Body on a Sofa - Chapter 5

Body on a Sofa - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

          The troll through the names of boys who went to school with Morgan had borne no fruit. Many had been identified, contacted and eliminated. Some had died before the murder, and one since. Not one name had had any contact with her that they could see let alone prove. The search had reached a dead end.

Morgan’s mother was interviewed again to confirm that Morgan had been waiting for an old school friend. And asked if she could remember any particular friends of Morgan. She could remember a John, a Phillip and an Alexander. Nice boys and so polite. But beyond that her mother could not help them.

DS Alfy Morrow looked at the latest results from the school list. There were five Johns, three Phillips and two Alexanders. Although possibly closer, these names would have to revisited in more detail.

One of the Philips was at present serving a three year stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure in Preston Nick. The other two were brought in, but after questioning let go as there was no evidence to keep them, and their stories held up on investigation.

Of the two Alexanders, it was believed that one had emigrated to Australia, and although the Australian authorities knew where he lived, he could not be contacted. He was away from home for some reason. When eventually he was tracked down he was able to confirm that he had not left Australia, or entered Britain during the time before Morgans murder. This of course was borne out be the two countries border forces.

The second of the Alexanders had died tragically a few years before in an hotel fire. There was no reason to question the identity as far as the Czech police were concerned. Because of this, the British Police were happy to accept this finding.

Of the five Johns, one had died several years ago. Two more could prove they were overseas at the time of Morgan's murder.  One of the last two had a prior conviction for actual bodily harm to woman. But he had a cast iron alibi as well. Once having got out of jail, he had started drinking, eventually becoming homeless and living on the streets. Contracting pneumonia, he was hospitalised three days before Morgan died, and had been there since.

The remaining ‘John’ was brought in for questioning. He had no alibi for the night, having gone to the cinema alone, and not having his ticket anymore to prove he had been. His car, a Japanese model, had the same tyres with the same pattern as found in the lane. It was not looking good for this ‘John’, and was confounded by him admitting that he had been sweet on Morgan at school, and that she had rejected him.

Alfy had checked with his DI and they felt there was enough to charge ‘John’ with the murder of Megan, but neither was confident that they would get a conviction. On reviewing the evidence, it was all circumstantial. They needed something to nail him to the area at the specific time.

Several thoughts occurred to Alfy. What were the exact times of the cinema presentation? Was it possible to get from the cinema to Morgan’s house within the accepted time frame? And if so, could you get there without your journey being logged on CCTV?

He discussed this with DI Walker and she agreed, so Alfy accessed the directory on his police PC and found the number for the cinema to which John had said he went. Once he got through, he confirmed the start and approximate finishing times of the film on that day. He already had the location of the cinema, so he decided that he would drive from there to the lane close to Morgan’s, to check the possible timings.

Alfy also realised that he would need to check where the CCTV cameras were. DC Ledbury was tasked with checking all the council and police cameras covering possible routes. And then checking John’s number plate against these cameras within the time frame.

John’s car had been seen leaving the entertainment park shortly after the finishing time of the film, and was further tracked heading towards the area where Morgan lived. After the edge of Preston, there were no more sightings of the car. Unfortunately, this was not decisive as John’s house was also in this general direction as Morgan’s, though further down the road he would have had to turn right rather than left to go home. His house was a barn conversion down a lane.

Alfy took DC Strange with him and they timed how long it took to drive from the cinema to the lane near Morgan’s house. The result fitted the time frame. And when taken in context with DC Ledbury’s evidence from the CCTV it was certainly possible that John could have got to the lane and murdered Morgan.

But this was still only circumstantial evidence, and did not prove John was there. Alfy thought he could perhaps add to this if John had a door camera, and it recorded the time he returned to his house. Unfortunately, when asking John if he had a doorbell camera, the answer was no, and this was substantiated after a visit to the house by DC Strange.

So even with only substantial evidence, John was arrested and charged with the murder of Morgan Plummer. A trial date was set for six months hence. When it came to trial, the defence barrister destroyed all the evidence the prosecution presented. Needless to say, the defendant, John, was acquitted, and the trial failed. The police had failed and they had no back up plan, no other credible suspects, and so the case was shelved though not closed, awaiting any fresh evidence.

Alfy was disappointed, but following his work on this case and others he was promoted to DI, taking DI Walker’s place. Soon after DC Strange was promoted to DS and assigned to Alfy.