Bad hair day

Lin' s DNA was all over the body, but she couldn' t remember killing anyonen!

Lin Wren peered out from the doorway, checking for the watchful eyes of neighbours and passers-by. Seeing no one out and about, she hurried away from Frank Nyland' s house, her heart pounding.

She couldn' t believe what she' d just done. A red mist had descended earlier the email about his engagement had been like a kick in the stomach and anger had grown throughout the day.

She knew she should have been over him, but the pain of her own broken engagement

and the shock of finding out about his affair was still too recent, too raw.

Now, to find out he had moved on yet again so quickly was soul-destroying. Were they all so disposable?

She had deliberately parked in the next street and when she got in her car, she caught her reflection in the rear-view mirror. Pale face, screwed-up eyes. Her hair, often wayward, had been caught by the breeze.

She delved in her handbag for her brush and shakily scraped her hair back into a semblance of tidiness. Some hair remained on the brush. It was probably the stress making it fall out. Stress caused by Frank Nyland.

The fire in Lin' s chest returned. The man deserved what she had done to him.

Detective Chief Inspector Cobb gazed at the dead body. The deceased is Frank Nyland,' Sergeant Hall explained. Lives here with his fiancée.'

And she discovered him?' Yes. Trisha Anderton. Only recently moved in, just prior to getting engaged. She got home from work, as usual, and found him like this.' Where is she now?' Upstairs. Officers are with her.'

Cobb could hear sobbing. A neighbour called us,'

Hall went on. Came round when she heard screaming.'

Cobb questioned the pathologist and then the forensics guys.

The victim, apparently, had been stabbed in the back at least five times. The knife had been left in the body. A kitchen knife. One of a set. Not brought to the house, but picked up when? On arrival? Or in the heat of the moment? This made a difference, obviously, with regard to intent.

Fingerprints seemed unlikely as the handle had been wiped clean.

There were, however, some hairs on the victim' s clothing. Long, dark hairs, which clearly did not belong to the victim, whose greying hair was no longer than an eighth of an inch. The fiancée, Trisha Anderton, had short blonde pixie hair. The neighbour was grey.

`Also found this¼' Hall handed over a clear evidence bag containing four sections of a ripped photograph.

It was on the floor next to the body.'

Cobb mentally fitted the photograph back together. It showed a happy couple embracing. The man was Frank Nyland. The woman was recognisable too.

Lin Wren,' said Hall. Previous fiancée, according to Miss Anderton.'

Cobb was looking at the woman' s hair in the picture. Long and dark. A perfect match for the hair found on Nyland' s body.

Find her,' he said.

Then he went to talk to the fiancée and the neighbour.

Lin Wren was at home.

She' d been stupid. It would be obvious it was her.

She felt terrible. She wasn' t an impulsive person. She had a life that was ordered and regular and sensible. So what had she been thinking when she went to Frank' s house? That email though.

She was already in a permanent bad mood because of Frank, and the email had tipped her over the edge.

The doorbell rang, rousing her.

Yes?' The chain caught as

Cobb mentally fitted the photograph back together. It showed a happy couple embracing

she peered out through the crack.

The man on her driveway was in his 40s. Bald, in a dark suit that didn' t quite fit his burly frame. He held up some ID.

Detective Chief Inspector Cobb, madam. This is DS Hall.' He was much younger and thinner. `Are you Lin

Wren?'

She peered at the ID, but had no idea if it was real. It seemed likely though, considering what she' d done.

Yes, that' s me.' There was no rush, however, to declare her guilt. What do you want?'

We want to talk about the murder of Frank Nyland.'

She' s a good actress,' said DS Hall. I' ll give her that.'

She certainly put on a performance,' DCI Cobb said as he went through the preliminary reports.

It was the morning following Frank Nyland' s murder and Lin Wren' s arrest. The woman had been in a cell overnight. It had been late by the time they' d got her to the station and booked her in.

He' d been tired and she' d become more and more incoherent, babbling her innocence.

She' d been rambling about Nyland' s new fiancée and this other woman he had been seeing as well. A dancer called Mandy Jessen.

Apparently the Jessen woman had been responsible for the break-up of Wren' s engagement to Nyland.

All the more reason why she might want to kill him, Cobb thought. Wronged not once, but twice.

You want me to question Mandy Jessen?' Hall asked.

Get the background on her relationship with Nyland. Find out what she knows about Lin Wren. And text me her hair colour and style.'

Cobb' s gut was telling him that hair was important in this murder.

DS Hall left the office to interview Mandy Jessen and Cobb went to interview Lin Wren.

I didn' t do it,' were Lin' s first words.

