Three Faces of West (2013)

by Christian Shakespeare

  “What’s up?”

  “This pathology report, an external examination of the body that’s been cross referenced with dental records showed that there were fragments of human skin tissue in the teeth.”

  “So what?” Was John’s reply,

  “Apparently the skin is different to Finnin’s own.”

  John suddenly sat up. Why on Earth would there be someone else’s skin tissue in the mouth of a politician? John like Jack was intrigued and shocked in equal measure. They had to find out more, he got up and walked over to stand beside Jack in a bid to find more details out. Reading on they noticed that the report went into quite some detail regarding the skin fragment; it was of no surprise. About half way down the summery page the pathologist reported that the skin, although it was of a different type, had hair follicle patterns consistent with a forearm. Reading on the report also noted that the skin fragment had bite marks that was of a particular size and depth, the size of these showed that bite marks came from human front teeth. Dental records confirm that the marks originated from Finnin himself. Both West and Hudson were shocked to hear the conclusion of the report, why would the politician bite into the forearm of another? Presumably the skin comes from at least one of the attackers which the fact was noticed by the pathologist and included in the report. The conclusion was that the fragment of skin was ripped around the edges suggesting that there were no clean cuts such as the scalpel found at the scene. Therefore the surgical instrument could only have been used on the politician, and blood analysis suggests this. Both men read on, as they were to discover that clearly the pathologist had saved the best for last. It was found during microscopic skin tissue examination, the layers contained traces of dirt that had shown through on the surface; this was intriguing, and if baffled the police at the moment.

  Jack wanted to know more about Finnin’s murderer and is did seem that this was the best clue. The police knew it and so his he. Wanting to go and pay a visit to New Scotland Yard seemed like the best course of action and the next logical step but just as Jack was about to suggest it to John, and at seemed like he wanted to as well, the phone rang. Jack instantly silenced the beeping tone by answering it,

  “West.” He said in his mandatory greeting.

  For the next few seconds there was silence as the person on the other end relayed their message. John could see Jack perk up slightly as his eyes widened,

  “Right, we’ll be right there. Give us a few minutes.” He said before putting the phone back down. John wanted to find out more,

  “What is it, a development?”

  “Come on, we are going down to the lab. The police have released the evidence we requested from the crime scene.” Said Jack.

  The two men hurriedly exited the office, making their way down to the laboratory a few floors down.

  Below ground level lay the high tech lab facility. West and Hudson came down a big flight of stairs from the ground floor level to a subdued light area. The metallic grey on the walls a tell-tale sign this was a specialised department. Ahead of them lay some large silver double doors, which gave access to the underground complex. Opening them, they were faced with a medium sized but very technical lab facility. Walking past some of the tables filled with samples and machinery and all very complicated they approached a small man in a white coat. They knew this was the right place as they could plainly see the evidence laid out on the table before him,

  “Excuse me,” Queried Jack. “This is the New Scotland Yard evidence relating to the Finnin murder?”

  The scientist turned round. A small dark haired fellow, mid 40’s with a thin beard greeted them. His round glasses glinting in the light of the bulbs above their heads, he seemed friendly enough,

  “Hello Jack, yes this is it. I’ve matched it to the stone fragment you removed from the crime scene to see if I can find a match.”

  Jack responded with the same courteous fashion,

  “That’s fine, let’s see what we’ve got.”

  The forensic scientist carefully removed from the clear plastic bags laid out on the table, wearing white latex gloves as to not contaminate the evidence even though the police took the same precautions. West and Hudson looked on as the technician carefully placed each item in order next to the fragment of stone Jack procured, first the penknife, still stained but now darkened with the dry blood. Next the broken bottom of the decanter came out, then finally the small length of hessian rope, all the evidence was there, the clues had to reside within. Both John and Jack was anxious to set about the objects before them,

  “Let’s start with the scalpel.” Said the scientist, picking it up carefully by the edges of the handle being careful not to taint the object. He placed it on a metallic tablet with a large circular lens placed over it. With a lamp nearby to provide a light source the scientist was ready to work. Sitting down at the desk he produced a bottle with a special type of cleaning fluid, proceeding to clean it off with a cotton wool bud required special care. Removing a sample of blood he followed forensic protocol by inserting the now precious item in a small airtight container ready for analysis. With some of the blood removed a tiny mark could be seen highlighted in the lamp light. John could see that the pattern was a crest or stamp of some sort,

  “Looks like some kind of identification mark” He said cautiously,

  “Yes,” replied the scientist, “It’s probably a manufacturing mark. If there is some kind of identification number present, it may be possible to trace the origins of our tool.”

  Deducing this he proceeded to place the object under an ultra-powerful microscope. All three men went to a computer screen to watch what the lens would discover. The whole machine was remote control so they could easily dictate and manipulate the direction which they looked. Apart from the crest and the tiny microscopic grooves when the thing was originally casted, there was nothing out of the ordinary on the blade. They moved down to the handle, still nothing until they reached close to the edge, then Jack cried out,

  “What’s that?!” He said rather loudly while pointing at the screen. The other two had seen it as well so the technician zoomed in a fit further to see. All three moved closer to the screen as the new image re-adjusted the focus, until focus of interest came into view,

  “A number.” Said John

  “Take a note will you. It looks like an ID number, very useful.” Said Jack.

