The depression could be felt by everyone. Time was spent going over all their evidence to date, but they had no further suspects.
Jane hadn’t yet seen Bradfield and wondered if he was sleeping off his hangover in his office. She was given a fifteen-minute break mid-morning and was on her way to the canteen when he walked into the corridor.
‘Ah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.’ He was flushed, and she was unsure if he was about to tell her off or explain why he had put her back on normal uniform duties. He gave a cursory look around before he reached for her hand.
‘Erm, listen, about last night… I would have said something first thing but, well, you know we’ve been pretty caught up. I just wanted to apologize… I hope I didn’t make any untoward advances. I was well drunk but I remember you helped me back.’
‘It was fine, sir, nothing happened.’
He grinned. ‘Ah well, chance would be a fine thing, but thanks.’
He walked off, and Jane continued on her way to the canteen, when Kath hurtled up behind her.
‘You ain’t gonna believe what I might have dug up! It came at me like the proverbial brick in the head last night in bed, and this time, Jane darlin’, if I’m right it really is my golden ticket into the CID.’
She hooked one arm around Jane’s shoulders and waved a single sheet of typed paper. ‘But first I need your help to check something. You still got the list of serial numbers Julie Ann’s father gave Bradfield?’
‘The original is locked away with the exhibits, but I wrote them all down on some index cards as well.’
Kath’s excitement was mounting as they hurried into the incident room. Jane pulled out the index cards from the carousel and handed them to her. Pushing her paperwork to one side Kath laid the cards in a row on the table, and then placed the piece of paper she had been carrying next to the cards.
‘Right, I’ll read out a number on my list and you check it against the Collins list,’ Kath said.
‘But we’ve already checked the serial numbers and matched the notes O’Duncie stole from Julie Ann.’
‘We haven’t checked my list,’ she smiled, tapping her finger on the piece of paper she’d put on the table.
Jane could see it was a further list of banknote denominations and serial numbers. ‘Did they find some more money at O’Duncie’s squat?’
Kath shook her head. ‘I woke up in the middle of the night and I just knew that I was missing something, but not what it was that I was missing, do you understand?’
‘No I don’t, other than you’ve lost something. I’ve been so bored and I had to cover the front desk yet again as I’m back on uniform duties. Did I upset Bradfield?’
‘No he had no choice, Chief Super said to release you.’ Kath looked back at the list, ‘Shit, I know I am right.’
‘Sorry, what you got?’
‘OK, the money he’d hidden, some of it still had the currency wrapper round it, that’s what I’d missed, well, until now.’
‘Who’d hidden, Kath? I’m not following you.’
‘Kenneth Boyle – remember that little scumbag? I nicked him turning over an old-age pensioner’s place and we searched his flat.’
‘The bloke you had up in court the other day, the one who got a soft sentence?’
Kath nodded and reminded Jane how Boyle had a load of money hidden in an old shoebox in his bedroom. He said he’d nicked it from other old people’s flats, but having now checked the victims’ original burglary reports, she realized the total amount of money stolen didn’t add up to what was in the shoebox.
‘Well, he’d probably spent some of it,’ Jane replied.
‘No, no, listen to me. That’s what’s been naggin’ me. There was much more in the tin than he’d confessed to stealing. I thought at first he probably did more burglaries than he admitted, but then I remembered some of the notes in the tin had a currency wrapper round them like the ones Bradfield found at O’Duncie’s.’
‘My God, do you think some of the Boyle money may have been cash Julie Ann stole?’ Jane asked excitedly.
Kath’s eyes lit up. ‘Yes. I’ve listed the serial numbers on what we found at Boyle’s place so let’s start checking them against Mr Collins’ list – we’ll do the ones in the bank wrappers first.’
Kath and Jane got to work. It was only a matter of seconds before Kath shouted, ‘Bingo!’ and started leaping up and down.
‘Boyle was arrested a couple of days after Julie Ann’s murder. Didn’t I say he gave it up too easily about the burglaries? He looked like a cat that got the cream and will no doubt get a pitiful sentence. He thinks he’s got away with it. I’m right, I’m right, I know it!’
It was Kath’s turn to look like the cat with the cream as one by one she ticked off further serial numbers that matched the money seized from Kenneth Boyle. She gave Jane a big hug and did a small sashay dance to DCI Bradfield’s office and in her excitement forgot to knock before walking in.
‘Get out, Morgan,’ he bellowed and she saw that he was with DI Spencer Gibbs having a celebratory whisky over his reinstatement to normal duties.
‘This is really important, sir. I think I may have found Julie Ann’s killer.’
