Her Final Hour: An absolutely unputdownable mystery thriller

by Carla Kovach

  ‘Something bad has been going on for a long time. Phipps or the husband?’ Jacob asked as the pathologist continued.

  ‘Who knows? Phipps was under the impression that she and Darrel weren’t having sex any more but she wouldn’t tell him if they were. Besides, does what Mrs Sanderson has been going through look like sex that anyone would consent to?’

  Gina looked just above the cadaver as he went to make an incision, a perfect Y. It was something she’d seen before on several occasions, but she’d never been able to look directly at what was happening when the pathologist made the cut. She looked at her watch. With them being late, the autopsy had been going on for two hours. She turned to look at Jacob. He slouched with his arms folded in front of his chest as he watched.

  Again, the pathologist shouted out the weights of the organs as they were weighed in turn, before returning them and sewing up the body. Gina turned to face the door. The pathologist began scrubbing down.

  ‘Well between that and arresting James Phipps, it has been an eventful day so far,’ Jacob said.

  Gina looked at her watch. It was past lunchtime but she didn’t fancy a thing. She felt dirty from hearing of Mrs Sanderson’s sufferings. She wanted to go home and shower. The pathologist entered their area.

  ‘Can you summarise that for me? Cause of death?’ Gina asked.

  ‘Asphyxiation. The blow to the head would’ve stunned Mrs Sanderson, may even have rendered her momentarily unconscious but it was the strangulation by cord that caused her death.’

  ‘With all the information you already have, can you give us a more precise time of death?’

  ‘With all the information we have now, it would have been between twenty-one hundred and twenty-two hundred, on the evening of Thursday the twelfth of April.’

  ‘Is there anything else you can tell us?’

  ‘We found semen present. She’d had sex that day. You already know the blood samples from the stairs and in the hall match up to Mrs Sanderson’s. We don’t know who the semen belongs to but if you can obtain suspect swabs, we can crossmatch them. Also, the pliers that were booked into evidence look to be a match for the injuries caused to Mrs Sanderson’s nipples. We should have all the samples processed by early tonight. I will call with further findings as we get them.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Gina called as the pathologist made his way towards the changing area. ‘We best go and tell the rest of the team – make sure Bernard attends the next briefing. We’ll need his input. I’d hoped they’d find more though. Last night when I looked over the case notes there were still no fingerprints except for the householders’, no footprints, no tyre tracks leading up to the house, nothing except what they wanted us to see. The spherical object, what could that have been? Maybe a stone, a cricket ball, something ornamental? There was nothing like that in evidence. This person is a ghost. Does Jimmy seem like he could be that good?’

  ‘They are never as they seem. Someone certainly knows a lot about concealing their crime. I forgot, just before we left, Darrel called, asking if he could go back to the house.’

  ‘I suppose now that we’ve seized everything we need we have to hand it back to him. I think we need Mr Sanderson to come back into the station. Will you call him? I’ll just give Wyre a call, see how they’re getting on.’

  ‘Will do.’

  Jacob turned to make the call and Gina took her phone out. ‘Any news?’

  ‘Yes. Mr Sanderson is here. Keeps bleating on about getting back into his house. He wants the PC removed from his front door.’

  ‘Keep him there, we’re on our way back. I need to speak to Mr Sanderson.’

  Eighteen

  The tape had been rolling for several minutes and they were getting nowhere. Jacob sat beside Gina, ready to take notes. Darrel Sanderson stared at the wall behind them as he rocked back and forth in the plastic chair with his arms folded. He’d agreed to attend an interview under caution. A grin spread across his face. Gina almost wanted him to rock a little too far back. She didn’t like his grin. Seeing him splayed out in discomfort would bring her a small amount of pleasure.

  ‘Answer the question, Mr Sanderson. Did you and Melissa Sanderson have sexual intercourse on the day of her murder?’ Gina asked.