  John did so, jotting the number down on a pad he carried with a small pencil,

  “774459” Were the figures he wrote. The scientist butted in,

  “I can trace this item from here, using this number it should be relatively easy to check any medical records. Just as a rough guess, I would say it comes directly from a hospital, but I’ll have to check that one out.”

  “Thank you.” Was Jack’s reply.

  They moved on from the screen. Finished with the scalpel, the technician carefully removed it and placed it back on the table. Next on the list was the hessian rope sample, picking it up and placing it underneath a microscope in front of both Jack and John. This was deliberate so they had full view of the object they set about the external examination.

  The scientist cast his eyes over the eyepiece, a little focusing of the instrument and the enhancement of the hessian structure was complete. Looking at the twisting stands of the rope fragment, one thing was evident,

  “It’s worn down one side. The strands are smooth going from right to left.” He declared,

  “Why would it be worn down one side?” Queried John,

  “I’m not sure,” Was the reply from the technician. Continuing the analysis, the lab technician knew exactly what to look for, there had to be a reason for the wear and tear. His deductions were interrupted as he suddenly jerked upwards in a spring like fashion,

  “What’s this,” He asked himself. Grabbing a pair of tweezers while not taking his eyes away from the eyepiece, both John and Jack knew there was something else. They watched as the scientist’s steady hand went to wor
k on the rope fragment. Carefully he pulled as the structure managing to pick out a small black fragment on the end of the tweezers, setting it to one side,

  “There’s something else.” He said as he put the tweezers down. Picking up a tiny scraper tool he set to work again, this time scraping something off, Jack looked as close as he dared without disturbing the young man. Observing what he was doing, Jack could see that what the scientist was removing was small amounts of earth.

  The technician set to work on the new discovery. Not moving very far from the microscope, he reached out for a small pipette containing water. Carefully squeezing it caused a tiny amount of fresh water to drip out and onto the small earth fragments,

  “Note how dark the soil is,” He commented to both John and Jack, “The water is not being absorbed very well, telling me that the earth was already damp.”

  “Could it have come from somewhere near water?” Asked Jack,

  “Or somewhere underground where the water retention will be higher. Of course we have to determine if the hessian came from the same place as the soil or not.” Was the reply.

  That was something to ponder later, for now Jack wanted to find out more about the small stone fragment,

  “Let’s take a look at the stone you found, I want to see if it matches the one I picked up at the crime scene.”

  Taking the stone to a nearby table the scientist put the fragment on a slab next to the stone Jack had earlier procured. Using a brush and dipping it a bottle of thinning solution, he carefully applied the chemical to the surface of the stone fragment just removed from the hessian. Just a couple of brush strokes were all it took for the surface to come away very swiftly. The blackness turning whiter with each stroke indicated that the stone embedded in the hessian was painted,

  “It looks seems to be a match for the stone you already recovered Jack,” Was the statement from the scientist, “They both look to be some kind of concrete.”

  “Yes” Jack replied. He clearly saw the connection here, these concrete fragments had forensic potential, but there had to be something more. Could the clues here be somehow linked to the robbery and the bombing two days ago? He couldn’t say, but there was one more thing, the most vital and damming evidence of all, the decanter,

  “What about the decanter? What can that tell us?” He asked.

  The scientist picked up the broken glass, the object still had some kind of recognisable structure to it as it was clearly the bottom of the container they had. There was only so much they could actually do with it as the police had already tested it,

  The scientist informed the two men, “The police have already set about this, and they think the decanter was broken at the same time or just before the murder.” He paused, and then continued, “They tested the contents of the decanter that was still left in the bottom. They say they detected traces of a ‘foreign substance’.”

  “What sort of foreign substance?” Asked John,

  “Poison.” The scientist replied.

  Jack was perplexed and stunned in equal measure, “How do you know this?” He asked,

  The scientist was ready for this question. He knew exactly how to handle it,

  “The police toxicology report, preliminary like the pathologists report, but it gives them a working theory as to what happened.”

  “That they think the politician was poisoned.” Said John,

  “What does the report say about the type of poison?” Asked Jack clearly wanting to probe further. The scientist brought out a piece of paper that was a summation of the toxicological report. Reading from it he sought to teach the two men about the types used,

  “Apparently the poison contained three compounds; first they identified traces of Scopolamine, found in the Datura plant,”

  “Scopolamine is a medical drug, anti-vomiting, used to counter the effects of motion sickness.” Interrupted John,

  “Yes, but it is highly toxic if administered above the recommended medical dose. It is a deliriant, meaning it causes hallucinations. The second compound the toxicologist reports is arsenic, the extremely potent, yet slow acting poison, causes death within hours.”

