She squatted down on the floor, between the base of the bed and the entrance to the bathroom, running her hand along the smooth wood of the interlocking boards as they formed their parquet pattern. “What’s this?” Her vision had been drawn to an ugly black streak across the otherwise immaculate floorboard.
Trudy stepped forward to join her, dropping down onto her haunches. “It looks like a scuff mark. It’s very dark, perhaps from a black shoe? Maybe one of the deceased’s?”
Dani glanced over to the wardrobe. She couldn’t see any footwear lined up along the base. “Where did Autumn keep her shoes? I bet she had a pretty good collection of stilettos and the like?”
“There’s a cabinet in the hallway with pull-out drawers. That’s where all her shoes were kept.”
Dani looked the woman in the eye. “It’s not likely she wore them in the bedroom then?”
Trudy shrugged. “We can’t be certain of that.”
“Was this mark on the flooring photographed and catalogued by the original tech team?”
Trudy hesitated. “I don’t believe so, Ma’am.”
Dani got to her feet. “Then I think we’d better get that team back up here ASAP, don’t you? I have to assume the SOCOs didn’t compromise the scene themselves, so this mark must have been made pre-mortem. Have you got DI Lawrence’s number on your phone?”
Trudy nodded with resignation. “I’ll call him right now, Ma’am.” She ran a hand through her wavy hair. “I can tell you for nothing, he won’t be happy.”
Dani’s expression was fixed in a grim line. “Well,” she added stiffly, “that will make two of us.”
Chapter 7
Nate Lawrence’s cheeks were flushed crimson. His dark hair was ruffled and his shirt had come loose from his trousers. Dani surmised that DI Lawrence was the type of person whose appearance tended to unravel along with their mood.
The detectives stood facing one another in the lounge of Autumn Carlisle’s flat.
“How are the SOCOs supposed to ascertain whether this mark on the bedroom floor occurred on the morning of Miss Carlisle’s death, or simply came from the boot of one of the workmen who fitted the bathroom, several months ago?”
“So, you also think it’s a boot mark?” Dani maintained eye contact with the detective.
Lawrence shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I’m no expert, obviously, but that’s how it appears, yes.” The words were delivered begrudgingly.
“In answer to your question, I believe if the scuff mark had been left by a workman, there would be more, in other parts of the flat. But there was just the one and it is positioned directly between the bed and the shower room.”
Lawrence breathed in deeply, rubbing both hands through his hair, sending it up into even more unruly tufts. “But if, and I’m only saying if, there was an intruder in this flat when Autumn died, wouldn’t there also have been further indications of his presence – more marks on the floorboards, an open window, fingerprints on the door knobs?”
“This intruder was obviously careful. They must have worn gloves and had a way to enter the flat without leaving a trace. But in order to overpower Autumn and drag her into the shower cubicle, there must have been a struggle. This was the point when the scuff mark was left.”
Lawrence sighed. “It’s conjecture at this point.”
“Yes, but it fits with the other evidence. The clothes neatly laid out on the bed, including the underwear. No suicide note left for her devoted parents.” Dani moved aside as one of the techies exited the bedroom, heading for the front door.
The DI dropped onto the arm of the small sofa. “Okay, if, as a team, we entertain the scenario of an intruder, what would you recommend we do next?”
Dani softened her tone. “You need to get the SOCOs to examine the roof for starters. I noticed an external fire escape when DC Gifford and I arrived. Our killer may have entered through one of the windows in the roof. Top floor flats can get very hot. Autumn may have left one of the Velux windows open a crack. She may have felt safer being this high up in the building, resulting in her being prepared to take this small risk. The weather has been unusually warm lately.”
The DI nodded. But before he could answer, the building shook with the noise of an aircraft passing overhead. It took a couple of minutes for the cacophony to subside. “Jesus Christ!” He exclaimed. “What in merry hell was that?”
