Dave Connor was waiting for him at Stretford Police Station. He had already set up a situation room with pictures of the hands and the backpack pasted to the walls and boards. Just looking at it reminded Ridpath of how little they knew.
On a video screen in front of them, Hannah Palmer had started talking. ‘These are the topline results. I’ve hassled the lab to rush them out. They are performing another test on the DNA to make sure these are correct – you can’t be too careful when it’s been contaminated by embalming fluid.’
‘Just give us the results, Hannah, enough with the excuses.’ Dave Connor was tapping the table impatiently.
‘It’s important you understand, Dave. These are preliminary.’
‘OK. OK, I get it.’
Ridpath tapped his arm lightly. ‘You have a hit on the DNA, Hannah?’
‘We have, Ridpath. So far two of the hands have given us nothing. We haven’t been able to extract enough undamaged DNA to make a successful analysis. We’re trying again as I speak.’
‘Great, but you’ve been able to extract DNA from one of the hands?’
‘Correct, and even better, I checked it against the NCNAD, the National DNA database. We had a hit to a Joseph Rowlands, aged fifty-two when he disappeared.’
Ridpath frowned. ‘Disappeared?’
‘He was reported missing in 2018.’
‘What?’
Hannah was reading from a report. ‘His last known address was 14 Styal Road, Moston.’
‘Who reported him missing?’
Hannah scanned the file. ‘It doesn’t say on this. But I’m sure he has a missing person file.’
‘Any other information?’
‘None, but I’m wondering why he was on the database in the first place? We must have collected his DNA for some reason.’
‘Great work, Hannah. Can you send across the results?’
‘Will do, Ridpath.’
‘When do you think you’ll get the others?’ asked Dave Connor.
‘I don’t know, Dave. It’s like asking how long is a piece of string.’
‘A rough estimate.’
‘Six feet, give or take a few inches.’
‘Ha bloody ha.’
‘You asked for it. A rough estimate is when I get them, Dave, you’ll get them.’
The detective was about to push again, but Ridpath stopped him. ‘Thanks, Hannah. What about the fingerprints?’
‘Should come in tomorrow with a bit of luck, we’re stretched and it’s proving difficult to obtain good samples.’
‘OK. Anything on the backpack or the paper in the joint?’
‘Nothing so far. I’ll call you if anything comes up. Look, Ridpath, I’m working as hard and as fast as I can.’
‘I know, Hannah, sorry, we’re under immense pressure to get a result here. Please keep going, OK?’
‘Will do. You’ll be the first to hear if we get anything.’
‘What about me? Am I just chopped liver around here?’
Ridpath clicked off the Zoom link before Hannah heard Dave Connor’s outburst. ‘She’s doing her best, Dave, we have to be patient.’
‘Tell it to Holloway.’
‘If you want, I will, but pissing off the people who can help us is not a smart move.’
The detective stayed silent.
‘At least we now have a place to start. Can you check up on this Joseph Rowlands? Find out everything you can, visit the address and see if anybody has a picture of him? Plus see if he had a hand operation. It’ll confirm the DNA result is correct if he did. I’ll ring Chrissy and get her to check the Missing Persons database. She seems to be doing a lot of that at the moment.’
‘Right, Ridpath. I haven’t started checking HOLMES yet.’
‘Don’t worry, Chrissy is doing it. Emily Parkinson is going over the house to house and the TV crew interviews, as well as checking the backpack.’
‘Thank God or Claire Trent, whichever is more powerful. Having more people on board will help.’
‘We only have them until Monday, so we need to get working. Let’s meet here tomorrow morning at nine a.m. and consolidate. We’ll make this the base moving forward.’
‘Sounds like an idea.’
‘How is Holloway?’
‘Like a caged lion. I told him about the extra resources and his response was, “Is that all? A DS and a civilian researcher?” He’s not a happy camper.’
‘Is he giving you Oliver back?’
Connor nodded. ‘Tomorrow morning, I’ll get him to come to the briefing. He’s keen anyway.’ The detective scratched his head. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask, Ridpath…’
‘What, Dave?’
‘Holloway’s put me in charge, but you are the ranking detective, and you have SIO experience…’
‘So you want me to take charge but not let him know?’
‘Exactly. At the moment, I have only two years to go before I can put my slippers on. I will have done my thirty years, Ridpath, I need this sort of case like I need a hole in the head. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to do the legwork, but my days of running investigations are a long way behind me.’
Ridpath thought for a moment. ‘It would be good for you to go out in a blaze of glory, Dave.’
‘My problem is, I think I’m going to go out in a blaze of failure. I can’t do it any more, Ridpath.’
‘OK, I’ll take it on, but on one condition.’
The detective looked at him warily.
‘When we find who did it, you announce it to the press.’
‘When we find him? Or if we find him?’
‘Oh, we’ll find him, Dave, I’m certain we will. It’s just whether we can do it before Monday.’