Darkness had swept over the town by the time Kay called her team to attention and ushered them towards the whiteboard.
The briefing was already an hour late due to the sheer amount of information coming in to the incident room, and she wanted them home and refreshed ready for another early start.
A weariness was evident as they took their seats, their movements sluggish and without enthusiasm and she knew she would need another breakthrough soon to keep them focused.
‘First things first,’ she began as soon as the last person’s backside found a chair. ‘Zach, if you want to join me up here and explain your findings on the ballistics from the crime scene then we can take any questions about that before moving on to other matters.’
She flipped over the whiteboard so the blank rear was showing, and then waited while the ballistics expert connected his laptop to the overhead projector.
Zach pressed a button and a sketch of the White Hart and its car park layout appeared on the makeshift screen. Taking a pen from Kay, he cleared his throat and faced the assembled officers.
‘The following is based on the post mortem report, current information from the forensics team and an on-site visit I conducted earlier today to take measurements,’ he began. He paused to draw two stick figures on the whiteboard. ‘The first thing that I can confirm is that the trajectory of what we considered to be the first gunshot was correct. Thorngrove was turned away from the shooter when the rifle was first fired. By my estimations, and based on where he fell, he was standing here when the bullet hit him.’
Zach rubbed out one of the stick figures and then drew him farther away from the other. ‘The gunman was standing here, on the fringes of the car park, when he took the first shot. There were no vehicles parked on this side of the car park, so we need to consider where the two men were heading when they exited the pub.’
Kay folded her arms over her chest and stared at the sketch.
‘Thorngrove managed to stagger a few metres before the second shot hit him in the back of the head,’ Zach said.
‘How is that even possible?’ Laura asked. ‘He had a bloody great gaping hole in his chest by then.’
‘It takes a while for the message to reach the brain and the body to shut down,’ said Zach. ‘It’s the same if a deer is killed – it’ll often continue to run a few metres before dropping to the ground. As it is, and based on the measurements I’ve taken, the killer took a few paces forward in order to take the second shot.’
‘Maybe he thought he’d missed the first time,’ Barnes said.
‘I’m not so sure,’ said Zach. He pointed to the two figures on the board. ‘From the trajectories, I think he knew he’d killed Thorngrove with the first shot. This second shot was just to make sure.’
‘Was Thorngrove armed at the time?’ said Kay.
‘There was no gunshot residue on his hands or clothing, so he didn’t fire a weapon at his attacker. Nothing was found at the crime scene either, and Harriet and her team conducted a wide search of the area. If he was carrying a weapon, I have to assume his killer took it with him when he fled the scene.’
‘We’ve received no reports of any weapons being found in the area,’ said Laura. ‘So whoever the killer is, he’s still got it.’
‘And that’ll be vital for evidence.’ Kay thanked Zach as he returned to his seat, and flipped over the whiteboard. After adding the ballistics expert’s feedback to the growing list of notes, she faced her team. ‘Debbie – can you make sure Gavin and DCI Sharp are sent a copy of Zach’s report before you leave today, and let them know we’re looking for the firearm as well? That way, if they do find our suspect they can make sure his clothing is preserved so it can be tested for gunshot residue.’
‘Will do, guv.’
‘Right, let’s have a quick update on today’s tasks and then you can get some rest. Laura, Kyle – how did you get on with Len Simpson?’
‘He says he’s never seen Thorngrove in the White Hart before, guv,’ said the detective constable. ‘Lydia Evans recognised him from Wednesday night, but confirmed he’s not a regular and again she’d never seen him before.’
‘We had a bit more luck with Geoff Abbott,’ Kyle added. ‘He said he thought Thorngrove looked familiar, but couldn’t pinpoint from where.’
‘I’ve got a note to follow up with him on Monday to see if anything’s jogged his memory,’ said Laura.
‘Do that, thanks. Where are we with regard to Thorngrove’s car, Ian?’
‘Uniform found it in the garage next to the flats once we got in a locksmith to open the door,’ said Barnes. ‘I phoned around a few taxi firms in the Walderslade area, and one of the dispatchers confirmed a pickup from the housing estate to the White Hart last week. The debit card used was Thorngrove’s so that explains how he got there.’
‘Okay, good.’ Kay checked her text messages. ‘Gavin spoke to the two men involved in a fight with our victim three years ago but says we can discount them. Both have cleaned up their acts since then, and both have solid alibis for Wednesday night. How did we get on with local gun shops? Did anyone there recognise Thorngrove?’
‘They didn’t, guv, but there is something that came up while I was processing today’s reports.’ Phillip’s voice carried across the heads of his colleagues, and she waved him over.
‘What’ve you got?’
‘I ran Thorngrove’s ex-wife’s details through the system out of interest, and got something you might find interesting. Four months ago, she went to her GP with bruising to her arm.’ Phillip’s cheeks flushed. ‘It raised concerns for me, so I cross-checked that with Daniel, and he confirms that around the same time, Thorngrove had applied for a firearms certificate. He was turned down––’
‘Because of the domestic violence accusation,’ said Kay. ‘His GP would’ve had to have signed off on the medical side of things and if they shared the same GP, he would never let Thorngrove be approved knowing he had a violent streak.’
‘Amy Evans said nothing to us when we saw her today,’ Barnes said, frowning. ‘Surely she would’ve mentioned that, once she knew her ex had been shot.’
‘There’s something else, guv,’ said Phillip. ‘I checked the system to see if she made a complaint to us about Thorngrove, and there’s nothing. I even spoke to some of our domestic violence team to see if they’d ever spoken to her but they hadn’t.’
‘What do you want to do, guv?’ said Barnes.
Kay tapped the end of her pen against her chin for a moment, then made her decision.
‘Bring Amy Evans in for a formal interview first thing tomorrow. Let’s find out what else she omitted to tell us.’