Dani tipped her head skyward. “That was the reason no one in the building heard the struggle between Autumn and her attacker. Those things go overhead about every hour.”
Lawrence’s expression was grim. “Why didn’t I clock that myself?”
“Because the superficial evidence suggested suicide. That meant your tech teams weren’t here long enough to notice, or to recognise the significance. You had no real reason to assume that suicide wasn’t the case in this instance. I imagine there are more suicides in London than there are murders?”
“Yeah, about tenfold.”
“Then you made a perfectly logical assumption that you were dealing with a suicide here.”
“I used to work the river in my days as a DC. We had a bridge jumper about once a month. They never left any notes either.”
“Then there you go.” Dani wondered why she was wasting time massaging this man’s ego. “Now, we need to get a new set of forensics off to the lab. I’d also suggest questioning the neighbours again. They may have seen someone hanging around the building in the last few weeks. The intruder must have known Autumn’s movements and routine.”
He jumped to his feet. “I’m on it.” He eyed her cautiously. “Is there any chance you might be able to stay on here for a couple more days?”
Dani cracked a half smile. “It seems like I might have to.”
*
Dani had left Nate Lawrence and his team to re-interview the neighbours in Hillingdon. The DCI had decided to pay a visit to Autumn Carlisle’s place of work.
Trudy had recommended she take the Underground to Heathrow airport, suggesting the roads were too congested to bother negotiating at that time of day. Dani appreciated the local knowledge.
Lomond Airlines had an office on the top floor of one of the terminal buildings. The desks looked out on a bank of tall windows which framed the impressive fleet of planes lining the tarmac below. Dani was led to the office of the CEO of Lomond Airlines himself, Denny Lomond.
The DCI recognised the man immediately. He was one of Scotland’s most successful entrepreneurs. Denny was often being interviewed on TV about topics that ranged from the expansion of his leisure empire to zero-hour contracts and the impact of Brexit.
The man wasn’t as tall as he appeared on the small screen. In real life he was stocky in build, with a smooth pate, but still handsome in a tanned, rugged way. He moved out from behind his desk to shake her hand.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me at such short notice, Mr Lomond.” Dani took a seat.
“My door is always open to a fellow Scot.” He knitted his lined brow. “But the subject of your visit concerns me greatly. You believe the death of poor Autumn may have been murder?”
Dani was taken-aback by his directness. But then she imagined it came with the territory in his line of work. “We are still ascertaining the facts, but we have fresh evidence to suggest there was an intruder in Miss Carlisle’s flat on the morning she died.”
Denny whistled. “Well, I must admit I never bought into the idea of Autumn being suicidal. She seemed pretty much in control of her life to me. Hell, it’s why I offered her the promotion to management.”
“Autumn had been working for you this last three months?”
“That’s right. I’m expanding my operation down here. As you probably know, I’ve been running short-haul flights out of Prestwick for years. I felt the time had come to enter the international market. So, I’m on the lookout for great staff. I’ve got some eyes and ears at all the big operators. I was told that Autumn was one of the best.”
; “This was when she worked for BA?”
“Yes, she had a great reputation there. I approached her myself to offer her a job here. It took a couple of meetings to persuade her to switch.”
“You got to know her quite well, then?”
Denny shrugged his shoulders. “We had lunch and talked about the aviation industry. I wouldn’t say she got to know much about me personally or vice-versa.”
Dani glanced at her notes. “I’m keen to speak with her co-workers. I know they were interviewed once already, but in the light of the new evidence, I will need to speak with them again. Particularly a member of your cabin crew named Kathy Brice?”
“I’ll place you in the capable hands of my PA. She’ll sort that out for you, but I must warn you, some of the staff on your list may be in the air.”
Dani nodded. “I expected that might be the case.”
Denny leant forward. “It’s a strange life they lead. It wouldn’t be for me.”
Dani crinkled her brow in puzzlement. “What do you mean?”
