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‘You sure?’ Emily asked doubtfully.
‘Absolutely – my wife will love it.’
Emily packaged it carefully and charged him.
Once outside, he placed the crystal carefully onto the back seat of the car.
‘Head to Mackie’s – I’ll shout you a late lunch,’ Kim said.
‘Blimey, that’s a turn up,’ he replied, starting up the car.
Some days her colleague reminded her what it was to be human.
He’d bought the most expensive piece in the shop and it wasn’t Jenny’s birthday for another five months.
FOURTEEN
Penn parked his car about forty metres from the homeless shelter in Stourbridge. It had been the obvious choice as a place to start after leaving Keats at the mortuary. John Doe’s body had been found only metres away.
It wasn’t even 4 p.m. but a line was beginning to form. To his knowledge they didn’t start serving food until around 5p.m.
He walked the line thanking his lucky stars for his own lot in life. Seeing these folks made him eternally grateful that he’d never had to worry where his next meal was coming from.
At the head of the queue was a bearded man in his late twenties, sitting on the ground with a terrier cross lying by his legs.
‘I’m not podging,’ Penn said, knocking on the window.
‘I should think not, mate, looking like that. This lot will have you kicked across that road in seconds.’
A quick look down the line confirmed that there were some curious glances aimed his way. He didn’t think telling them he was a police officer would help his case.
He knocked again.
‘They’re not gonna answer,’ said the man as the dog finally looked up. His hand left his pocket and rested on the dog’s head, which went back down.
‘I’m not trying to get a meal. I need to talk to someone in there.’
He shrugged. ‘They don’t know that. They don’t open them doors early come hell or high water. They’re out back. They can’t hear so you’re just gonna have to wait until five o’clock like the rest of us.’
Damn it, he really needed to get an identification on this John Doe the boss was worried about. Once he had a name, he could make sure the family was informed and get back to work on the main case.
He had a sudden idea and took out his phone.
‘You got a minute…’
‘The name’s Jericho and let me just check my schedule.’
Penn struggled to make out his expression beneath the bushy beard but he saw amusement in the eyes. He scrolled through his photos of John Doe to find the one that looked the best, though it was hard to get a good one in his current state.
Penn leaned down, and the dog growled.
‘It’s okay, Kizzy,’ Jericho said, patting her head.
The dog settled back down.
Penn held out his phone. ‘Do you know this man?’
‘Jeez, is the guy dead?’