Her hair was wild this morning, in need of attention after her disturbed night. So you keep saying.' Because I didn' t do it. I could never murder anyone. Not even Frank.'

He went through the formalities for the recording

names, date, etc then started the interview.

When was the last time you saw Frank Nyland?'

Weeks ago. Months probably.'

Then how do you explain the hairs we found on his body?'

What hairs?'

These hairs.' He slid a photograph towards her, showing Nyland face down, the hairs illuminated under the harsh flash.

She gasped at the sight. That' s not Frank.'

It is.'

She leant forward, peering intently, then flinched backwards when recognition arrived.

He' s had his hair cut.' He has?'

She was on the verge of tears now.

Yes. He used to be quite dandy-ish.'

I see. But it' s this hair you should be looking at, Miss Wren.' He tapped Nyland' s shoulder in the photograph. Hair exactly like this.'

He picked up a strand she' d shed on to the table. And he explained about the discovery of the hairs on Nyland' s body.

I reckon they' ll be a match to you. They look identical.'

How can they be mine?'

Lin said.

So you didn' t go to see Frank Nyland yesterday?'

No.'

No¼?'

Well, yes, I was at his house, but only briefly.'

Door-to-door inquiries had turned up witnesses who could place her at the scene, although the timings were vague.

But I didn' t want to see him,' Lin went on. I would be very happy never to see him again.' Which you won' t.' What?' As he' s now been stabbed to death.'

She reacted as though he had slapped her. Either she was, as Hall said, a good actress, or she was genuinely shocked.

So you admit going to his house, but you don' t admit killing him?'

He wasn' t even there. If he had been around I wouldn' t have gone in. I told you all this last night.'

She' d told him lots of things last night, all of it confusing and jumbled in her near hysteria. Fortunately, she was calmer this morning.

Tell me again, then, exactly what you did yesterday. For the benefit of the recording.'

The woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair, dislodging yet more strands.

I got an email yesterday morning from a friend telling me that Frank was getting engaged to this Trisha Anderton. It made me angry. I mean, it wasn' t that long ago he was engaged to me.

And we split up because he was having an affair with Mandy Jessen. He told me Mandy

He wasnÕ t even there. If he had been there I wouldnÕ t have gone in. I told you all this last night

was the new love of his life. Now he' s engaged to someone else entirely. What sort of man can do that? It' s like he' s playing with us all.

It' s not right.'

The man did sound somewhat frivolous with his relationships. And Cobb had heard of worse reasons for murder. He also noted the use of the present tense, as though Lin Wren still thought of Nyland as being alive.

I don' t know what came over me,' Lin continued.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. And so I made an excuse at work and slipped away early, knowing that if Frank kept to his usual routine he wouldn' t be home for another hour or so. And his car wasn' t there, so I knew I was safe.'

Didn' t you think his new fiancée might be there?'

Cobb asked.

Never thought about it. Is she living with him?' `Apparently so.'

I didn' t know. I' ve had no contact. Anyway, I let myself in and¼'

You have a key?' He already knew she had. He' d checked her handbag. Along with her emails and phone records.

Yes, I have a key. I was living with him for some time. He asked for it back after I walked out, but I never got round to giving it to him.'

Go on¼'

Lin' s thoughts were racing, making it difficult to tell her story sensibly. Plus she kept wanting to cry. And the night she' d spent in the cell hadn' t helped. The uncomfortable bed had been the least of it.

So I let myself in and went upstairs to his office in the spare bedroom. Then I wiped his computer.'

Wiped it?'

Deleted all his files. And his back-up drives too. Everything.'

Frank was a methodical man and he did like his lists. He had a list of books to read, to buy, those borrowed and those lent. He kept a journal of his activities and a schedule for future events. Finances¼ mileage¼ everything he did went on his computer.

And then there was his novel. He fancied himself as a writer and had written nearly a thousand pages of an epic science fiction trilogy when she' d left him.

Turned out he was nearing 1500 pages when she deleted it along with everything else. He hadn' t printed out a page of it though, not that she could find anyway. But even retyping from a printed copy would be an inconvenience.

She explained all this to Inspector Cobb.

It was my revenge. I knew it would hurt him. And I couldn' t help myself.'

But everyone stores everything on the cloud these days,' Cobb said.

Not Frank. He doesn' t trust the cloud. Says the authorities can spy on it. So he uses flash drives.'

So you only broke in to delete his files?'

Lin nodded.

It didn' t take long. I was gone before he got back. It seems petty now, considering what' s happened, but I was so angry.'

And you didn' t see anything out of the ordinary?' Nothing.'

She wanted to go home. How could they believe she was capable of murder?

Which other rooms did you go in?'

None. I went straight upstairs and then left.'