“Spending more than half of your life up there in the sky.” His compact body shuddered fractionally, a shadow passing across his features. “I prefer to be on terra-firma. If you know what I mean?”
Dani smiled. She did know what he meant but thought it a strange thing for the aviation entrepreneur Denny Lomond to have said.
Chapter 8
When addressing his team in the incident room at Hammersmith Road Police Station, DI Lawrence appeared more professional than Dani had seen him at any point so far in their brief acquaintance.
A series of crime scene photographs were displayed on a smartboard behind him. “The scuff marks found by DCI Bevan of Police Scotland have been identified as containing traces of rubber and moulded plastic. According to the tech team, this suggests they originate from the sole of a shoe. There is no way to ascertain how fresh the marks are, but the experts suggested the stain had been there for days rather than weeks.”
“How do they know that?” One of the officers enquired.
“Because the residue was lying on top of the polished floorboards. It wouldn’t have taken long for natural footfall to have eroded and wiped it away. As the DCI so astutely pointed out, the mark lay in the direct path that our victim would have taken from her bed to the en-suite. Even with bare feet passing over it, the mark would have been gone in a few days.”
Trudy raised her hand. “So, are we now assuming that Autumn Carlisle was a victim of a violent attack at the hands of an intruder?”
Lawrence opened his wide arms in a gesture of supplication. “We are now treating the death of Autumn Carlisle as suspicious. I’ll hold my hands up to it folks. So far, I’ve royally cocked up. Somehow, we missed this piece of vital evidence first time around.”
Dani stepped forward, not wanting the briefing to turn into an outlet for Nate Lawrence to vent his remorse. “It’s very common in the early stages of an investigation for a piece of evidence like this to be missed. The scuff mark may yet turn out to indicate nothing, but it does mean that murder has become a real possibility.” She glanced at the DI, who appeared happy to let her speak. “Yesterday, I called in on the offices of Lomond Airlines, where Autumn worked. Her colleagues again reiterated how organised and capable the victim was. But none knew her intimately enough to have visited her flat or were able to give me a name of any of her closest friends or lovers. Some of her team are currently out of the country and may tell us more when they return.”
Lawrence took over. “We interviewed the neighbours on both sides of Miss Carlisle’s street. None of them had noticed anyone suspicious hanging around the property. But it’s a busy thoroughfare and I would question if a stranger would really be clocked by residents.”
Trudy added, “the fire escape for the building gives access to the roof. I spoke with the landlord and he says it was a requirement of the conversion, that the top flat had an escape route in a fire. But there’s no evidence that one of the windows had been left open. I spoke again with the lady in the flat below, the one who found the victim. She says she didn’t close a window when she was there.”
Dani considered this. “Autumn had given her neighbour a key to her property. She’d only lived there a couple of months and hardly knew her. I wonder if she handed out keys to anyone else?”
“It’s something you’d give to a best friend or lover,” Lawrence chipped in. “But we’ve no evidence that she had either.”
Dani breathed in deeply. “I think we need to go back into Autumn’s past. We need to visit the house she lived in before moving to Hillingdon and question her work colleagues at BA. She’d recently made a big change in her life. I’m sure the new job at Lomond offered her a better salary and prospects, but was there another reason why Autumn gave up her job and home?”
Lawrence nodded his agreement. “Gifford and Klein, can you check out Carlisle’s previous employers? DC Singh, can you draft a press release? We want to appeal for witnesses who were on Camberwell Road at the time Carlisle was killed to come forward. There’s a newsagents a couple of doors down, it would be worth asking in there too. People go in early for papers on a weekday.”
The officers in the room dispersed to make a start on their tasks, leaving Dani and Nate Lawrence alone. The DI grinned. “Fancy a run down to the country, Dani, it is a lovely day?”
Dani was beginning to get to grips with the man’s offbeat sense of humour. “Certainly, I’ll just grab my coat.”
