‘Bit of a circus,’ said Alf, closing his sketch book with a sigh. He had a copy of the Express on his lap. ‘Nice eyewitness piece,’ he said, running his finger over the cover. ‘I’ve run it on the wire as well.’ Dryden basked in the compliment. It had been a good piece, capturing the barbarity of the scene of the archaeologist’s murder.
Two radio reporters were trying to attach microphones to the dais and arguing about who should have pole position. The TV lights thudded on in time to catch the entrance of DS Bob Cavendish-Smith, followed by the chief constable of East Cambridgeshire, Sir Douglas Johns, who introduced himself and gave a brief outline of the facts with a quotable pledge to track down the killer, a performance marred by his innate pomposity. Sir Douglas was a self-inflating chief constable. He handed over to Cavendish-Smith for the difficult bit.
‘Right,’ said the detective, instantly more at ease than his superior officer. The chief constable helped himself to some water from a carafe while Cavendish-Smith poured his own from a bottle of Evian he had brought with him.
‘The statement being circulated now…’ A WPC began handing out a single photocopied sheet. ‘This sets out what we are able to say about the discovery of Professor Valgimigli’s body and the results of the initial examination by the pathologist.’
Cavendish-Smith waited for the room to settle, sipping his Evian, while Johns appeared to swell slightly in his beribboned uniform.
‘But to reiterate some of the basics. Early press speculation has centred on the so-called “execution” of the victim. We are now of the opinion that this murder was staged to look like an execution.’ The detective turned to an overhead projector and inserted a slide. ‘This picture shows the blindfold found around Professor Valgimigli’s eyes. Forensic examination shows that the powder marks on this piece of material, which we think may have been torn from a silk scarf, are not consistent with those on the skin of the victim beside the entry wound. We believe the blindfold was in fact held over the gun muzzle when the shot was fired, and then tied around the victim’s head. Secondly, we are suspicious of the manner in which the wrists were tied behind the victim. The knotting is loose,’ he said, replacing the slide with another. ‘Just here. It would not have been rigorous enough to prevent the victim’s escape. Similarly, the pine post against which the victim was slumped was only embedded in the ground two to three inches – hardly enough to support a kneeling man, let alone a standing one, taking the full force of a gunshot.’
Some hands went up but Cavendish-Smith waved them aside.
‘I’ll take questions at the end.’
Dryden considered the scene he had witnessed in the trench. The execution initially implicated Dr Mann. But who had known enough about his past to plant the connection?
‘Some other points,’ said Cavendish-Smith breezily. ‘You will all be aware that an arrest was made in connection with the offences at California. I can tell you that the individual in question has now been released and that we believe he has no connection with these offences. His name will be withheld. He was able to provide the investigation with valuable information which will help us in tracking down the killer – or killers.’
Dryden turned to Alf’s ear. ‘Whoops! That could cost them a few bob. Everyone in town knows who they nabbed. One wrongful arrest down, how many to go?’
‘Lastly,’ said Cavendish-Smith, looking straight into the main BBC local TV camera, ‘I’d like to ask everyone to be vigilant and help the police find the gun with which this cold-blooded crime was committed.’
The detective had a felt bag on the desk beside him, like the ones that bingo callers extract numbers from. He extracted a gunmetal grey pistol, a silver fountain pen through the trigger. The cameras whirred.
‘We believe that an Enfield No. 2 Mk 1 – a common Second World War officer’s pistol – was used to kill the victim. We believe the bullets which ended Professor Valgimigli’s life, which we were able to retrieve from the wall of the trench in which the body was found, were fired from a gun similar to this. There is an earlier version – the Webley – which may have been used. Both fire .38 calibre bullets and weigh about 800 grams. The victim’s wife has told us that Professor Valgimigli owned such a weapon, and he may have had it beside him at the site which he was guarding.’
Once the cameras had feasted on the pistol Cavendish-Smith asked for questions.
‘What about motive?’ said a voice from the back.
Cavendish-Smith shrugged, then quickly realized this was a mistake on TV. ‘Clearly we have several avenues of enquiry. Initially we are concentrating on the proposition that Professor Valgimigli had stumbled on thieves attempting to loot the site. He spent the evening with his wife – Dr Louise Beaumont. They had dinner together at a friend’s and then she dropped her husband at the site. They discovered the gates had been opened, the locks cut. He decided to stay and secure the site. The only person who saw him alive after that – around midnight – was the killer. We are making extensive enquiries, aided by the Regional Crime Squad, into the so-called “nighthawk” network.’