  Already this was sounding very sinister. Jack probed further,

  “But is the timing enough to explain the way the politician died, I mean presumably he couldn’t have laid there for hours.”

  “No, and that brings me to the third and final compound, Domoic Acid. It’s a natural poison usually found within sea life but can affect mammals like humans. It causes brain seizures and the behaviour displayed is acute and outward aggressiveness.”

  Jack, while not a medical man himself, knew the effect of such a concoction,

  “A poison like that would be extremely potent, and fatal.”

  John added to the conclusion, “Something that causes aggression akin to madness followed by eventual death.”

  “Brought on by delusional hallucinations.” Agreed the scientist, “Such a virulent mixture like this requires advanced toxicological and chemistry knowledge. Whoever formed such a poison was no amateur.”

  “And that’s what the police think at the moment.” Said Jack, turning to John he had seen enough,

  “I think it’s time we went back to the office. Let’s see if there’s anyone on file with a known history of such knowledge.”

  John obviously thought this was the next step,

  “We can also do a general sweep to see if there’s anything out of the ordinary across the internet. Perhaps there is a security lead.”

  Upon their return to the office, the ramifications of what they had revealed had hit them both. They knew they had discovered the presence of a highly toxic poison, and it could be a potential security risk. If it was, than it was definitely a matter for them and not just the police,

  “So a politician is murdered, likely poisoned by a drug cocktail that made him go mad first.” Said Jack, but John wanted to piece if together further still,

  “So the most plausible explanation so far is that he was tied up, ingested the poison, and probably was tortured for some reason.”

  “Looks that way doesn’t it? Anyway that’s for the police to decide if that hypothesis is correct. For now that’s all they have to go on. But what about the motive? Don’t forget, if one junior politician is murdered in this way, then the threat to other senior members of government are just as great. And that poses a definite security risk.”

  John sat at the computer to begin his search, there was no problem logging on to his system and he set to work. He began by scouring the internet for any potential clues, who were they? What was their motive? Was it political, racial or ideological? The global reach of the internet meant that it wasn’t too long before he came across news websites harbouring rumours and gossip,

  “Look at this, more criticism of the security services. Says here that given recent events and the murder, public faith in national security has plummeted. It asks here if this country has an actual security service and if so why is it not protecting us. It makes MI5 look impotent and us look like idiots.”

  Jack tried to respond, “Just gossip. Ignore it; you and I both know there is something deeper happening here. Look, you continue to search for a possible known suspect, search the personnel files, access it through the national database and see if anyone stands out. I’m off to see Harvey to report back.”

  John looked on as Jack left the room leaving John with his computer and the entire nation on his files. He had a lot of work to do.

  Half an hour passed before Jack returned looking rather energetic, almost agitated. John, who had been sifting through database file observed his partner’s state,

  “Harvey has given us the go-ahead to pursue this case. He clearly thinks this is a security threat to other high ranking members of government and possibly others. He wants to know who they are, what do they want and why.” He said turning to the window to look at the bright morning outside,

  “Something is going on out there John, and
I want to know what.”

  John got up and out of his seat grabbing an A4 file in the process; he had some news of his own,

  “Well we may have a lead. While you were away I searched through national databases for any individual specialising in poisons. It came up with too many, so I refined my search, cross referenced with internet matches. That gave me a hook; apparently someone was arrested about two years ago for terrorism offenses involving poisons.” He said while handing him a thin file. Opening the light brown cardboard cover Jack read the info inside, he was impressed but still had some questions,

  “The poison of choice for terrorists is usually ricin.”

  John, undeterred pressed on with his findings,

  “Yes but this one person stands out as interesting, his name is Maxwell Grey. 37 years old and born in this country he is the son of an immigrant from Georgia who married a woman over here. Becoming a dissident around 10 years ago and radicalised by a hatred of authority, he was responsible for the bombing of an administrative district office in southern Russia which killed 17 people. He fled back to the UK about 8 years ago therefore evading Russian authorities.”

  This sounded like the ideal man, a possibly candidate behind the King’s Cross attack he continued to listen to John,

  “Russia had so far unsuccessfully tried to extradite Grey from the UK but to no avail, but listen to this, here’s the interesting bit.”

  This was the part Jack wanted to hear. He move in a little closer to listen attentively,

  Before becoming radicalised and heading east, he was a student at Bristol University, School of Chemistry. He was there for at least four years eventually leaving with a Masters degree in the subject.”

  John as slightly smug in his triumph, this man looked like the perfect fit. But there were still holes in the story,

  “Highly educated, knowledgeable and determined, sounds like a real terrorist role model. Is there any more? How do we find our dissident?” Asked Jack,

  John revealed more, “Just after he fled from Russia, Grey was implicated in an attempted contamination plot of the office of the Mayor of London, another high profile authority target. Thankfully it was foiled but in the subsequent inquiry afterward it was found that Grey tried to release a poison called Atropine, a liquid substance derived from the Datura plant!”