FRANKS, Bill Read Online Free PDF Page A

elderly man who strangled his equally elderly wife following a dispute over a television programme.
       “Good afternoon, Sergeant,” Graham returned. “What’s the story?”
       Flint looked thoughtful . “Well, first of all, we got called out here by a local who had been walking his dog . The man was very shaken but he managed to get his story out . The body is as it was found . As you know, forensics and pathology will not spoil anything on the scene but they do want to remove the body as soon as possible . Come . I’ll introduce you.”
       First to meet Graham were the three men from forensics who merely nodded and grunted their greeting . Then came the pathologist. A woman of around 30 years of age, five-feet, seven inches tall, dark brown, short-cut hair and no make-up . Her complexion was clear and slightly tanned . A woman who did not need to use cosmetics to improve herself, she had large, brown, intelligent eyes with a neat, straight nose over full lips . Graham noticed a wedding ring on her finger . Small wonder she was spoken for.
       “Hello, Detective Inspector,” she said before Flint had a chance to speak . “I’m Doctor Sallie Dunning, the pathologist . “Pleased to meet you,” she smiled . “As usual, not the best of circumstances.”
       “No, quite . What have you got here?”
       Dunning adopted her cool, working voice as she explained the facts as found so far . “Well . The victim is a female of around seventeen years of age . There appears to have been sexual activity…”
       “Penetration?”
       “Yes . Penetration. However, it does not at this stage indicate force . I will know more when I get her back, where I can carry out a proper inspection . There appears to be some bruising around the vaginal area but that is normal following intercourse . There also appears to be a deposit of semen inside and on the upper thighs, so DNA should be no problem.”
       “What killed her?”
       Dunning’s brow creased and she placed a fist thoughtfully under her chin . “At this time, I cannot tell you . I’ve turned the body over and given it as thorough an inspection as possible without risking the destruction of evidence and I can find nothing particular except that, from the condition of the body, I would say that she has suffered a fit of some kind . It may be an unlawful death but the autopsy should give a clearer picture.”
       Graham uttered a short sigh . “Thank you . I know it’s difficult out here but I would appreciate the results of the post-mortem as quickly as possible . There is no evidence present to link this with any other enquiry but I have a feeling that it is linked with a current investigation into a child murder.”
       Sallie turned her attention back to the work in hand as Graham studied the still figure . “What time did she die?” he asked Sallie.
       She answered from her crouched position, without turning her head . “I can only estimate that, but I would say around eighteen to twenty-four hours ago.”
       Graham walked carefully around the body, noting the absence of signs of struggle and the clothing being in no disarray . This was too much like the scene of Kylie’s murder not to be linked . Together with Sergeant Flint, he carefully inspected the surrounding area, seeking any possible clues but, after half an hour, nothing had been found . Even if the murder had been committed the previous evening, there could still have been footprints due to the fine weather with little breeze . However, the killer had been clever enough to erase any such clues.
       Deciding that there was nothing more to be gleaned, Graham asked Flint to organise a thorough search of the lane leading to the clearing and to contact him when the pathology results were in . He said his goodbyes to Sallie and the crew and made his way back to the motorway.
      On arriving back home, Graham let himself in and went into the kitchen where Bethany was