has in his possession is the original, mark one eyeball, his former mentor was fond of telling his junior officers and Warren had found himself passing Bob Windermere’s pearl of wisdom on to his own detectives. Until the technicians arrived with their cameras and briefcases crammed with equipment, it was all that he had at his disposal.
The cause of death was beyond Warren’s remit. That was a job for the pathologist, but still he found himself looking for clues. The biggest question was why had the man fallen? Had he collapsed, falling towards the fireplace, or had he stumbled, the fall itself killing him?
A few paces behind the man was a wing-backed armchair angled towards the TV. A small table to the right of it—festooned in magazines, empty mugs and a selection of remote controls—suggested that this was the favourite chair in the room and probably the seat that the deceased had spent most of his time in. A little over an arm’s length away from the chair was a wheeled Zimmer frame with a tray surface. On it the remains of a sandwich sat on a plain, white tea plate. Hanging off the left side of the chair was a curved, wooden walking stick.
Turning back to the body, Warren saw that the man was fully clothed, wearing a checked shirt with a sleeveless woollen pullover. The trousers were loose, but he wore no belt. The man’s left hand lay at his side, his right was outstretched, as if to break his fall.
The body was lying on a threadbare, shag-pile rug. The furthest edge from the fireplace was curled up slightly. Warren measured the angles by eye. Had the old man tripped on the fold and fallen, catching his head on the way down? Careful not to disturb the area immediately around the body, Warren squatted down. Sightless eyes stared back at him disconcertingly, below a massive darkened bruise. A fresh-looking slice across his eyebrows hinted at a huge impact. A dark puddle of shiny blood on the gleaming, black tiles of the hearth indicated that the deceased had continued to bleed for at least some time before death. Warren looked up and saw, just as he had expected, blood smears and what looked like grey hairs embedded in the split wood of the mantelpiece.
The smell was beginning to get to Warren and he stood up. It looked like an unfortunate accident. An old man, unsteady on his feet, catches his foot on an old rug and takes a dive into the fireplace, splitting his head open on the way down. Nothing to get excited about, Warren decided as he left the room.
He glanced at his watch. The monthly budget meeting was due to start in fifteen minutes. He should really delegate, he supposed. If he put his foot down he could be in Welwyn within thirty minutes, but the thought of two hours in a stuffy room poring over spreadsheets was deeply unappealing on such a pleasant morning. Besides which his next most senior officer, Detective Inspector Tony Sutton, was away on a course, Warren was the senior on-call officer and the meeting was always minuted…
He decided to compromise. He’d speak to the daughter now, assuming she was in a fit state, satisfy himself that there was nothing untoward and then pass her off to a detective constable for follow-up. Then, if he wasn’t too late, he’d make it for the last few minutes and pick up the highlights of the meeting. After removing his protective gear he pulled out his phone and dashed off an apologetic email to Detective Superintendent Grayson. His immediate superior generally did most of the talking in such meetings anyway.
Heading back outside, Warren made his way to the ambulance. It was always best to question witnesses as soon after an incident as possible, he told himself.
Kathy Mackay spoke with a local accent, as best Warren could tell, and she looked tired, the smudges underneath her red-rimmed eyes spoke of a long-term weariness that went beyond the stresses of the morning. Warren guessed her age to be late thirties.
“I believe you found your father?” Warren started, sympathetically.
She nodded and when she spoke it was as if she didn’t quite believe what she was saying. “I let myself in about eight o’clock—I have a set of keys—and went into the kitchen to get Dad’s breakfast ready.”
“You didn’t call out?”
She shook her head. “Dad’s not what you’d call a ‘morning person’. I figured he was awake, since I could hear the Today programme coming from upstairs, but he doesn’t like to be disturbed.”
“So you were expecting him to be up there?”
“Yes, we had a chairlift installed a couple of years ago. He insists on sleeping in his old bedroom.”
“Do you make his breakfast every morning?”
“Yes. He had a stroke about ten years ago. His left arm is pretty much useless. I drop the kids off at breakfast club and pop in on the way back.”
“So your father needed help with his day-to-day care?”
“Not twenty-four hours. He can walk with assistance but he was never much of a cook even before the stroke. I usually make him a spot of lunch at the same time then leave him to it until the early evening.”
“You say that your father was not a morning person. Do you have any idea why he was already downstairs in the living room when you arrived this morning?”
She shrugged slightly. “He sometimes falls asleep in his chair in front of the TV. I’ve found him there once or twice, although I think he normally wakes up and goes upstairs to his bed.” She paused for a moment. “I think those were the clothes he was wearing yesterday.”
So Mr Michaelson had probably fallen on the way to bed the previous night, rather than getting up early that morning. The time of death should clear that question up.
“How did you find your father?”
“As I said, I let myself in about eight after I dropped the kids off. The living room door was closed, so I didn’t look in there. After I made his breakfast, I went in to collect any dirty mugs and have a bit of a tidy-up. He spends all day in there and it gets a bit messy sometimes. And that’s when I found him.”
Her voice broke and Warren told her to take her time. The tissue in her hand was sodden and starting to shred, so Warren fished out a small packet from his inside jacket pocket. After a few deep breaths, she continued. “He was lying face down in the fireplace. I knew as soon as I saw him he was dead.” Her voice cracked, but she continued, “You just know, don’t you? He was too still. His eyes were open, staring at me.”
“Did you touch him at all, or move anything?”
She shook her head. “I felt for his pulse—” she touched her throat “—but there was nothing. I walked out and called an ambulance.”
She was looking tearful again and so Warren decided to move away slightly from the discovery of the body. The follow-up interview could answer any other questions. He cast about for the right choice of words. “Did your father require help with his more…intimate…personal care?”
“No fortunately. Dad was quite insistent about that. It took him a while, but he could pretty much dress himself and we had one of those sit-down showers fitted. He needs a bit of help with fiddly things, like his tie and button-up shirts if he’s going out to the British Legion for the day, and about once a week we’d give him a proper wet shave instead of using his electric razor.”
“You said ‘we’. Do you have any other help?”
“No, just my brother, Tommy, and my husband. We split the rest of the duties between us: cleaning, shopping, odd jobs. We took it in turns to make him dinner.” Her mouth twisted. “Dad had a good job and was always very careful with his money, so he doesn’t qualify for any state care. He was—reluctant—to pay for help whilst my brother and I live so close.” The speech was delivered in careful, neutral tones, but her eyes gave her away. Warren filed away her reaction for future analysis, if need be.
“Has Tommy been told about what’s happened?”
“I phoned him about half an hour ago. He’s on his way. He works in Stevenage.”
“What about your husband?”
“His phone’s off, but he’ll pick up his messages when