  ‘You know. You’re sitting here, wasting time on me. It’s that lover of hers you should be pursuing. She probably had sex with him.’

  ‘Oh, don’t you worry, Mr Sanderson, we’ll be asking him too. We have obtained a semen sample. There will be no doubt as to who it belongs to soon. If you and Mrs Sanderson had intercourse, it would be in your best interests to tell me now.’ The man stopped rocking on his chair and looked down. ‘We are trying to find out who murdered your wife. We need your cooperation. Surely you want to find this person too?’ Gina leaned over the desk and looked directly into Darrel Sanderson’s eyes.

  The man broke her stare. ‘Yes, we did. We had consensual sex earlier that day. She was my wife. We did things like that.’

  ‘Like placing her nipples in-between pliers and squeezing, like inserting objects into Mrs Sanderson’s vagina that caused some of the most horrendous scarring and damage I’ve ever come across in my career. She had four broken ribs. Your wife was in a bad way. What do you have to say about that?’ The man remained silent. ‘Given the extent of injuries to your wife’s body, we will be organising a medical examination of your daughter.’

  ‘I love my daughter. I’d never hurt her. How dare you,’ he yelled as he stood, knocking his chair over as he pointed at Gina.

  Gina thought back to the bruising and cut on the little girl’s arm on the night of Mrs Sanderson’s murder. Mia had to be checked out. She’d never forgive herself if Mia was being abused and she didn’t do anything. She made a note on her pad to call Devina Gupta of Children’s Services as soon as the interview was complete. With the little girl already being looked after by Darrel’s brother, now was the right time. If her father was harming her, he wouldn’t get another chance.

  ‘Sit down, Mr Sanderson.’

  The red-faced man sat back in the chair and slammed his fist onto the table. ‘Everything my wife and I did was consensual. I have an alibi for the night of her murder. Despite her affair, I loved her and I love my daughter.’

  ‘Mr Sanderson. Tell me about the friends you went out with.’ She watched as Darrel shifted in his chair before staring back at her.

  ‘Are you insane? I don’t know what this has to do with my wife’s murder. I’ve got nothing more to say. I want a solicitor. I’m not saying any more until I see my solicitor, do you hear me?’

  ‘Interview terminated at fifteen fifteen,’ Jacob said as he stopped the tape.

  ‘When do I get to go back to my house? Mia is unsettled, she needs to go home.’

  ‘Your house will be released back to you later today. I will keep you updated.’

  She thought of all the evidence they had. They had nothing to formally charge Mr Sanderson with. He was right, he had a watertight alibi for the time of his wife’s murder, but there was something about him. Her mind kept bringing forth the extent of Melissa’s injuries and scarring. How could that ever be consensual? Having Mia examined was the right thing to do. They couldn’t risk any further harm to the little girl if she was being abused. He stared directly at her. The intensity making her want to look away, but she wasn’t going to let him win. He eventually looked away.

  ‘Are you okay explaining to Mr Sanderson what happens next?’ Gina said to Jacob.

  ‘Yes, guv.’

  She needed to get on with the investigation. She’d get Wyre to explain to Mr Sanderson’s brother what was going to happen. Whilst Jacob was answering all of Darrel’s questions, she’d have everything arranged for his little girl’s medical examination. As soon as she closed the interview room door, she pulled her phone from her pocket and pressed Devina’s number. They needed little Mia examined immediately. She was not going home with that monster if her suspicions were confirmed.

  Nine
teen

  Gina grabbed a chocolate bar from her desk drawer and began checking her emails. Bernard had now released the scene and had also confirmed that he was attending their afternoon briefing. He also mentioned that the pathologist had sent a copy of the photos from the post-mortem over. She continued scrolling. Briggs had emailed her to say that Annie from the Corporate Communications Department would be attending the briefing and that she and Briggs would be working closely together on the press statements. The last email was from Devina to say that Darrel Sanderson’s brother and daughter were with her, and that a doctor had arrived to complete the medical examination.

