Death in Jimmy’s End - Part the second

The second part of our summer rugby serial combining the best of Scandanavian Noir and Jimmie's Green. A sort of "Saints Gris" genre. The story is evoling. Please fee free to suggest plotlines and McGuffins. The Author may even use them. 

AUTHORS NOTE  -     The following chapter contains adult themes –you have been warned !!   

Also I  decided to  fictionalise some things – hence the town of Midhampton    and their wonderful rugby team the  Midhampton Angels.  I don’t know if it will ever be important to the plot  but for your comfort and security  - they do play in Black Green and. Gold.

Most serious writers spend ages researching things  - I haven’t so the details in some instances may be inaccurate but they serve the plot. 

Talking of which  now is the time to start to speculate and suggest   -  I am open to your ideas  -  who knows where we may end up. 

Chapter 2  -  24 hours later.  The Police  take over  - Bert makes a new friend.

Detective Inspector Harold Blunt  was a big man  - well over  6 feet 2ins in height but unfortunately  bulging out of the tall frame  were rolls of fat    - all surmounted by a round balding head .- a full face that tended towards red when  excited or angry  with small bright eyes   The straight bristle of a greying moustache covered his  upper lip.

Unlike most large men he didn’t try to get into clothes that were too tight – in fact he went the other way and tried to disguise his bulk   behind  loose flapping jackets and very baggy trousers.

He liked to think of himself as a clever and knowledgeable person  but in effect   he was neither-  just  a  hard working almost driven  man   who made up for his lack of imagination with an elephantine memory  for facts.

Blunt  looked around the squad room  at Midhampton police HQ   and surveyed the team that had been assembled there to be de- briefed on what was now being called the  Allotment murder.  The team consisted of Sergeant Frank Malcolm   a long serving  officer  whose  sense of fairness and  seemingly never ending patience   always seemed to act as welcome buffer between the abrasive Blunt and the rest of the squad.  Then there were two Detective constables  - Watkins and Jones     and the only woman  a new comer and still on probation as member of the CID   acting DC   Clare Goodbody.

Blunt stood  while the others at   desks  around the room  he began. 

“Right you lot what do we know ?“    The question was rhetorical because  as the team knew only too well Blunt was about to tell them.   

“Ok    the victim  has been identified as Joe Falattu  aged 23   a professional rugby player with the Midhampton Angels. Crime scene people  report no DNA or other trace material at the scene  that   would tell us how he got there  or who put him there.“   He paused and looked hard at the assembled  squad.

“As you know the body was naked and headless   it was also“  – here Blunt appeared to smirk slightly  “ shall we say  decorated with certain vegetables in what may be a suggestive manner “

"Now  that information is sensitive and must not be revealed to the public and certainly not to our friends in the press” 

“Sir – what about the head  - has it  been found ?“  Interjected   Constable Watkins – a gangly lad    who was relatively new to the squad and  didn’t know better than interrupt  Blunt in full flow.  

“No lad it hasn’t  - “ said Blunt  evenly  and then with some emphasis “ And don’t interrupt me  again – ever”

“Now where was I – are yes  we have a preliminary report from the Pathology wallahs. 

Two things  - First off  -  The head was removed  by someone who knew what they were doing  -  it wasn’t just hacked if you see what I mean.  And – and  this the important bit -  The victim was  already dead when his head was removed.“

A general murmur of surprise and  mutterings     rippled round the room. 

“All right -    All right .  We should get more from the  Scientists later  but meanwhile  we have got some old fashioned police work to do.  

Sergeant  Malcolm and I  will be off to interview the victims team mates managers and that lot  down at the Rugby club.

Jones and Watkins can start on a house to house in the streets around the allotments.   Right let’s get to it”

'Sir what about me “ the speaker was a tall slim attractive young woman in her late twenties .

“Oh yes “ sighed Blunt “  How could I forget  our newest and prettiest recruit.”    

As he spoke he looked straight at her  - it was not a look that made its recipient  Detective Constable  Clare Goodbody feel at all comfortable.

“Yes – ah    Ms Goodbody “   Blunt emphasised the Muss .    – “  OK then – you can go and talk that old to that old git that found the body   I don’t trust him  - something very fishy about him  - ask him how he knew who the victim was again.“ 

"Yes Guv “  muttered Clare    and followed the otherwise wholly male group out of the squad room.

________________________________________________________________

Back at the Allotments 

Once the fuss had died down  , the body had been taken away in a plain black van and the police had left ,  Bert   went back into his shed  and brewed up another cup of tea.  

He  was disturbed  - well you would be wouldn’t you finding that on your allotment  - but also by the  police  their attitude  and especially that pompous Inspector .  Still  he had quite took the wind out of that buggers sails when he told him who the corpse was .

“It’s that young Falattu  the Angels new winger“   he had told them  .  “Oh yeah and how would you know that from a headless body?“    the head plod had sneered. 