*
It turned out to be one of those occasions when Dani missed having her simple, cropped hairstyle. DI Lawrence was driving the detectives to East Sussex in a silver Mercedes with its roof down, exposing them to a mild but ferocious breeze and some lovely views of the rolling countryside.
Dani had to shout above the engine noise. “This car can’t possibly be police issue!”
Lawrence turned his head. “I’ve had it a good few years. I was a stockbroker in the City before I became a cop. I bought it then.”
Dani nodded. This piece of information explained a great deal about the man. “Why the big career move!?” she yelled.
“The City is full of self-serving bastards. I’d made some cash, so it was time to take a job with value. I got on the fast-track at the Met and was a DC by the time I hit thirty.”
Before Dani had a chance to reply, Lawrence abruptly swung the car to the left, exiting the main road and leading them along a winding lane with tall bushes flanking the vehicle on both sides.
The bushes suddenly fell away to reveal a charming settlement comprised of thatched cottages, a village green and a small stone church with a tall spire.
“This is it,” Lawrence declared. “The village of Mitchling, East Sussex.”
The cottage was easy enough to find, even though the Sat Nav had long since ceased to recognise the tiny lanes they were snaking through. It sat on the edge of the village and its name, Maple Cottage, was clearly displayed on a sign by the gate.
Dani climbed out of the car and stood at the low stone wall which enclosed its small, neat front garden. “What a beautiful house.”
Lawrence came to stand beside her. “It’s lovely. What the estate agents would call ‘chocolate box’.”
Dani frowned. “Why would Autumn move from such an idyllic location? The flat on Camberwell Road is nice enough inside, but that bloody plane noise. It was nightmarish.”
Lawrence glanced about him at the surrounding countryside. “Trudy informed me that when Autumn was at BA, most of her flights were out of Gatwick. She was within striking distance of the airport here. But with her move to Lomond, she needed to be nearer their base at Heathrow. A move was inevitable.”
“Yes, I get that. But even so, the two properties make quite a contrast.”
Whilst they were talking, a lady in her sixties had opened the door of the cottage and was approaching them along the path. “Can I help you?” She enquired in a forceful tone.
Lawrence got out his warrant card. �
��We’re from the Metropolitan Police, madam. We wondered if you might answer a couple of question about the lady you bought this house from?”
Her brow creased, but she nodded her head and led the way inside.
Dani thought the interior was just as delightful as the outside. Mrs Forbes, retired headmistress, had filled the cottage with chintzy cushions and throws. A little black poodle was curled up in a Liberty patterned armchair.
“I’ve been here for three months now. I believe I have managed to make it my own. But the garden will be the real project for me.” Mrs Forbes invited the detectives to take a seat in the low-ceilinged living room.
“It’s a very nice property,” Dani added politely.
Lawrence cleared his throat. “Did you meet the lady you bought the house from, Miss Autumn Carlisle?”
“Oh yes,” Mrs Forbes replied. “She showed me around on one of my viewings. A refined young lady, I thought.”
“I’m afraid she was found dead in her flat in Hillingdon several days ago.”
The lady put her hand up to cover her mouth. “My goodness! What awful news. She was so young and beautiful. The poor thing.”
Dani shuffled forward in her seat. “Did Miss Carlisle give you an explanation as to why she was selling such a lovely cottage?”
“Well, she’d been offered a promotion, at another airline, she said. This meant moving closer to the city. I could tell she was sad to leave here, but I got the impression this was a new start for her.”
Dani nodded. “Did you have any other contact with her, after you’d moved in? To forward mail, for example?”
“No, Miss Carlisle had instructed the post office to do that. I sensed she was an efficient person that way.” Mrs Forbes clasped her hands in her lap. “I’m not one who likes to gossip.”
“I’m sure, you aren’t,” Dani replied.
“But a few of the villagers here did talk about Miss Carlisle after I moved in. I suppose it’s a sleepy sort of place without much news to speak of.”
The Eye in the Dark Page 4
