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know from her friend she had a laptop. There was also an empty memory disk rack on the desk. There is clear evidence that the flat had been searched before we got there and various surfaces wiped, presumably to remove fingerprints. But nothing else seems to be missing. There was even cash in her purse and an expensive camera and mobile phone, to say nothing of the TV and music centre. None of this stuff was taken. What kind of thief leaves those things behind? ’
    He didn ’ t wait for an answer but continued, ‘ The next thing we know is that at six pm on Sunday, two Thames Division officers on river patrol discovered Alison ’ s body floating in the river at the top of Limehouse Reach. The body was dressed in a white blouse, navy skirt, and green woolly jumper. Her underwear was intact but she had bare legs and feet. Tied in a granny knot around her neck was a pair of tights.
    ‘ I attended the PM this morning. Cause of death, asphyxiation; she was strangled with her own tights. There was no sign of sexual assault but there was a bruise on her chest consistent with someone kneeling on her. The time of death is estimated as nine pm on Saturday, give or take an hour. As I ’ ve already mentioned, her stomach contents show that she had eaten a meal and drunk one or two glasses of red wine within two hours of her death. The body was identified this morning by a Miss Joan Wilson, Alison ’ s best friend. ’
    He consulted his notes. At the rear of the room, Fred Middlemiss whispered to Jacqui Rose,
    ‘ There you go, Jacqui, the full Monty. The boss would ‘ ave made a good general. ’
    Rose nodded but reserved judgment.
    Meanwhile, Brookes had continued. ‘ OK, Liz and Bob may have come up with something useful on their house to house enquiries. There ’ s an old biddy who lives opposite Riverview. She says that on Saturday evening she saw two strange cars parked outside Alison ’ s building. She ’ s obviously not an expert on cars but, when she was shown the photos of makes and models, she did identify a black BMW saloon with tinted windows.
    ‘ The other she ’ s not so clear about except for the colour – yellow – and the shape – she called it a box car. Could be a Fait, Renault, or any of the Japanese cars, but the distinctive colour should help. Liz and Bob are going back this evening to re-interview residents to see if any of them had visitors Saturday evening. ’
    He paused again; the room was quiet. ‘ OK, that ’ s what we know. Now let ’ s try to reconstruct the crime. The victim came home alone to an empty flat. We can be fairly sure of that; there was no sign of a break-in and there ’ s only one other key which the Wilson woman has. And Alison only cooked for one by the look of it and changed into something more comfortable: a woolly jumper and carpet slippers.
    ‘ Then, at approximately eight pm, someone rang her doorbell. I think it ’ s safe to assume that she let him in; the killer must have got into her flat somehow. It seems that they may have had a glass of wine together so she may well have known him. Then there was a struggle, which ended with him strangling her on her bed. He then carried her body through to the balcony and threw her in to the river with her pantyhose still tied around her neck.
    ‘ Next, he searches the flat. Then he carefully wipes his fingerprints from everything he touched. He closes the balcony doors but does not re-arrange the furniture to erase the signs of a struggle. Then he leaves, closing the front door behind him and taking the laptop with him, and maybe some memory discs. ’
    He looked up. ‘ Now the speculation. He may or may not have arrived in a small yellow box-shaped car or a BMW. He may or may not have brought a bottle of wine with him and taken the empty bottle away with him. He probably did take the laptop with him but ignored the cash and other valuables.
    ‘ We have one or two possible motives – either a frustrated lover or someone