"Well “ Bert “ had told him  "Cause he run past me every other week when I’m watching them Angels.  It’s his size and shape and I’d recognise those tattoos on his arms anywhere. 

The policeman had stared at Bert  and  then turned away  but not before turning back and looking him up and down  and then finally nodding as if to confirm some private thoughts walked away to join  the SOCOs .

Bert  generally did not like policemen or come to that most authority figures .So he was somewhat surprised at his own reaction  to the gentle knock on the open door of his shed and  female voice saying –   “Mr Haddon its DC Clare Goodbody  can I come in? “  

“MY she’s a pretty one“   thought Bert.  But he answered with a non-committal grunt  and waved her towards the  old wooden  chair  opposite the  more comfortable  but  very tattered  arm chair that he had squeezed into the shed several years ago and which he now occupied. 

“Mr  Haddon “  she began   “   I just wanted to check over a few things again with you  -  just to make sure we have got it right“ 

Bert  smiled  “ Don’t know what more there is tell you – besides your boss man didn’t seem all that interested in what I had got to say. “

"I see “ said Clare  “  and what was that then?“  

“When I told him who the poor dead lad was “ Bert went on to explain to Clare how he had recognised the body  and how he  was a regular attendee at the Angels on match days.   “You ever been to the rugby? “  he asked .

Clare visibly blushed   “Er - I have been to rugby matches “  she replied     - “ but somewhere else . – before I moved here.“ 

Bert looked at her with a wicked little grin    “You ent from up the road are you?  You ent from Leicester are you?

Clare blushed even more  - “ well yes I am    but it’s really my partner who is the big rugby fan .

Bert grinned even more  “ Well never mind now you’re here you will get the chance to see some proper rugby  .

Clare was puzzled and confused  -  She knew that Blunt had only sent her to interview Bert because he didn’t want her involved in the main work of the investigation  but she had to justify the visit somehow and here she was talking about rugby not the murder.  

“Bert  - what do you know about  the lad  - Joe Falattu that  is?  she asked .

“Well  “ , said Bert  ,  “Apart from him being a bloody goodun on the wing  -  he’s from  Tonga   and we got him from   one of them   lower division clubs up north  - Rotherham or  Leeds or something like that.   They also say he’s very religious  but a lot of them  Islanders are that way . apparently he don’t drink and don’t go clubbing or anything like that   “ 

“So he keeps himself to himself then?  “  -  asked Clare 

“That’s what I heard   “ Bert replied  “ But he’s supposed to be quite friendly with  Ryan Philips    the  scrum half.   Mind you that could just be something someone said once -  you know there’s always stories and theories about everyone and everything at a rugby club.“ 

Clare  Looked around  as she struggled to think of another question  - or at least one that was relevant.   She took in the  surroundings of the shed and noticed a book shelf   with several  books on it.  What surprised her and  lengthened the silence between her and Bert was  what the books were.  She made out  two interesting titles on the  spines  -   amongst the Crime paperbacks  was a dusty copy of   Das Kapital   nestling next  to  a book  whose title she couldn’t quite make out   - but the one word Lenin was  quite clear. 

“So what else do you want to know “ asked Bert  bringing her back to the business in hand.

"Well not much – I mean that’s fine for now  “   Clare muttered rising from her chair.   

“Tell you what girl  “   said Bert  “If you want to know more – get the flavour as it were about the rugby club – the Angles  - go on that internet thing and look at the  Come on You Angels  message board  - all of human life is there as they say  “ 

“Right   I’ll do just that “  said Clare   “ and thanks again   Mr Haddon .” 

_________________________________________________________________

Under the bright lighting that  characterised the pathology suite  at Midhampton General Hospital     Dr  Russell   Miller    sighed and  paused  in his dictation  into the overhead microphone   used to record his observations as he  carried out  a further detailed post mortem on the body of  Joe Falattu.

He turned away from the   table  where the body lay   and walking  away out of range of the  mike  and said to his assistant   “  You know we really can’t do much more without the  head   and when in hell’s name will get those lab reports ?  

His assistant  started to speak   but turned away    and walked quickly out of the  autopsy suite  leaving Miller  staring after her.    She returned quickly and breathing hard said “These arrived just as we came in and I didn’t think to give them to you because you were just about to start on the full PM.“

Miller looked at her  and took the bulky sealed   A4 envelope from her  by now shaking hands . He studied then pages quickly and then with several  “ I sees  “ and “  that explains it “   turned again to   his assistant  

“Well my dear it appears that our boy here   had been  drugged and was taking drugs.   Both traces of  Ecstasy  were found  and   wait for it - although previously untraceable -  now with these new techniques  we can and do find it  -   Rhohypnol   was  found in his  tissue and blood samples “    

“Isn’t that the date rape  drug? “  - asked his assistant.

 “Exactly “  replied Miler    “But from my examination of the Body there  is absolutely no evidence of sexual activity  unless you count  the carrot.“