shows he died where he fell though I’m fairly certain he didn’t die instantly. There was some limited movement around the landing site. He has internal bleeding and would have choked on his own blood. Eventually. Might have taken twelve hours for the poor lad to go. Maybe longer.’
‘So what are we thinking?’ asked Ford, looking at Noble.
‘We think there was a struggle upstairs and the perpetrator, possibly a vagrant, threw the boy off the upper floor to the ground below.’
‘Vagrant?’
‘On his way to processing,’ said Noble.
Ford nodded with satisfaction. ‘And the lad couldn’t have fallen accidentally?’
‘His body is some distance from the first-floor landing,’ said Noble. ‘If he’d fallen he would have been closer to the wall. There’s no banister. It wouldn’t have been difficult.’
‘I see,’ nodded Ford. ‘Can we rule out suicide?’
‘Suicide?’ exclaimed Noble.
‘Maybe the kid threw himself off after being raped,’ answered Ford. ‘Couldn’t stand the shame of it.’
Noble managed to hide his surprise. ‘I don’t think so, sir.’
‘But we can’t rule it out,’ Ford persisted.
‘Child suicide is still rare,’ observed Noble. ‘But when kids do top themselves, they try and do it quickly and painlessly. Hanging and pills are favourites. And if hiding his shame was the reason, don’t you think the lad would have pulled his tracksuit back up?’
Ford grunted in agreement.
‘Noble’s right,’ said Higginbottom. ‘And people rarely dive to their deaths head first. It’s always feet first and from a greater height.’ He excused himself, promising his report at the earliest opportunity and headed for the entrance. Members of the SOCO unit swarmed back towards the body.
‘This vagrant was living in the house?’ inquired Ford.
‘Looks like it.’
‘Sounds like our perp.’
Noble stifled a smile, remembering Brook’s stock reply to anyone who referred to a perp in his presence. Have you got indigestion?
‘Pity you didn’t tell me you’d made an arrest before I dragged myself from a warm bed,’ grumbled Ford. ‘On his way, you say?’
‘A few minutes ago.’
‘Also a pity,’ replied Ford.
‘Sir?’
Ford looked Noble up and down, sizing him up. ‘You got kids, Sergeant?’
‘No, sir.’
‘I’ve got two boys. Grown up, thank God.’
‘Very nice for you, sir,’ said Noble in a monotone. He knew a retread of Keith Pullin’s sentiments was on its way.
‘And this is every parent’s nightmare,’ continued Ford, gesturing back towards the house.
Noble didn’t know how to react to what was hardly news, even for a single man. ‘Of course.’
‘And when some homeless paedo pulls a kiddie off the streets and does that. . .’ Ford nodded back towards the corpse. ‘Probably a blessing he did kill him after that.’
Noble’s answering smile was thin-lipped. Tell that to his parents .
‘Do we have an ID?’
‘We’ve got a likely victim from Missing Persons,’ answered Noble. ‘Joshua Stapleton, local lad, twelve years of age. He was out trick or treating with a friend three nights ago. . .’
‘Halloween,’ exclaimed Ford shaking his head. ‘I might have guessed. All those kids wandering around on their own. It’s a fucking finger buffet for these creeps. When will parents learn? Go on.’
‘Joshua didn’t return home that night and his parents thought he’d slept over at his friend’s but when they rang the next morning he wasn’t there. Dad reported him missing the same day. According to Joshua’s friend,’ Noble referred to his notebook, ‘Scott Wheeler, they were supposed to stay together but obviously that didn’t happen. Scott said they separated not far from here and he last saw Joshua walking along Carlton Road in this direction. That would be around nine-thirty p.m. on the thirty-first.’
‘No one else saw him?’
‘Cold night, sir.’
‘And so uniform finally got off their arses and had a poke
‘So what are we thinking?’ asked Ford, looking at Noble.
‘We think there was a struggle upstairs and the perpetrator, possibly a vagrant, threw the boy off the upper floor to the ground below.’
‘Vagrant?’
‘On his way to processing,’ said Noble.
Ford nodded with satisfaction. ‘And the lad couldn’t have fallen accidentally?’
‘His body is some distance from the first-floor landing,’ said Noble. ‘If he’d fallen he would have been closer to the wall. There’s no banister. It wouldn’t have been difficult.’
‘I see,’ nodded Ford. ‘Can we rule out suicide?’
‘Suicide?’ exclaimed Noble.
‘Maybe the kid threw himself off after being raped,’ answered Ford. ‘Couldn’t stand the shame of it.’
Noble managed to hide his surprise. ‘I don’t think so, sir.’
‘But we can’t rule it out,’ Ford persisted.
‘Child suicide is still rare,’ observed Noble. ‘But when kids do top themselves, they try and do it quickly and painlessly. Hanging and pills are favourites. And if hiding his shame was the reason, don’t you think the lad would have pulled his tracksuit back up?’
Ford grunted in agreement.
‘Noble’s right,’ said Higginbottom. ‘And people rarely dive to their deaths head first. It’s always feet first and from a greater height.’ He excused himself, promising his report at the earliest opportunity and headed for the entrance. Members of the SOCO unit swarmed back towards the body.
‘This vagrant was living in the house?’ inquired Ford.
‘Looks like it.’
‘Sounds like our perp.’
Noble stifled a smile, remembering Brook’s stock reply to anyone who referred to a perp in his presence. Have you got indigestion?
‘Pity you didn’t tell me you’d made an arrest before I dragged myself from a warm bed,’ grumbled Ford. ‘On his way, you say?’
‘A few minutes ago.’
‘Also a pity,’ replied Ford.
‘Sir?’
Ford looked Noble up and down, sizing him up. ‘You got kids, Sergeant?’
‘No, sir.’
‘I’ve got two boys. Grown up, thank God.’
‘Very nice for you, sir,’ said Noble in a monotone. He knew a retread of Keith Pullin’s sentiments was on its way.
‘And this is every parent’s nightmare,’ continued Ford, gesturing back towards the house.
Noble didn’t know how to react to what was hardly news, even for a single man. ‘Of course.’
‘And when some homeless paedo pulls a kiddie off the streets and does that. . .’ Ford nodded back towards the corpse. ‘Probably a blessing he did kill him after that.’
Noble’s answering smile was thin-lipped. Tell that to his parents .
‘Do we have an ID?’
‘We’ve got a likely victim from Missing Persons,’ answered Noble. ‘Joshua Stapleton, local lad, twelve years of age. He was out trick or treating with a friend three nights ago. . .’
‘Halloween,’ exclaimed Ford shaking his head. ‘I might have guessed. All those kids wandering around on their own. It’s a fucking finger buffet for these creeps. When will parents learn? Go on.’
‘Joshua didn’t return home that night and his parents thought he’d slept over at his friend’s but when they rang the next morning he wasn’t there. Dad reported him missing the same day. According to Joshua’s friend,’ Noble referred to his notebook, ‘Scott Wheeler, they were supposed to stay together but obviously that didn’t happen. Scott said they separated not far from here and he last saw Joshua walking along Carlton Road in this direction. That would be around nine-thirty p.m. on the thirty-first.’
‘No one else saw him?’
‘Cold night, sir.’
‘And so uniform finally got off their arses and had a poke
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