Day Four History Arrives Part 1
The conference room door was shut. The room contained only three people. DCI Hart, DI Bentley and DC Jackson.
Bentley spoke. “Sir, you need to hear this to the end before you say anything. If you want, you can then have my resignation and I will happily allow you to have me committed.”
“What?” DC Christine Jackson exclaimed.
DCI Tony Hart simply waved a finger for him to begin.
“Sir,” Bentley began, standing in front of a white board, “I am going to go through series of events that have recently happened.” He uncapped a marker pen and began writing as he spoke.
“One, Thomas Evans is killed between 2315 and 0115 on the lane by Raddles Mission. His body is found in a field the next morning, there has been heavy disturbance to the body by foxes.” Bentley wrote the time and name on the white board.
“Two, between 0045 and 0600, Vanessa Hilt was drugged and raped in her own home around half a mile from Raddles Mission” Bentley wrote the details on the board.
“Three, between 0930 and 1400 Leanne Adams is drugged and raped in her own home, a mile from the Hilt house, and half a mile from the Raddles Mission.”
DCI Hart looked at the list and waved a continuation.
“So, we have one death, two drugging’s and associated rapes all within a half mile radius of the Raddles Mission. We had blood work done on the two rape victims, and also were able to recover DNA from semen samples. We are able to state that the same male was the attacker, and that an unknown drug was used to facilitate the assaults.”
Bentley paused and took a drink from his cup of coffee. “Due to the proximity of the events and the closeness of the times, I asked the coroner for the details on Thomas Evans death, and asked for an analysis of his blood.”
Christine leant forward, she had not known that her boss had done this, nor when. She knew he had taken an interest in the old Mission, but not that he had pursued other lines.
“Sir, Thomas Evans body was devoid of blood. There was no blood found at the body site, nor anywhere between where it was found and the Lane or Raddles Mission. When I say devoid sir, I mean almost completely none left. Some at the extremities, in the brain stem, sir, but the Coroner’s view is that Evans blood was drained from his body. However sir, the Coroner did recover some trace DNA from around two small marks on Evans’ neck. That DNA is a confirmed match for the attacker of the two women. There were also traces of the mysterious protein in some dried blood residue on the neck. The blood is Evans’ but there really was only the smallest amount and although the protein was detected, the coroner states that the amount is below that level considered probable. In other words, yes it was there but we could not rely on that as an undisputable fact in court.”
DCI Hart leant back in his chair. Christine let out a low whistle.
“Sir, the DNA owner is not on file and has not been reported. Sir, as you know through time DNA undergoes change and from the original pair of ‘Adam and Eve’ DNA donors several tens of thousands of years ago, the number of DNA types increases through mutations and that DNA is unique to individuals, with the unique characteristics of both parents being passed to children in a new DNA, and we known that even identical twins do not have identical DNA. The type of DNA that our assailant possesses is believed to have died out, to be have become extinct in the 6th Century BC. However sir, we know where the last know location of the DNA was. Sir, that location is Transylvania.”
Bentley sat down and drank his coffee looking at both his DCI and his DC. The thoughts going through his head wouldn’t straighten, he needed input and he had decided that big bang with the facts was the only way.
“So, Bentley, you are suggesting that the assailant is 8000 years old?” Hart said.
“Sir,” Christine dived in before her DCI said anything else frankly ridiculous, “what about the notion of a new Chemist trying out a new drug. Perhaps Thomas Evans though he was getting Ecstasy or something, and when it went horribly wrong, the Chemist somehow drained his blood so we couldn’t trace the drug. The river is not far away sir, a gallon of blood would be easily disposed of there sir. Without a trace sir.”
“The DNA Christine” said the DCI.
“Sir, yes, I guess I don’t know enough about DNA, but are you not sir,” she said looking at Bentley, “saying that there just has been no record of the DNA for a few thousand years. Isn’t DNA only recent, I mean, we don’t have DNA records going back hundred’s or thousand’s of years, sir.”
The DCI answered. “Christine you should have covered this in basics. Yes, DNA was only discovered recently, however using fossil and other remains, boffins have managed to recreate and record DNA stretching back to a couple leaving Africa round 25,000 years ago, Adam and Eve as they are known. All DNA can be traced back to them. As Bentley said, every now and then there are mutations and a new DNA is born. In this case the DNA in question is the parent of a mutated strain and this mutation was in the 6th Century BC. There is no doubt that the assailant would appear to be several thousand years old.”
