Horton didn’t think she’d get anything even a quarter decent that the fingerprint bureau could work with.
He said, ‘I’ll ask Elkins to scout along the coast towards Osborne House in case there’s a way on to the beach from that side. Clarke can take some photographs of that and of the entrance to the creek.’
‘OK.’ Uckfield reached for his phone. Over his shoulder he said, ‘Call Dr Clayton, ask her to meet us at the mortuary on the island. No point in her coming here; there’s nothing she can do except certify the poor bugger’s dead and we can all see that. Tell Elkins after Clarke’s got his photos to go back to Portsmouth and collect her. He can also pick up DI Dennings. I’ll get him to set up an incident suite at Newport. You can come with me to the mortuary.’
Although the mortuary wasn’t Horton’s favourite place he was glad that Uckfield had asked him to accompany him there. He’d wondered if the Super would send him back to Portsmouth with Taylor, Tremaine and Clarke, this not being a CID matter. But Uckfield would pull in others from various departments to assist in the investigation and clearly he was going to be one of them. He was glad of that. He heard Uckfield say, ‘DI Dennings, I hope you haven’t got any plans for this weekend …’ And then he moved away.
Horton rather hoped Uckfield had ruined Dennings’ weekend. His views of Dennings, the great hulking oaf, were well known by Uckfield. It wasn’t just sour grapes either, Horton told himself as he headed for Clarke. He’d worked with Dennings on vice and on covert operations with the Intelligence Directorate and Dennings simply didn’t have the mental capacity to be a good or an even mediocre detective. However, that hadn’t stopped Uckfield appointing him to the Major Crime Team when the position had been promised to Horton. Uckfield claimed he was under orders from the then Chief Constable, his father-in-law, who hadn’t wanted a cop who’d been on an eight-month suspension for rape allegations anywhere near it or the station, while Dennings who had been with Horton on that ill-fated operation had come out smelling of roses. Only because he’d sat on his fat arse and done nothing except stare through a telescopic camera. But he’d kept his nose clean and played it by the book. Since then Uckfield had admitted secretly to Horton that he was keen to get Dennings out but claimed his hands were tied. Even though they now had a new Chief Constable, Horton guessed he was still out of favour because of his unorthodox policing style. Horton wasn’t sure how hard Uckfield was trying to ditch Dennings either. Even if Dennings did go, Horton doubted he’d be appointed in his place and certainly not if DCI Bliss was appointed Uckfield’s second-in-command. CID looked much more attractive if that happened.
He wasn’t improving his chances either, he thought, by withholding information. He’d missed the opportunity to tell Uckfield about the beachcomber but he knew that even given the chance he would have remained silent. Every instinct was urging him to do so. But it disturbed him. Was he hindering a murder investigation? Wyndham Lomas had seemed pretty harmless.
Yeah, and so had Dr Crippen, Jack the Ripper and Frederick West
, he thought, relaying instructions to Clarke who nodded and went to join Elkins and Ripley on the police launch. Horton eased his conscience with the thought that he’d see what Dr Clayton had to report first. He could always return later and try to locate this Lomas. Surely he wouldn’t be that difficult to find.
He returned to the corpse. Tremaine looked up and shook her head, which meant she could get little from the sail cloth. When Dr Clayton and the mortuary assistant unwrapped it from the body Horton hoped to be able to see what type of sail it was. Not that that meant much, because it wouldn’t come with the boat’s name stamped all over it, and even if it had some identifying feature
He said, ‘I’ll ask Elkins to scout along the coast towards Osborne House in case there’s a way on to the beach from that side. Clarke can take some photographs of that and of the entrance to the creek.’
‘OK.’ Uckfield reached for his phone. Over his shoulder he said, ‘Call Dr Clayton, ask her to meet us at the mortuary on the island. No point in her coming here; there’s nothing she can do except certify the poor bugger’s dead and we can all see that. Tell Elkins after Clarke’s got his photos to go back to Portsmouth and collect her. He can also pick up DI Dennings. I’ll get him to set up an incident suite at Newport. You can come with me to the mortuary.’
Although the mortuary wasn’t Horton’s favourite place he was glad that Uckfield had asked him to accompany him there. He’d wondered if the Super would send him back to Portsmouth with Taylor, Tremaine and Clarke, this not being a CID matter. But Uckfield would pull in others from various departments to assist in the investigation and clearly he was going to be one of them. He was glad of that. He heard Uckfield say, ‘DI Dennings, I hope you haven’t got any plans for this weekend …’ And then he moved away.
Horton rather hoped Uckfield had ruined Dennings’ weekend. His views of Dennings, the great hulking oaf, were well known by Uckfield. It wasn’t just sour grapes either, Horton told himself as he headed for Clarke. He’d worked with Dennings on vice and on covert operations with the Intelligence Directorate and Dennings simply didn’t have the mental capacity to be a good or an even mediocre detective. However, that hadn’t stopped Uckfield appointing him to the Major Crime Team when the position had been promised to Horton. Uckfield claimed he was under orders from the then Chief Constable, his father-in-law, who hadn’t wanted a cop who’d been on an eight-month suspension for rape allegations anywhere near it or the station, while Dennings who had been with Horton on that ill-fated operation had come out smelling of roses. Only because he’d sat on his fat arse and done nothing except stare through a telescopic camera. But he’d kept his nose clean and played it by the book. Since then Uckfield had admitted secretly to Horton that he was keen to get Dennings out but claimed his hands were tied. Even though they now had a new Chief Constable, Horton guessed he was still out of favour because of his unorthodox policing style. Horton wasn’t sure how hard Uckfield was trying to ditch Dennings either. Even if Dennings did go, Horton doubted he’d be appointed in his place and certainly not if DCI Bliss was appointed Uckfield’s second-in-command. CID looked much more attractive if that happened.
He wasn’t improving his chances either, he thought, by withholding information. He’d missed the opportunity to tell Uckfield about the beachcomber but he knew that even given the chance he would have remained silent. Every instinct was urging him to do so. But it disturbed him. Was he hindering a murder investigation? Wyndham Lomas had seemed pretty harmless.
Yeah, and so had Dr Crippen, Jack the Ripper and Frederick West
, he thought, relaying instructions to Clarke who nodded and went to join Elkins and Ripley on the police launch. Horton eased his conscience with the thought that he’d see what Dr Clayton had to report first. He could always return later and try to locate this Lomas. Surely he wouldn’t be that difficult to find.
He returned to the corpse. Tremaine looked up and shook her head, which meant she could get little from the sail cloth. When Dr Clayton and the mortuary assistant unwrapped it from the body Horton hoped to be able to see what type of sail it was. Not that that meant much, because it wouldn’t come with the boat’s name stamped all over it, and even if it had some identifying feature
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