The inspector stared

ÔIt didnÕ t take long. I was gone before he got back. It seems petty now considering what s happenedÕ

silently at her for a while.

Then he asked: Did you take your handbag inside with you?'

Well, yes, of course I did.' OK and where did you leave it?'

Lin thought about it.

I left it where I always did. Draped on the end of the stairs. Hanging on the knob of the banister.'

Cobb' s phone tingledinged then and he took a look at it.

Interview suspended,' he said.

And with that he was gone.

The message on Cobb' s mobile was from DS Hall. Mandy Jessen had long blonde hair. Not a match to the hair found at the scene. He called Hall immediately.

You still there? At Jessen' s place?'

`About to leave.'

Bring her in. Tell her we need her to look at some photos or something. Just get her in here.'

Will do.'

Cobb then demanded to see Lin' s handbag. Donning a pair of gloves he pulled out her hairbrush.

Fingerprints,' he ordered. Quick as you can. And get me all the CCTV from the traffic cameras in the area. And I need to speak to Trisha Anderton. Urgently.'

Then he waited for Mandy Jessen to arrive. She was everything he expected.

All long blonde hair and pouting glamour.

Miss Jessen,' he said, first off, just briefly, when did you last see Frank Nyland?'

Ooh, ages ago. Not since he started seeing that Trisha.'

That' s fine.' He made a note. Now, I wanted to ask you about Lin Wren.'

Boring, uptight, stuck-up tart,' was Mandy' s rather harshly delivered opinion.

Did she ever express any hostility towards Frank with regard to your relationship with him and their subsequent break-up?'

Eh?'

Did she threaten him? With violence?'

Oh yeah! Said she wanted to kill him, she did. Said she wanted to cut his heart out for what he did to her. I remember, actually, she grabbed his hair and held a knife to his throat.' Mandy frowned. This was back when he had hair, obviously.'

OK,' Cobb smiled. And how did you feel when he left you for Trisha Anderton?'

Me? Wasn' t bothered to be honest.'

Cobb smiled again. He reckoned he had all he needed. He asked a few more questions, then left her with DS Hall, while he went off in search of results from his many demands.

Lin was still in the interview room. She felt sicker than ever. That photograph of Frank dead on the floor hadn' t helped. And neither did the thought that it might be her hair on his dead body.

Would they use that as evidence to lock her up for his murder? Surely they should¼

The door opened and Lin looked up sharply to see Inspector Cobb walk in.

Miss Wren, I can only apologise. We followed the initial evidence and it pointed directly at you, but now I' m pleased to tell you that the evidence points elsewhere.'

I' m sorry?' Lin didn' t understand.

We now know you' re innocent,' he said. There was a very small window between Frank leaving work and the neighbour' s phone call to us. And CCTV footage shows your car some distance away in the crucial time period. Plus, we have a confession.'

A confession?' Relief filled her. From whom?'

From the killer.'

Cobb had pieced it all together, he told her, and when he presented the evidence to the culprit a sobbing confession had been almost immediate.

It was the hair that had set him thinking. Carefully positioned on the body, none elsewhere. Finding fingerprints on Lin Wren' s hairbrush had sealed it. Lin' s hair had been planted.

It was Trisha, wasn' t it? His new fiancée?'

Actually, no.'

Mandy Jessen, he explained, had been lying in wait for Frank Nyland to return home, using a key of her own to gain entry. The announcement of his new engagement had affected her even more badly than it had affected Lin. She was smitten

obsessed actually beyond redemption.

After stealing him away from Lin she couldn' t bear the thought he had then been stolen away from her.

When Lin also turned up, Mandy had hidden herself, realising that not only could she take her revenge, but she could also pin the blame on Lin.

She went through Lin' s handbag which was hanging on the banister downstairs while Lin was upstairs looking for something to leave behind as evidence. And she had found the hairbrush, complete with hairs.

Frank had turned up shortly after Lin' s departure and she' d used one of his kitchen knives to do the deed. A torn photograph also helped point the finger.

But it was hair that had proved Mandy' s guilt. According to Trisha

Anderton, Frank had only recently had his hair cut short. Lin had been surprised at his appearance.

Mandy Jessen, on the other hand, had mentioned it when trying to falsely incriminate Lin. So she had lied when she said she hadn' t seen him for ages.

And I almost got charged for it,' Lin said.

Which means next time,' Inspector Cobb said, it' ll probably be best to keep any thoughts of revenge, no matter how petty, safely to yourself. You never know where they might lead.'

Yes, indeed,' Lin noticed her reflection in a window. Any chance of getting my hairbrush back now? I look a right mess.'

Sorry. That brush is important evidence.'

Well, fair enough, she thought.

Bad hair was a small price to pay for her freedom.