Chapter 75

Chapter 75

The phone buzzed angrily in her hand. Darting a look at the caller ID, Helen clocked that it was DC Jennings calling, so rejected the call, returning her attention to Meredith Walker, Southampton Central's chief forensics officer. Helen had no desire to be disturbed, not now that they finally had a concrete lead.

‘Can you show me?' she asked Meredith eagerly.

Nodding, the experienced officer beckoned Helen over to the microscope. Illuminated on the slide was a ￡20 note, the strong fluorescent beam picking out strange swirling patterns below.

‘There are two matching fingerprints. One partial here …'

She indicated a half-moon of tight elegant lines on the edge of the note.

‘… and a full one just here.'

As she spoke, Meredith flipped the note over, revealing the other side. Half an inch in from the edge, a complete fingerprint could be seen.

‘We've run the comparison test a couple of times to be sure, but they're definitely the same person. Left index finger.'

‘And you're sure about the match?'

‘One hundred per cent. The lines are crystal clear, he must have been clutching the note quite tightly and, look, you can see that the finger has a slight abrasion on it, maybe a historical cut or nick, which is mirrored on both prints.'

Helen nodded eagerly, the excitement rising inside her.

‘So who is he? You said he was known to us already?'

‘Graham Armstrong. Edinburgh-born, but been living down here for the best part of forty years. He's a convicted paedophile, who returned to the Southampton area following his release from prison after a fifteen-year stretch.'

Helen took this in, intrigued and troubled in equal measure.

‘What exactly did he serve time for?' she demanded.

‘Possession and distribution of indecent images of children and teens. He was also convicted on an international warrant of directing and facilitating live online abuse of children and teenagers in Thailand and Indonesia.'

Helen blew out her cheeks. It was worse, much worse, than she'd feared.

‘Do we know where he is now?'

‘Well, you'd have to check with the probation service. There's an address in Weston on his file, but I don't know how diligent Armstrong's been in sticking to the rules of his licence.'

Helen nodded, deep in thought.

‘Can I ask where you found the note?' Meredith enquired.

‘In a suspect's wallet. Well, his wife's purse actually …' Helen replied, her mind whirring.

‘So you're thinking there's some kind of financial relationship between this guy and the suspect in the Naomi Watson case?'

‘Possibly. She had a stash of these notes, more than you'd usually take out of a cashpoint and if we can prove they came from Armstrong, then we've got our first proper link between David Reynolds and a wider paedophile network.'

Helen was not as coy as Meredith in using the suspect's name, earning a half-smile from her colleague.

‘But first we have to find Armstrong. If he can give us Reynolds, then hopefully we can bring this case to a swift conclusion. Was there anything else on the notes? Drug traces, sweat, anything like that?'

‘No, just the prints. Isn't that enough for you?'

‘It'll do for now,' she replied gratefully, patting Meredith on the arm.

Turning, Helen departed, pushing through the doors and away down the corridor towards the exit. She felt alarmed, excited and tense all at once, this latest development suggesting a much bigger, more complicated crime than she'd at first suspected. It concerned her, her mind raging at the thought of what Naomi and Mia might be being forced to endure, but it also raised her hopes that they were both still alive.

Would they find them in time? Could they rescue them before any further violence was meted out on them? It was a tantalizing prospect, more so now that they could potentially link the Reynolds family to a convicted paedophile. Helen felt a shiver of excitement as she walked back to her bike, the sense that perhaps finally the wheel was about to turn.

At long last, they had their first real break in this troubling case.