“Fitz, I’m going to need the post-mortem done immediately, I need those results, like yesterday.”
“You’re going to have a lot to answer for when my wife sees you next.”
Gardener oversaw the removal of the body. Once Fitz had left, he asked the traffic cops to remain at the scene and coordinate a diversion for the time being.
> Steve Fenton stood behind him, finishing a call on his mobile.
“Good news,” he said to Gardener. “We’ve located the signal from Johnson’s mobile when he called Ronson. He was at Sinclair’s house.”
“Good work, Steve. Can you get all the information off Gary’s mobile for me? Give me a call when you have it.”
Fenton nodded and returned to his car.
Gardener addressed his partner. “Let’s get to the Foundation. I doubt he’s still there, but you never know.”
“I’ve just had a thought,” said Reilly. “We were there earlier and the staff were all a bit down, they said they’d lost a patient. You don’t think that was Gary’s mother, do you?”
Gardener sighed. “I sincerely hope not, but it might explain what happened to Gary.”
“Only partly. Wrapping his car around a tree through grief might be one option, but he wouldn’t have suffocated.”
Gardener could only nod in agreement. He turned his attention to Thornton and Anderson. “You two follow us. If Sinclair isn’t at the Foundation, I’d like you both to wait there while we go to his house.”
On arrival at the Foundation, Sinclair’s car was not in the car park. The receptionist said he had been there, but he’d left about ten minutes ago.
Iain Ross was walking towards the reception desk when he saw the two officers. “Can I help you gentlemen?”
“Not unless you can tell us where Sinclair is,” said Reilly.
“I’m afraid I can’t. He was here earlier.”
“We know that. Did you speak to him?”
“Only briefly. He was with Mr Close.”
“And how did they seem?” asked Gardener.
“Mr Close was upset, naturally.”
“Why do you say that?”
“His mother died yesterday, last night to be precise.”
Gardener’s heart sank.
“Due to a terrible mix-up,” continued Ross, “he didn’t find out until this afternoon. I had to tell him.”
“Who should have told him?” asked Reilly.
“Although I was the surgeon in charge of Christine Close, I asked Robert if he would speak to Gary because he knew him much better than I did.”
“In which case, you’ll probably find it was no mix-up,” said Reilly.
“What are you trying to say?” asked Ross with a hint of a challenge.
“Mr Ross,” said Gardener, “are you staying here for the remainder of the evening?”
“I hadn’t intended to.”