Weve had an initial technical analysis of the two phone calls, said Petty. I thought youd be interested in what weve come up with.
Weve had an initial technical analysis of the two phone calls, said Petty. I thought youd be interested in what weve come up with.
DI Hitchens turned and raised an eyebrow at Fry. Was there anything interesting in the background? The background noise has been enhanced. Technical Support say they need a bit more time to work on it, but theyve sent a few notes through, in case theyre any use.
Anything might help us at this moment.
Petty tugged at her sweater and fiddled with her hair as she looked down at the papers shed brought. Watching her closely, Fry was reminded of some of the suspects shed interviewed over the years, who gave away their nervousness with little mannerisms. After all, Petty couldnt really care all that much about how she looked at work. That navy blue sweater worn by scenes of crime officers wasnt intended to be flattering though it looked better on Liz Petty than on some of her middle-aged male colleagues.
Ill try not to take up too much of your time, said Petty, and handed round copies of the analysis.
Fry took the copy she was offered. She saw references to traffic noise, bird song, a barking dog. And there was a puzzling reference to a loud, echoey voice, like someone shouting in the background, but inside a building and not really shouting as such.
Do the boys in Technical Support never go to church? she said.
Sorry?
The shouting they refer to would be the eulogy for the deceased councillor, delivered by the vicar from his pulpit. That means the funeral service had already started when the call was made.
It has to give us a better chance of identifying him, if we decide to follow that route, said Hitchens.
Fry sighed as she recognized one of the phrases the DI used to avoid commitment.
Theyve done well to bring out that amount of detail from the tape, she said. I didnt notice any of it. The quality of the recording is too poor.
But how is he disguising his voice? asked Hitchens. Dont you need special electronic equipment to do that? How did he manage it in a public phone box?
Im coming to that, said Petty. Technology makes it a lot easier these days. He used a telephone voice changer. Probably something like this
She produced a tiny aluminium device no bigger than a pocket watch, with a couple of buttons on top. It looked almost like a miniature computer mouse.
This is a voice changer? asked Hitchens sceptically.
It has six voices to choose from. You select the one you want by using the button on the casing. Then you simply hold it over the telephone mouthpiece and speak into the microphone on the top. There are more sophisticated devices on the market, but for most ordinary purposes this is sufficient. You can pick one up for less than twenty pounds on the internet.
Its easily small enough to carry in a pocket, said Hitchens.
Certainly. Theres even a little chain, so you can attach it to a key-ring.
And most people would take it for a garage door remote.
Petty laid two small handheld dictation machines on the table. This one has a tape of the original phone call in it, she said, pressing a button. A familiar voice filled the silence, metallic and vibrating with artificial echoes.
Soon there will be a killing. It might happen in thenext few hours.
Thats enough, I think. Now listen to the second recording. I borrowed this from one of my colleagues.
She pressed the play button on the second machine.
Soon there will be a killing. It might happen in thenext few hours.
What do you think? she said, turning it off.
They sounded identical.
If wed recorded a longer piece, you would probably have noticed the difference. Actually, the second voice was mine.
Youre kidding.
Petty held up the voice changer again. It was pretty close, wasnt it?
Close? It was uncanny.
Petty passed the voice changer round.
How is it powered? said Fry.
An ordinary three-volt lithium button cell battery, exactly the same as you might use in an electronic keyfob or a watch. I cant confirm the battery life yet, but the manufacturer says an hour. More than enough for the calls made so far, anyway.
So we cant even hope that hes going to run out of batteries, said Hitchens.
But Petty just smiled as she put away her dictation machines.
I think there was a particular reason you recorded the trial message yourself, Liz, said Fry. You wanted to make the point that our caller could be a woman, didnt you?
Im afraid so. We wouldnt want to start out with closed minds, would we?
Ben Cooper leaned back on his desk, wondering when it would be reasonable to phone the hospital again. Hed only just come in, and was waiting for Fry to finish talking to the two support officers. It looked as though she was making sure they knew who was boss.
Well, keep trying, Ben, she said when he explained the outcome of his visit to Ellen Walker. Youll get a better result, given time.
You think so, Diane?
Mrs Walker was obviously misled by a superficial resemblance. These facial reconstructions are an art, not a science no matter what the experts might try to tell you. It doesnt matter whether theyre done by hand or on a computer. A lot of it is guesswork.
