“What was the flat like?”
“Not a lot in there, but what we saw was very expensive. Most of his stuff was top of the range, and I found some receipts indicating everything was paid for in cash.”
“Cab drivers don’t earn that much.”
“No, but we still need to speak to his brother. He was obviously more than a cab driver and, according to one of the drivers we spoke to at the lot, they were not breaking records. Kept their heads above water. However, the same driver mentioned that Barry Morrison was a workaholic.”
“You think he might have been running some illegal little sideline that could have paid for that lot?” Briggs asked Gardener.
“Probably. Just a case of finding out what.”
Eager to return to the scene, Gardener pointed to the photos on the board. “As you can see, we found his body half reclining on the door, half lying on the doorstep. He was naked apart from a pair of trousers and a hat. A coat and vest were left on the doorstep next to him, and we’re pretty sure they were his.”
“Any idea who or what killed him?” asked Thornton.
“No, not yet. There’s very little bruising, and despite the fact that it looks like a possible ga
ngland execution, I’m ruling it out. I’ve sent his jacket for forensic testing, because when Sean and I had a closer look at it, we could see blood spatter patterns.”
“So, he was killed somewhere else and dropped there later,” said Anderson.
“Yes. There’s definitely no evidence to suggest that he was killed where he lay – or that he was killed in his flat. There are CCTV cameras at the end of the block. We’re just waiting for them to roll in. But there are a few things with Barry Morrison’s murder that really concern me.
“Look closely at the photo. You can see his hands were crossed over his chest, and his wrists were tightly tied together with a piece of cord. His feet were also tied with cord. The head, neck, chest, and other parts of the body were found to be very swollen, but there were relatively few marks anywhere.”
“A bit like a ritual killing,” said Anderson.
“Maybe. That’s an action for you guys. See if you can find anything where the victim’s hands and feet have been tied in the same way.”
“Maybe he was poisoned.”
“It’s possible,” replied Gardener. “Fitz has the body down in the morgue, we’re hoping for his report pretty quickly.” He turned back to the board. “In his pockets were an empty purse, a knife, a driver’s licence, and a rent book… which had Nicola Stapleton’s name on it.”
“The prostitute?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he killed her?” Briggs asked. “Maybe his illegal sideline involved her. Something went wrong, they had an argument, he lost his rag. Seems strange him having a knife in his pocket and blood spatter patterns on his jacket.”
“It crossed our minds. Forensics are testing the knife. We’re putting two and two together, but hopefully Fitz will be able to tell us the blood groups of both him and Nicola Stapleton. If we’re lucky, we might find the blood on his jacket matches her group.”
Sharp spoke up. “But if he killed the prostitute, who killed him?”
“Good question, Colin. That’s what Sean and I have been wondering. We’re going to speak to his brother Billy. He’s been away on a weekend break with his family. He’s on his way back now.
“But the reason we don’t think Morrison killed Stapleton is because he turned up for work as usual last night about eight o’clock. However, there was a noticeable radio silence from around nine o’clock. One of the drivers – a man called Sid Prosser – popped back around eleven. There was evidence that Barry had been there, because he found a half-smoked cigarette left in an ashtray and a half-full cup of cold coffee on his desk. The partial remains of Barry’s Chinese takeaway were also left on the desk, which was a bad sign. Barry never left food. He usually went across the road to The Flying Dragon, so that’s another place to visit. There was no sign of forced entry. Barry’s car was missing. Sid Prosser continued to run the operation himself, whilst trying to locate Barry.”
“I take it he didn’t speak to him,” asked Briggs.
“No.”
“When was the car brought back to the pitch?” Sharp asked.
“About seven this morning,” added Reilly.
“So, it’s possible somebody killed them both and used Barry’s car to ferry them around.”
“Yes. I’ve had the car impounded for further testing.”