“Fuck the fuck off.”
“Quite Christine, quite.”
“Sir,” Bentley said, “I want some uniforms to go round doing a door to door, see if anyone has seen or experienced anything odd recently, unusual memory lapses things like that.”
“No Chris.” DCI Hart softened his refusal with the use of Bentley’s given name, “We can’t be going round door to door asking if people have experienced memory loss or awoken to discover that they have had sex during their sleep, sex that they do not recall. People will be scared, it’ll leak to the press and there will be hell to pay. No you will have to think of something else.”
“Okay, well, I also want a full SOCO sweep of the old Raddles Mission. It is near where the boy’s body was found. It may not prove to be the primary murder scene, but there is evidence of people coming and going, recently trampled grass, discarded clothing and the like.”
“That I can agree to, but I do not want it getting out that we have a serial attacker and a murderer in our mists.”
“Sirs,” Christine said thinking aloud, “isn’t this all the wrong way round? I mean in every serial case I have studied, the perp starts with lesser crimes like flashing, then perhaps sexual assault and rape and only then goes on to murder. In this case he seems to have started with murder and then gone down to rape. Why didn’t he kill the women?”
DCI Hart looked at Bentley whist nodding at Christine’s words. “New lines of inquiry then inspector. Is this the end or the beginning? Check all local deaths going back 2 years, all of them within a 1 mile, then 2 mile then 3 mile radius of that Mission, your DC can do that, good observation Jackson. I think you know what your line of enquiry is Bentley?”
“Yes sir. I shall get straight on it.”
DCI Hart got up and left the conference room, leaving the door open as he went, a sure indication that they should also get up and get going.
“Sir,” Christine said, “sorry, but I don’t get all this male bonding and mind reading thing. What is it that you have to do that somehow was unsaid?”
“Think about it Christine, the reactions when we went back to see Vanessa Hilt.”
“Yes, they were all wrong. Oh.” She paused, “Oh shit, do you think he was in there whilst we were there?”
The conference room door was shut. The room contained only three people. DCI Hart, DI Bentley and DC Jackson.
Bentley spoke. “Sir, you need to hear this to the end before you say anything. If you want, you can then have my resignation and I will happily allow you to have me committed.”
“What?” DC Christine Jackson exclaimed.
DCI Tony Hart simply waved a finger for him to begin.
“Sir,” Bentley began, standing in front of a white board, “I am going to go through series of events that have recently happened.” He uncapped a marker pen and began writing as he spoke.
“One, Thomas Evans is killed between 2315 and 0115 on the lane by Raddles Mission. His body is found in a field the next morning, there has been heavy disturbance to the body by foxes.” Bentley wrote the time and name on the white board.
“Two, between 0045 and 0600, Vanessa Hilt was drugged and raped in her own home around half a mile from Raddles Mission” Bentley wrote the details on the board.
“Three, between 0930 and 1400 Leanne Adams is drugged and raped in her own home, a mile from the Hilt house, and half a mile from the Raddles Mission.”
DCI Hart looked at the list and waved a continuation.
“So, we have one death, two drugging’s and associated rapes all within a half mile radius of the Raddles Mission. We had blood work done on the two rape victims, and also were able to recover DNA from semen samples. We are able to state that the same male was the attacker, and that an unknown drug was used to facilitate the assaults.”
Bentley paused and took a drink from his cup of coffee. “Due to the proximity of the events and the closeness of the times, I asked the coroner for the details on Thomas Evans death, and asked for an analysis of his blood.”
Christine leant forward, she had not known that her boss had done this, nor when. She knew he had taken an interest in the old Mission, but not that he had pursued other lines.
“Sir, Thomas Evans body was devoid of blood. There was no blood found at the body site, nor anywhere between where it was found and the Lane or Raddles Mission. When I say devoid sir, I mean almost completely none left. Some at the extremities, in the brain stem, sir, but the Coroner’s view is that Evans blood was drained from his body. However sir, the Coroner did recover some trace DNA from around two small marks on Evans’ neck. That DNA is a confirmed match for the attacker of the two women. There were also traces of the mysterious protein in some dried blood residue on the neck. The blood is Evans’ but there really was only the smallest amount and although the protein was detected, the coroner states that the amount is below that level considered probable. In other words, yes it was there but we could not rely on that as an undisputable fact in court.”
