working and seemingly enemy-free man in his mid-forties, leaving behind a wife and two teenage children. As Burton had suggested checking the CCTV for the area, Fielding had set DC Simon Banks on the job of going through everything near the premises around the time of death, which Dr Collinson had determined as between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. the previous day.

  ‘Phillipa?’ Fielding called over to DC Preston, ‘can you go and interview the estate agency staff and see if they recall who came into their offices around that time? Did someone have an appointment with Harry York? Also, see if they have cameras inside. I’m thinking not, but maybe they do. Burton has suggested that perhaps the killer had a car nearby, as I’m sure the sight of someone carrying a bow around the streets would have raised a few eyebrows. I think we also need to look at Harry York’s phone. Did someone contact him and lure him out the back, or was he, too, returning from a lunch break?’

  ‘Yes boss,’ she said, before grabbing her coat and bag.

  Boss? I’m going to have to get used to that in future.

  Francis had printed off a photograph of their latest victim from the internet and was adding it to the board.

  ‘See what else you can find on him Jane, will you?’ Fielding asked. ‘Concentrating on if he knew Maria Turnbull or any of our suspects.’

  ‘Will do.’

  As Fielding was looking over the photographs and the accompanying information, she noticed that Banks had added to Maria Turnbull’s profile. When he saw her move towards it and start reading, he called over to her.

  ‘You were busy when I put it up, so I couldn’t let you know at the time.’

  ‘That’s fine,’ she assured him, reading the notes below Maria’s photograph. ‘Do we know what subject she taught?’

  ‘Not yet,’ Banks said. ‘I’m waiting for the head of Thornton School to get back to me; she was in a governors’ meeting when I rang but was told that she should be free in an hour or so.’

  ‘When she rings back will you also find out if Maria had upset anyone recently – staff or pupils. Oh, and,’ Fielding added as an afterthought, ‘It’s a long shot, but ask her if the name Harry York means anything to her.’

  When Mrs Sinclair rang back, Banks spoke with her for a while before putting the call on hold and dialling Fielding’s extension.

  ‘I’ve got Mrs Sinclair on the line, and I think you’re going to want to hear this,’ he said, before forwarding the call.

  Fielding’s interest was immediately sparked. Banks was often a man of mystery when it came to forwarding telephone calls, preferring the caller to reveal their own piece of information rather than him doing it for them. She knew, whenever he did this, the information conveyed played a crucial part in any investigation . . . hence the heightened interest.

  ‘Hello, this is acting Detective Inspector Sally Fielding,’ she announced. It felt out of place, as if she was usurping Joe Burton’s long-held and revered position.

  ‘Hello detective inspector,’ the deep, husky voice said down the line, ‘your detective constable wanted me to speak to you personally regarding what we were just talking about.’

  Fielding pictured her as an older version of the actress who often appeared in the Carry on films, Fenella Fielding – ironically, sharing her own surname. Perhaps that’s why she remembered her so well. She often portrayed sultry sex symbols, but it was her voice that was the most memorable thing about her, deep and seductive. She also reminded her a bit of Marilyn Parkinson and the way she spoke.

  ‘I see. Thank you for calling back so quickly.’

  ‘Maria was such a lovely woman, and I can’t imagine why anyone would want to kill her. She only just got married last year too. Such a shame. I can’t imagine what her poor husband is going through.’

  ‘He’s not doing very well, Mrs Sinclair, as you can imagine.’

  ‘No, I didn’t think he would be. We’re currently organising a collection for him. As for her having any enemies at school, well, I can say most definitely not. Her students all loved her; she had this happy knack of being able to relate to them and to talk to them on their own level. I can’t imagine what we’re going to do without her.’

  ‘And what did she teach?’ Fielding asked.

  ‘She taught biology.’

  At the mention of the subject, a memory surfaced in Fielding’s brain. She didn’t like biology at school, and didn’t take it at exam level, opting for physics instead. Something she later came to regret as she failed it dismally. However, she did recall that, although a separate
subject, botany was a branch of biology.

  ‘Did Maria also teach botany, Mrs Sinclair?’

  ‘Why, yes, she did, to a lesser degree though. Botany is, of course, part of the curriculum, but only a small part. The main core is essentially human biology rather than plants and their biological structure.’

  ‘Of course. So, in your opinion, did she know a great deal about plants and their properties?’

  ‘Well, she studied botany along with biology at degree level, so I believe she had a very good knowledge of it. What are you thinking, detective inspector?’

  Fielding paused for a moment. To go ahead now and ask about whether or not Maria was aware of poisonous plants would almost certainly pose a question in Mrs Sinclair’s mind. However, as the manner of death would soon be common knowledge in the press, Fielding felt it was a question worth asking.

  ‘So, she would know all about poisonous plants?’

  ‘I should think so . . .’ It was then that the penny seemed to drop. ‘Are you saying that she was poisoned?’

  ‘I’m afraid that I am.’

  ‘But I thought that with her heart condition, perhaps it was that?’

  ‘No, we’re treating her death as suspicious at the moment.’

  The line went quiet while Mrs Sinclair was taking it all in.

  ‘I’m sorry to have to be the bearer of such bad news,’ Fielding said.

  ‘No, no, it’s just that we’ve also had some more bad news today as well. One of our governors died suddenly too, so that’s two deaths in two days.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yes, I was telling your detective constable, which is why, I think, he put me on to speak to you.’

  Again, Fielding’s interest peaked. Surely not. It couldn’t be, could it?

  ‘Another lovely person. Again, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do harm to him either.’