chairs of the soft room.
‘David Grant.’ Moira took a notebook from her pocket. ‘I asked for your report, and they gave me this.’ She held up a copy of a report sheet and dropped it onto the table.
‘The sexual deviant that hung himself,’ Corr laughed. ‘That was some fucking sight.’ He looked at the paper on the desk. ‘So, what’s your problem?’
Moira smiled. ‘It’s what they might call “report lite”. You’re not exactly Charles Dickens in the description area.’
‘We followed up on a call,’ Corr said. ‘When we got to the house, the occupant was dead having hung himself. The doctor was called, and that was the end of our involvement. It was cut and dried. What else was there to say?’
‘Tell me everything and I mean everything,’ Moira said. ‘From the moment you picked up the radio call until you left to resume your patrol.’ She turned to face Higgins. ‘Anything he leaves out, feel free to interrupt.’
Corr removed his notebook slowly from his breast pocket and flicked through the pages. ‘We received the call from dispatch at ten thirty. One of Grant’s colleagues rang in to say that he hadn’t turned up at a meeting, and they were worried about him.’
Moira made a note to enquire with the dispatcher as to the name of the colleague. ‘Go ahead,’ she said looking up from her notebook.
‘We knocked on the door and got no reply,’ Corr continued. ‘Then I looked through the letterbox and saw the body hanging at the end of the hall.’
‘The light was on in the hallway?’ Moira asked.
‘Yes,’ Corr replied. ‘The place was lit up like a Christmas tree.’
‘What did you do then?’ Moira asked.
‘I kicked the door in, so I did. Took it right off the hinges.’ Corr’s chest puffed out.
‘Was there a deadbolt on the door?’ Moira asked.
Corr looked at his partner. ‘We didn’t see one,’ Higgins said.
Moira made a note. ‘Okay, you’re inside. What did you do next?’
‘It was pretty obvious that the man hanging at the end of the hallway was dead,’ Corr said. ‘His tongue was protruding, and his face was purple. I didn’t want to disturb anything in case the scene wasn’t kosher.’
‘Something bothered you about the scene?’ Moira asked.
‘I’d never seen anything like that before,’ Higgins interjected. ‘You couldn’t put your finger on it but it looked off. Maybe it was because it was my first time. It looked a bit staged. I don’t know.’ She looked at her partner. ‘We were both a bit shook up.’
‘So you didn’t check for a pulse?’ Moira asked.
Corr and Higgins looked at each other and didn’t answer. After a delay, Corr said, ‘The guy was dead.’
Moira could understand their reluctance to check the body. ‘What did you do then?’ she asked.
‘Constable Higgins went to the car and radioed for the doctor and the ambulance,’ Corr said. ‘We secured the front door and waited for the doctor.’
‘Did you check the remainder of the house?’ Moira asked.
Corr and Higgins exchanged a look before Corr said, ‘No.’
‘What happened when the doctor came?’
‘She gave us a bollocking because we called her out,’ Corr answered. ‘Said we should have called the GP.’
‘She seemed pretty professional,’ Higgins added. ‘Did some of the things that we should have thought of, like taking photos with her mobile phone.’
Corr shot her a look.
‘What happened next?’ Moira asked.
‘She examined the body,’ Corr said quickly. ‘By then the ambulance crew had arrived and were waiting for her to finish.’
‘Did she take down the body?’ Moira asked.
‘The ambulance crew did that,’ Corr answered. ‘When they took the body out, we secured the door. We put a call in to the station to have someone come out and finish the job properly. It wouldn’t take long for some villain to suss the place out and remove whatever was saleable.’
Moira made another note. If Grant had been murdered, the scene
‘David Grant.’ Moira took a notebook from her pocket. ‘I asked for your report, and they gave me this.’ She held up a copy of a report sheet and dropped it onto the table.
‘The sexual deviant that hung himself,’ Corr laughed. ‘That was some fucking sight.’ He looked at the paper on the desk. ‘So, what’s your problem?’
Moira smiled. ‘It’s what they might call “report lite”. You’re not exactly Charles Dickens in the description area.’
‘We followed up on a call,’ Corr said. ‘When we got to the house, the occupant was dead having hung himself. The doctor was called, and that was the end of our involvement. It was cut and dried. What else was there to say?’
‘Tell me everything and I mean everything,’ Moira said. ‘From the moment you picked up the radio call until you left to resume your patrol.’ She turned to face Higgins. ‘Anything he leaves out, feel free to interrupt.’
Corr removed his notebook slowly from his breast pocket and flicked through the pages. ‘We received the call from dispatch at ten thirty. One of Grant’s colleagues rang in to say that he hadn’t turned up at a meeting, and they were worried about him.’
Moira made a note to enquire with the dispatcher as to the name of the colleague. ‘Go ahead,’ she said looking up from her notebook.
‘We knocked on the door and got no reply,’ Corr continued. ‘Then I looked through the letterbox and saw the body hanging at the end of the hall.’
‘The light was on in the hallway?’ Moira asked.
‘Yes,’ Corr replied. ‘The place was lit up like a Christmas tree.’
‘What did you do then?’ Moira asked.
‘I kicked the door in, so I did. Took it right off the hinges.’ Corr’s chest puffed out.
‘Was there a deadbolt on the door?’ Moira asked.
Corr looked at his partner. ‘We didn’t see one,’ Higgins said.
Moira made a note. ‘Okay, you’re inside. What did you do next?’
‘It was pretty obvious that the man hanging at the end of the hallway was dead,’ Corr said. ‘His tongue was protruding, and his face was purple. I didn’t want to disturb anything in case the scene wasn’t kosher.’
‘Something bothered you about the scene?’ Moira asked.
‘I’d never seen anything like that before,’ Higgins interjected. ‘You couldn’t put your finger on it but it looked off. Maybe it was because it was my first time. It looked a bit staged. I don’t know.’ She looked at her partner. ‘We were both a bit shook up.’
‘So you didn’t check for a pulse?’ Moira asked.
Corr and Higgins looked at each other and didn’t answer. After a delay, Corr said, ‘The guy was dead.’
Moira could understand their reluctance to check the body. ‘What did you do then?’ she asked.
‘Constable Higgins went to the car and radioed for the doctor and the ambulance,’ Corr said. ‘We secured the front door and waited for the doctor.’
‘Did you check the remainder of the house?’ Moira asked.
Corr and Higgins exchanged a look before Corr said, ‘No.’
‘What happened when the doctor came?’
‘She gave us a bollocking because we called her out,’ Corr answered. ‘Said we should have called the GP.’
‘She seemed pretty professional,’ Higgins added. ‘Did some of the things that we should have thought of, like taking photos with her mobile phone.’
Corr shot her a look.
‘What happened next?’ Moira asked.
‘She examined the body,’ Corr said quickly. ‘By then the ambulance crew had arrived and were waiting for her to finish.’
‘Did she take down the body?’ Moira asked.
‘The ambulance crew did that,’ Corr answered. ‘When they took the body out, we secured the door. We put a call in to the station to have someone come out and finish the job properly. It wouldn’t take long for some villain to suss the place out and remove whatever was saleable.’
Moira made another note. If Grant had been murdered, the scene
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