DCI Hart leant back in his chair. Christine let out a low whistle.
“Sir, the DNA owner is not on file and has not been reported. Sir, as you know through time DNA undergoes change and from the original pair of ‘Adam and Eve’ DNA donors several tens of thousands of years ago, the number of DNA types increases through mutations and that DNA is unique to individuals, with the unique characteristics of both parents being passed to children in a new DNA, and we known that even identical twins do not have identical DNA. The type of DNA that our assailant possesses is believed to have died out, to be have become extinct in the 6th Century BC. However sir, we know where the last know location of the DNA was. Sir, that location is Transylvania.”
Bentley sat down and drank his coffee looking at both his DCI and his DC. The thoughts going through his head wouldn’t straighten, he needed input and he had decided that big bang with the facts was the only way.
“So, Bentley, you are suggesting that the assailant is 8000 years old?” Hart said.
“Sir,” Christine dived in before her DCI said anything else frankly ridiculous, “what about the notion of a new Chemist trying out a new drug. Perhaps Thomas Evans though he was getting Ecstasy or something, and when it went horribly wrong, the Chemist somehow drained his blood so we couldn’t trace the drug. The river is not far away sir, a gallon of blood would be easily disposed of there sir. Without a trace sir.”
“The DNA Christine” said the DCI.
“Sir, yes, I guess I don’t know enough about DNA, but are you not sir,” she said looking at Bentley, “saying that there just has been no record of the DNA for a few thousand years. Isn’t DNA only recent, I mean, we don’t have DNA records going back hundred’s or thousand’s of years, sir.”
The DCI answered. “Christine you should have covered this in basics. Yes, DNA was only discovered recently, however using fossil and other remains, boffins have managed to recreate and record DNA stretching back to a couple leaving Africa round 25,000 years ago, Adam and Eve as they are known. All DNA can be traced back to them. As Bentley said, every now and then there are mutations and a new DNA is born. In this case the DNA in question is the parent of a mutated strain and this mutation was in the 6th Century BC. There is no doubt that the assailant would appear to be several thousand years old.”
“Fuck the fuck off.”
“Quite Christine, quite.”
“Sir,” Bentley said, “I want some uniforms to go round doing a door to door, see if anyone has seen or experienced anything odd recently, unusual memory lapses things like that.”
“No Chris.” DCI Hart softened his refusal with the use of Bentley’s given name, “We can’t be going round door to door asking if people have experienced memory loss or awoken to discover that they have had sex during their sleep, sex that they do not recall. People will be scared, it’ll leak to the press and there will be hell to pay. No you will have to think of something else.”
“Okay, well, I also want a full SOCO sweep of the old Raddles Mission. It is near where the boy’s body was found. It may not prove to be the primary murder scene, but there is evidence of people coming and going, recently trampled grass, discarded clothing and the like.”
“That I can agree to, but I do not want it getting out that we have a serial attacker and a murderer in our mists.”
“Sirs,” Christine said thinking aloud, “isn’t this all the wrong way round? I mean in every serial case I have studied, the perp starts with lesser crimes like flashing, then perhaps sexual assault and rape and only then goes on to murder. In this case he seems to have started with murder and then gone down to rape. Why didn’t he kill the women?”
DCI Hart looked at Bentley whist nodding at Christine’s words. “New lines of inquiry then inspector. Is this the end or the beginning? Check all local deaths going back 2 years, all of them within a 1 mile, then 2 mile then 3 mile radius of that Mission, your DC can do that, good observation Jackson. I think you know what your line of enquiry is Bentley?”
“Yes sir. I shall get straight on it.”
DCI Hart got up and left the conference room, leaving the door open as he went, a sure indication that they should also get up and get going.
“Sir,” Christine said, “sorry, but I don’t get all this male bonding and mind reading thing. What is it that you have to do that somehow was unsaid?”
“Think about it Christine, the reactions when we went back to see Vanessa Hilt.”
“Yes, they were all wrong. Oh.” She paused, “Oh shit, do you think he was in there whilst we were there?”