‘No, I don’t want too many people in there, just the two experts.’
‘I could take a statement from the Jamaican couple…’
Crowley was on edge. ‘Their statement is far too important for someone with your lack of experience to take. Just go home, Tennison!’
As Crowley stomped off, Lawrence saw Jane’s crestfallen face. ‘Listen, you can help me with the exhibits. Is that all right with you, Dexter?
‘Fine by me so long as Crowley doesn’t find out.’
Jane gave a small smile of thanks to Lawrence as he radioed in to Kentish Town and asked them to call the Control room at Scotland Yard to make a request for at least four night-duty SOCOs to attend the scene and carry out a fingerprint search.
The flat had a small living room, kitchen and two small bedrooms. In one of the bedrooms the bed had been placed upright against the wall to make room for a large work table, on which there were a number of small pieces of cut wire and globules of burnt solder wire. All the cupboards and drawers were empty and it was clear to Lawrence that the suspects had used cleaning cloths to remove fingerprint traces. Lawrence took out his camera and started photographing the bedroom and the work table.
‘They may not have been as smart as they think about cleaning up their fingerprints… any idea why?’ he asked Jane, testing her crime scene abilities.
She paused. ‘If they’ve taken the time to remove them, it could mean they have a criminal record and could be identified by fingerprints.’
‘Yes, but there’s something else. Sometimes we miss what we can’t see.’
Lawrence pointed to the table.
‘That table must have been carried in here as it wouldn’t fit if the bed was in its normal place… so…’ He paused and Jane twigged where he was going.
‘You lift a table with your hands on the underside and leave fingerprints that you can’t see.’
‘Exactly… and likewise with the bed and chair. You heard of a mechanical fit?’
Jane nodded. ‘Yes, on the forensic module during my CID course. The tutor tore a piece of paper into six pieces and put it back together like a jigsaw. Because each part came from the same paper each bit was a unique mechanical fit and therefore considered conclusive evidence that all the pieces were of the same origin.’
‘You’ve got a good memory.’
‘I only did the course two months ago, so it’s still fresh in my mind.’
‘Nevertheless, you obviously paid attention and that will stand you in good stead as a detective. See the bits of cut wire on the table? If we can trace the wire cutters that were used to a suspect’s possession, then that is another possible mechanical fit.’
Jane was confused. ‘How?’
Lawrence explained, ‘Often wire cutters and similar implements wear over time and unique nicks or marks are created on the cutting edge. When they are used to cut wire the striation mark from the edge of the cutting implement is transferred to the wire.
‘We then do test cuts with the suspect’s pliers and compare the test wires against those on the table here. If there is a match with the cutting marks… bingo! We have evidence that the same cutters were used.’
Jane watched, fascinated, as Lawrence took a small glass bowl out of his forensic kit, together with some small bottles of liquid. He placed the bowl on top of his kit bag and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves.
‘I’m going to do what is called a Griess test for traces of explosives.’
Jane watched as he rubbed a piece of white filter paper on an area of the table, then placed it in the glass bowl.
‘The test involves taking a sample with the filter paper then sodium hydroxide is added to the bowl followed by the Griess reagent… if the paper turns pink within ten seconds, this indicates the presence of nitrites.’
Jane was rather lost with the terminology of the procedure but was engrossed with what Lawrence was doing. When one of the filter papers turned pink within three seconds she knew that Lawrence had got a positive result. He grinned, but appeared quite calm.
Jane, in contrast, was excited. ‘Is it nitroglycerine?’
‘It’s only a preliminary test… the explosives lab will carry out the more sensitive thin layer chromatography on further samples from the table top… But for my money you can be 99 per cent sure it’s nitro.’
Lawrence handed Jane some rubber gloves and small exhibits bags and asked her to help him bag and list each bit of wire. Dexter called out from the kitchen, asking Lawrence if he could have a word with him.
‘You found something?’ Lawrence asked, as he entered the kitchen.
‘There’s more wire in the bin, along with the remnants of a remote-control car and the shell of an alarm clock… If they had planned to move on then I’d expect a more thorough clean up.’
‘I agree. The attempt at cleaning off fingerprints looks rushed… and I got a positive for nitro on the work table.’
Lawrence looked around the kitchen and noticed a large cooking pot on the stove with some stew in it. He picked up a soup spoon and dipped it into the pot.
Dexter looked shocked, ‘You’re not actually going to eat that shit, are you?’
Lawrence moved the spoon up to his mouth, making Dexter cringe, then with a cheeky grin stopped and dipped his finger in the spoonful of stew.
‘It’s still lukewarm. If they were planning on moving out tonight then why not eat this first?’
‘The bastards must have been tipped off. They knew we were coming!’ Dexter punched a kitchen cabinet with his fist.
Lawrence spoke calmly. ‘Well, it can’t be anyone on the raid. None of us knew where we were going until Church briefed us.’
‘My bet’s on a leak within the Intelligence Services. Keep this between us. I’ll go back to the Yard and tell Church.’
‘Rather you than me. I’ll finish up here with Tennison, the SOCOs can work through the night on the fingerprinting and I’ll arrange for uniform to guard the premises until everything’s been examined.’
‘How long will it take to get results if you find any prints?’
‘A week or two.’
‘What? Why so bloody long?’
‘Because the suspects are probably all paddies, and if they have a criminal record their fingerprints will be held with either the RUC or Garda Síochána fingerprint bureaus. We have to search them manually here first, then send them over to Ireland and that takes time.’
‘And time’s something we haven’t got. I can feel it my blood… the IRA are planning something big in London.’
Jane arrived at the lab expecting to be given some menial tasks or asked to type up reports. She perked up when Lawrence told her that she could help him with the items recovered from the flat in Kentish Town.
‘They’re running further tests on the samples I took from the table tops. So far it’s looking pretty positive that its nitroglycerine but the final chromatography result takes a while, and they’ll need to do a second test to be sure.’
‘It’s all very intricate and time-consuming work,’ Jane remarked.
‘It has to be. We can’t afford to get it wrong, especially when it comes to a trial. Defence scientists will be allowed to examine everything and check our reports. If they can find the slightest error, they will be on it like a rash. They’ll allege our tests weren’t carried out properly or that there was contamination to try to discredit us.’
‘I was in court on a case once where that happened over the signing of a confession statement. The defence alleged that the defendant had been tricked into signing a doctored page of the notes admitting the crime.’
Lawrence looked surprised and Jane realised he thought the allegation was against her.
‘It wasn’t me they were accusing; it was the DI I was working with, though I did get a hard time when I gave evidence. I was accused of being part of the “fit-up”.’