Bloody Valentine - James Patterson [12]
‘We’ll do our best.’
A technician handed Amy, Ben and Sergeant Reece protective clothing as they entered the foyer of Barnes Building. They covered themselves in the white suits, bonnets and overshoes before snapping on gloves.
Constable Michelle Green was waiting for Amy and Ben at the desk. ‘Sergeant Reece is with the suspect, ma’am. He was found in the apartment on the second floor.’
‘He’s still there?’
‘Yes, ma’am. The doctor’s with him. Sergeant Reece is waiting for you. Lift straight ahead of you. Only one of the four is operational. Forensic are working in the others.’
‘Has the suspect been identified?’
‘All I know is that he’s a resident, ma’am.’
Chapter Eleven
The lift was covered in fine grey fingerprint powder. White-suited technicians were swarming over the corridor. A suited constable was standing guard outside the apartment door.
‘Ma’am, sir. The duty pathologist is examining the corpse. I’ve been ordered to warn you to step inside carefully.’ He opened the door for them.
A woman rose from the floor where she’d been kneeling beside the body.
‘Preliminary report?’ Amy was abrupt, shaken by the size of the pool of blood standing proud around the corpse.
Sergeant Reece left the bedroom. ‘Ma’am, sir. The porter has identified the victim as Bruno Gambrini. He occupied this apartment with his partner, Adrian Wills. Both are chefs who work for Jack Barnes. Mr Wills, who was also identified by the porter, was found slumped over Mr Gambrini’s corpse. He was holding a carving knife and his clothes are stained with Mr Gambrini’s blood.’
The pathologist took over. ‘Serrations on the knife match the wounds in Mr Gambrini’s abdomen and neck. Rigor mortis hasn’t set in, so death was within the last three hours. There are two stab wounds. One to the abdomen, one to the neck. The one to the neck severed the jugular before hitting the spine. There are bone fragments on the knife and at the entry point of the wound, which were probably left when the knife was withdrawn. Mr Gambrini died from blood loss, probably within a minute of his jugular being severed. No organs have been removed.’ The pathologist called to the technicians. ‘You can move the body out now.’
‘You’ll notify me of the post mortem results?’
‘You should have them by the end of the day, ma’am.’
Sergeant Reece stood back. ‘The suspect is in the bedroom, ma’am, sir.’
Amy and Ben picked their way around the corpse and pools of blood and entered the bedroom. A man in bloodied chefs’ whites, his hands and feet bagged in plastic, was sitting, slumped, on his bed. He was holding his head and moaning. The police doctor was checking his blood pressure.
‘Mr Wills?’
The man lifted his head and stared at Amy, She could see from the vacant expression in his eyes that he was in shock. The police doctor shook his head, warning Amy off trying to question his patient.
Amy motioned to Sergeant Reece and Ben. They left the room and entered the living room, where three forensic technicians were working.
‘As soon as the doctor’s finished with Mr Wills, get him to the station. Search him, send hand and nail swabs and all his clothes to the laboratory.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Let me know when he’s fit for questioning.’
‘Yes, ma’am. We checked with the porter. Mr Wills entered the foyer at ten minutes to one. Constable Bradley found him here, with the corpse, at two minutes to one.’
‘Eight minutes,’ Amy mused.
‘Less,’ Ben observed. ‘It would have taken at least two minutes to get here from the foyer.’
‘Anything else?’ Amy asked.
‘Yes, ma’am. We found two bloodstained knives and a fork in the sink. I sent them to the lab.’
‘Fingerprints?’ Amy asked.
‘So far only Bruno Gambrini’s and Adrian Wills’s, overlaid by smudges, probably from latex gloves.’
‘I suspect that’s all we’re going to find.’
‘I’ve ordered an incident room to be set up in the conference centre on the ground floor. The porter told us it’s been locked since it was cleaned two days ago.’
‘Thank you, Sergeant Reece. If you need us, contact us there.’
Michelle Green updated Ben and Amy