  She finished chewing on the chocolate bar as she once again read the crime scene notes. Leaving her office, she headed towards the incident room where O’Connor was working away with his earphones on, alongside the team of four that had taken the initial calls. She could see that he was listening to the calls that had been forwarded to him in response to the press release. The new crime scene photos had been added to the boards. Gina shuddered as she stared at the post-mortem photos.

  ‘Thoughts so far,’ Briggs asked as he approached her from behind.

  ‘It all seems so straightforward. We have a suspect, her lover Jimmy, who has no alibi. He had just been dumped and couldn’t bear to lose her. He seems so obvious. Then, we have Darrel Sanderson.’ She walked over to his photo on the board and pointed. ‘His wife had been suffering hideous abuse for a long time, way before Phipps came onto the scene. I’ve never seen anything like it, sir, but he has an alibi. He was in the pub at the time. He couldn’t have killed her.’

  She looked at the photo on the other side of the board and focused on a close up of Mrs Sanderson’s breasts. Scarring over scarring, topped with a fresh wound. ‘This had been happening to her for years. Anyone capable of doing this has to be dangerous. Her husband kept spouting that everything they did was consensual. I reread the crime scene notes that Bernard updated.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘It did appear that she was drinking a lot. Several wine bottles were found in the recycling bin and an empty glass was on the side. They reported a high level of alcohol in her bloodstream on the night of her murder. I guess she was drinking to escape this,’ she said as she nodded at the photos.

  Briggs stepped a little closer and stood beside her. ‘It’s nice to catch up with you, even though we are in the middle of such a horrible case.’ He smiled.

  She watched as he combed his hair with his fingers and adjusted his slightly wonky tie. Seeing him look so unkempt had been a first. ‘You look tired, sir.’

  ‘You know how it is when you have personal issues to deal with.’

  She cleared her throat and shifted her gaze from Briggs to the board. ‘Phipps gave us names of some of Darrel’s friends. The only one I have tracked down is his alibi, Robert Dixon. They were both at the pub together on the night of the murder. We’d need to speak to the rest of his friends.’

  Briggs paused and looked away. ‘Nice holiday?’

  ‘Yes. Thanks for asking, sir.’ An air of awkwardness surrounded them. ‘We’re heading over to Phipps’s this afternoon to search the place under a section eighteen.’

  Briggs turned to leave the room. ‘Keep me updated. I’ll see you at the briefing later.’

  As she listened to his footsteps disappearing down the corridor, she took a deep breath. He was obviously struggling more than she was to get over what they had. A few months of a secretive, casual relationship was all it was. It was nothing more than a one-night stand that had lasted far too long. She checked her watch and called Devina. She needed to know how the medical examination had gone.

  Twenty

  Darrel stood in front of his house, watching the policeman lean against his front wall. How dare they stop him going into his home and make him wait. How dare they ask him about his and Melissa’s sex life – just, how dare they. He wanted to go and kick the copper hard in the head. He scrunched his fists into a ball. How dare they take his daughter from him pending further investigation! He had an alibi – for heaven’s sake.

  A police protection order they called it. He just hoped Mia wouldn’t end up with strangers. He’d begged them to place her with Alan and Cerys, his brother and sister-in-law. They’d take care of Mia. His brother was a good candidate for caring for her. At least his brother had lived the life of a saint. He’d had the same job for twenty years, his wife was a nurse and they’d just announced they were expecting their first child after struggling for years to conceive. He was lucky they were well-respected, community-minded people, or he’d have to ask his busybody mother and he didn’t want Mia staying in her pokey little retirement unit in the centre of Bromsgrove. At least Alan and Cerys had a nice house.

  He watched as the copper grabbed a sandwich from his car before sitting on the wall. His beautiful home, covered in police tape – he wanted to tear it off and barge in.

