the road. Plus we sent a couple of them to spend time there for the next two or three afternoons, just in case there were people who walked there at that time of day. There’s nothing that leaps out.’
‘Fingerprints?’ said Karlsson.
‘They’ve got dozens of them,’ said Yvette. ‘But this was a family house, people in and out all the time. They’ve started to eliminate family prints, but it’s hopeless until we can narrow it down.’
‘Weapon?’ said Karlsson.
‘We haven’t found one.’
‘Have you searched?’
‘Within reason.’
‘There was a bin collection the next morning,’ said Munster. ‘A few officers had made a preliminary search the previous afternoon. But we didn’t have the men.’
‘I don’t even know why I’m bothering,’ said Karlsson. ‘But I’ll say it anyway: CCTV?’
‘Nothing in the road itself,’ said Yvette. ‘It’s residential. It doesn’t have them. We’ve got the footage from a couple of cameras on Chalk Farm Road. But we haven’t been through it yet.’
‘Why not?’
‘We’ve got a window of three or four hours and crowds of people wandering down to Camden Lock and we don’t know what we’re looking for.’
There was a pause. Karlsson noticed a smile on Riley’s face. ‘Is something funny?’ he asked.
‘Not really,’ Riley said. ‘It’s different from what I expected.’
‘Is this your first?’
‘You mean murder? I dealt with a death near the Elephant and Castle. But they caught the guy at the scene.’
‘Where’s the fun in that?’ said Karlsson. He turned back to Yvette. ‘The woman, Ruth Lennox. Why was she at home?’
‘It was her afternoon off. Her husband said it’s a day she normally goes shopping or does things around the house.’
‘Meets friends?’
‘Sometimes.’
‘That day?’
Yvette shook her head. ‘He showed us her diary. There was nothing in it for that day.’
‘How are the family?’ asked Karlsson.
‘In shock. When I interviewed them they seemed stunned. They’re staying with friends a few doors up from their house.’
‘What about the husband?’
‘He’s not the demonstrative type,’ said Yvette, ‘but he seems devastated.’
‘Have you asked him where he was at the time of his wife’s murder?’
‘He told us he had a four o’clock meeting with a Ms Lorraine Crawley, an accountant for the company where he works. I rang her and she confirmed it. It lasted about half an hour, forty minutes. Which makes it very unlikely that he could have got back to his house in time to kill his wife and leave before the daughter came home from school.’
‘Unlikely?’ said Karlsson. ‘That’s not good enough. I’ll talk to him again myself.’
‘You suspect him?’ said Riley.
‘If a woman is killed and there’s a husband or a boyfriend around, then that’s something to be be taken into consideration.’
‘But look,’ said Munster. ‘As you saw yourself, the little girl found broken glass next to the front door and the door open.’
‘Was the door usually double-locked?’ said Karlsson.
‘Not when they were at home,’ said Yvette. ‘According to the husband.’
‘And?’
‘Also according to the husband, when he’d calmed down and looked around, a set of silver cutlery had been stolen from a drawer in the kitchen dresser. Also a Georgian silver teapot that was on a shelf in the dresser. Plus the money from her wallet, of course.’
‘Anything else taken?’
‘Not that we know of,’ said Yvette. ‘She had jewellery upstairs, but it wasn’t touched.’
‘And –’ Riley began, then stopped.
‘What?’ said Karlsson.
‘Nothing.’
Karlsson forced himself to adopt a gentler tone. ‘Go on,’ he said. ‘If you’ve got an idea, just say it. I want to hear everything.’
‘I was going to say that when I saw the body, she had nice earrings on and a necklace.’
‘That’s right,’ said Karlsson. ‘Good.’ He looked back at Yvette. ‘So? What are we
Deandre Dean, Calvin King Rivers