Culverhouse had, by now, decided to go ahead with the press conference in order to try and gather more information on the murders of Keira Quinn and Lindsay Stott. He’d agreed to do it only on the proviso that it was to be framed as a general appeal for information on two unconnected crimes. He’d also stated that he wouldn’t be taking any questions from journalists and that all speculation should be kept to a minimum, with them using only official information provided to them by the police and approved by Culverhouse himself. Cameras and audio recording equipment had been banned.
The press conference was to be held in the station’s main meeting room, which went largely unused other than for press conferences or large meetings involving external bodies, such as the — thankfully rare — visits from the Independent Police Complaints Commission. As with much of policing, most ‘meetings’ tended to take place informally or within the private offices dotted around the building.
Culverhouse entered the room and sat down behind the long desk in front of the large free-standing banner displaying the Mildenheath Police and county insignia as well as the telephone numbers for the 101 non-emergency service and the force’s own direct switchboard.
He nodded sagely at Chief Constable Charles Hawes to his left and Wendy, who was seated to his right.
Thankfully for Wendy, it was the Chief Constable who had selected who would be on the panel, not Culverhouse. Had it been the other way round, she knew Luke Baxter would be sat here in her place. Fortunately for her, the Chief Constable was even less keen on Baxter than she was.
‘Good morning, everyone,’ Hawes said as the assembled throng of journalists started to quieten down. ‘I’m Chief Constable Charles Hawes, and seated to my right are Detective Chief Inspector Jack Culverhouse and Detective Sergeant Wendy Knight, who are in charge of both investigations we need some information on today.’
Wendy smiled at the recognition Hawes had provided her as he handed over to Culverhouse.
‘Good morning,’ Culverhouse said, before starting to read from his carefully pre-prepared notes. ‘Firstly, I should point out that we will not be taking any questions at the end of this briefing and that all information for public release is contained within the press release document that you’ll each be issued with on your way out later. Today we want to appeal for information on two suspicious deaths which have occurred in Mildenheath over the past couple of weeks. I must stress that these two incidents are completely independent and do not form part of the same investigation. I would stress further that any sort of speculation on the contrary will result in your particular publication being barred from all future press conferences while I’m in charge.’
The assembled journalists began to look at one another, some of them having had no previous experience of Jack Culverhouse.
‘Firstly, the death of Keira Quinn, who is believed to have died in the early hours of the thirty-first of August. Keira was thirty-six years old, divorced from her husband and lived alone in a flat in Ambassador Court. Her body was found in an alleyway off of Albert Street, some distance away from her flat. It’s not known how she got there or where she was going to or from at the time. A photograph of her accompanies your press release. We particularly want to hear from anyone who knew Keira.’
Culverhouse took a swig of his water and continued. ‘We also want to hear from anyone who knew Lindsay Stott, who lived in James Street and was a widow. She was forty-seven years old and died in the early hours of the seventh of September in a residential garden in Meadow Hill Lane. The owners of the property did not know Lindsay. She drank regularly in the George and Dragon pub and was seen in the company of a man wearing a straw-coloured fedora, linen suit jacket and blue denim jeans. We would very much like to speak with this man so as to eliminate him from our enquiries. Any further enquiries should be forwarded to our press office, who may or may not answer them.’
Culverhouse took another gulp of water, stood and exited the room. Behind him, he could hear Chief Constable Hawes closing the session and reminding the journalists that they should take a copy of the official press release on their way out. As far as Culverhouse was concerned, he’d done what he’d needed to do and he had no desire to be in a room full of journalists for a moment longer than he needed to.