  What would the neighbours think? How long would it be before one of the do-gooders from further down the road popped by, offering prayers and home-made pie? As far as he was concerned they could stick their thoughts, prayers, sympathy, pies, the lot. He wanted none of it. He just wanted it all to go away.

  The policeman turned to see him standing there. ‘Can I help you?’ he shouted across the gardens.

  ‘No, it’s my house. I’ll come back later,’ he replied as got into his hire car. They’d taken his car to investigate, as one of the possible scenes. He should’ve asked when he’d get that back too. He opened the glovebox and took the burner phone out. He’d missed a call from Rob, which he needed to return.

  His heart hummed as he listened to the ringtone. ‘Hurry up, Rob, pick up.’

  ‘How are you doing?’

  ‘Bad. Terrible, in fact. They’ve taken Mia. She’s with my brother, Alan, at the moment, but I don’t know what will happen to her. For now, I can’t stay with him and the bastards won’t let me back into my home. They took my daughter. That wasn’t meant to happen.’

  ‘And it shouldn’t have happened. Did they say why?’

  ‘No.’ He stared out of the window, watching the copper outside his house. He knew full well that the astute detective wouldn’t ignore the bruising, especially as they’d discovered the injuries to Melissa’s body, but he wasn’t going to tell Rob about that.

  ‘Well, they can’t keep you both apart. You’ve done nothing wrong, have you?’

  Darrel held the phone away from his ear as he felt his body tense. He wanted to kick the hell out of the footwell. He wanted to have a good go at putting his fist through the car window. ‘No, I’m sure all will be fine.’

  ‘Who took her?’

  ‘Children’s Services. DI Harte, the copper’s name was. She ordered it. Bitch.’ He toiled over the look she gave him towards the end of the interview, forcing him to break their locked stares.

  There was silence on the end of the line. ‘Just hold it together. You’ll get through this and all will be fine. Keep strong for Mia. Go check yourself into a hotel for the night, have some food and try to keep calm. We’ll speak again soon.’ Rob ended the call.

  Darrel turned the key in the ignition, he couldn’t go to his brother’s and he didn’t want to sit in a pub all day. His only option was a hotel. He headed towards Redditch, maybe he’d just have a coffee before checking in, just in case his house became free. He’d rather be in his own home, sleeping in his own comfortable bed. Rob was right, he just needed to keep calm and then he’d get his daughter back. After all, it was Melissa who had been doing all the drinking. He’d questioned her on many occasions about her temper when she’d aimed it towards their child. He’d tell the police that and he wouldn’t get angry at Mia any more without his cheating bitch wife being around.

  Twenty-One

  Dan fiddled with his thinning, black, greased back hair and took a seat in the bay window opposite Rob.

  ‘Tea?’ Selina asked as she approached him. She knew Rob was watching her wiggle as she pa
ssed and she’d wiggle away. There was no way on earth he’d have the chance to think about other women. She’d make sure of it. She was everything they all wanted, so pristine, so homely, in good shape and she never let herself go. Her neatly straightened hair fell beautifully over her shoulders. The hair stylist appointments that cost Rob so much were worth every penny. She knew exactly how to keep her man. Whomever he was lusting after didn’t have a hope in hell of taking him.

  ‘I’d love a tea, Selina, and one of your lovely cakes.’

  ‘Of course. How are things going at the council?’

  ‘It’s a job. Just waiting until I can collect my pension,’ Dan replied.

  She left and placed her ear against the door. Dan didn’t usually turn up like this, in the day. Her heart thumped. Something was up, but her husband wouldn’t tell her anything. What else wasn’t he telling her?

  She dashed out to the kitchen and hurried straight back with a tea tray. ‘Sugar?’ she asked as she bent down and began pouring the tea from the china pot, watching her husband’s every expression. He wasn’t giving anything away.

  ‘Yes, please. Two, I like it sweet,’ Dan replied.