Yes, as a matter of fact, thats exactly what
So its hardly surprising that youll get a false hit now and then. Just put it down to experience. And, like I say, keep trying.
Right, said Cooper. Keep trying.
What else have you got there?
Ive had the dental mapping done by the odontologist. Now I need a dentist who can match the chart to his records.
Cooper had found a copy of the postmortem dental chart on his desk. Most of the dark areas where work had been done seemed to be in the sides of the mouth, in the molars and pre-molars. The front teeth were almost free of fillings, and were described by the odontologist as regular.
I wish it was as easy as they make it look on TV, he said. Like all we had to do was enter details for any set of teeth into some huge database and get an instant identification.
Fry was no longer listening, but Gavin Murfin looked up from his desk.
You mean it isnt like that? he said. The BBC has been lying to me, then.
Cooper remembered the moments that Ellen Walker had spent staring at him while he tried to recover from his surprise at hearing Audrey Steele had been cremated. All hed been able to think of to do after that was to ask her for a recent photograph of Audrey.
You mean, from not long before she died? shed said.
Preferably.
I wouldnt have one normally. Nothing since we were in our twenties, anyway. But her mum had some cards done for the funeral. They were like a memorial tribute, with a bit of a poem on them. Do you know the sort of thing I mean?
Yes, I think so.
Well, I kept mine, so it should be around here somewhere. The quality isnt too bad. I think Auntie Viv spent quite a bit of money on having them done. But then, she would do. She thought the world of Audrey.
Viv is her mother, I take it?
Viv is her mother, I take it?
Vivien Gill. Auntie Viv is my mothers sister.
Would you be able to find the memorial card for me, Mrs Walker?
Ellen had hesitated. I dont know why you want to see it. What use can it be to you?
Im not really sure myself. But, all the same, if it isnt too much trouble ?
All right. But it might take me a minute, so sit yourself down while youre waiting.
Thank you.
Shed gone through into the next room, and Cooper had heard her opening a drawer.
Here we are. It didnt take long, after all.
Thank you.
The photo of Audrey Steele had been in colour, with a little too much red tone, but printed on good quality card, with a gloss finish. Audrey was smiling, enjoying herself somewhere in the sun, with a cocktail on a table in front of her and a patch of blue sea in the background. She was wearing a white, sleeveless T-shirt with thin straps that revealed her shoulders, pink from the sun.
Audrey always had boyfriends when she wanted them, Ellen Walker had said. Men liked her.
Yes, she looks Well, she looks fun.
Thats exactly right. Thats what she was. Everybody liked Audrey, because she was such fun.
Was she an only child?
No, she has a brother and sister.
Cooper had hesitated, more questions burning in his mind that he was almost afraid to ask.
I dont suppose she ever had any children?
She had a little girl when she was with Carl thats the oil-rig man. But the child was born premature and died before they could get her home from the hospital. It was a real shame. I think those two would have settled down together if Corinne had lived.
Can you remember if Audrey ever broke her arm?
She might have done. Or was it her leg? No, Im not sure.
Or had a head X-ray?
Ive no idea.
Ellen Walker had started to look uneasy then, and Cooper had known she would either clam up, or demand an explanation.
One last thing. Could you let me have an address for your Auntie Viv, please?
Yes, if you like.
Finally, Cooper had stood up, still troubled. Ellen, are you certain?
Certain? Mrs Walker had looked at him as if hed challenged her on her prediction for the weather. Of what?
Are you certain your cousin was cremated?
Well, I didnt think there was much doubt. Why else would they have taken her to the crematorium?
We could try a different eye colour, said Suzi Lee reluctantly, when Cooper phoned her at the university later that morning. I can do that on the computer, if you like. Or a change of hairstyle. Glasses, perhaps.
Would that make a lot of difference? asked Cooper.
As I said before, its the bone structure and tissue depth that decide the shape of the face. And Im confident thats accurate. She paused. Why do you think it isnt?
A wrong identification.
I see. She sounded unreasonably disappointed. But Cooper knew how she felt.
Im not suggesting theres anything wrong with your reconstruction, he said.
No, of course not. Youre just saying it looks like the wrong person.
Cooper studied the photograph for a moment. Its eyes were fixed on the middle distance, and the face held no expression. But it didnt need to. He wondered if Suzi Lee was doing the same thing at the other end of the line.
Ill see what I can do, she said.
In your own mind, said Cooper, do you feel the first reconstruction is as accurate as you could have got it?