the glass window, this time searching the room with his eyes for any clues as to what was going on.
The gold-coloured carpet was not gold throughout. Terry could see two large dark stains that appeared to be blood. One was next to Harry’s arm on the floor by the couch and a second was near to the armchair. That was enough for the experienced Policeman. He was now really fearful for Harry and he decided that, ‘Backup or no backup, I’m going in!’
He reached for his radio and asked Control to call for an immediate ambulance, before informing them that he was about to enter the property. Ignoring the advice of the controller to wait for his colleagues, he raced around to the side entrance, having correctly presumed that Harry would have been working outside at some point that morning and left the back door unlocked. He was surprised and concerned to find the back gate open and he pulled out his extendable baton, snapping it into the locked position and holding it over his shoulder, ready to strike any intruder if necessary. He walked cautiously around to the rear of the house and entered through the open kitchen door.
There was no sign of anyone inside and nobody answered when he shouted, ‘Hello! Police! Anyone there?’ The kitchen was in a real mess; table and chairs were strewn everywhere, blood spatters adorned the floor, walls and ceiling and there were what looked like slashes on the door frames and walls. Terry was sure that an almighty fight of some description had taken place and his concern for Harry, as well as his own fear intensified, as he didn’t know if he and Harry were alone in the house, or if any intruder remained.
He walked cautiously to the living room where he found Harry lying in the same position on the couch, unconscious and bleeding heavily from the severe wound to his arm, which appeared to be all but severed. Years of Police training took over. Terry grabbed the throwover from the top of the couch, he used it to apply pressure to the wound in an attempt to stem the blood loss, then he removed his belt and fastened it tightly around Harry’s arm, above the wound to act as an emergency tourniquet. When he’d finished, he radioed through to Control again to check on the whereabouts of the ambulance, giving them as much information as he could, as fast as he could.
“Harry! Harry! Can you hear me? Hold on Harry, the ambulance is coming!” he shouted, even though he knew that Harry couldn’t hear him.
He’d just finished speaking when he heard a siren and a Police car pulling up speedily outside. He heard the two occupants running up to the front door and he shouted to his colleagues as loud as he could, “Go round the back, it’s open!”
The two young constables arrived in the living room seconds later. “Good.” Terry said as they reached him. “You! Go and open the front door and wait for the ambulance to arrive please, this guy’s got no time to waste, so get them in here ASAP, you understand?” he asked the younger of the two. The young Policeman nodded immediately and obeyed the command. “Right, can you take over from me please?” he asked the older constable.
“Yes Sarge.” the officer replied, as he took over on the tourniquet Terry had wrapped around Harry’s arm.
Terry stood up to examine the scene. It was obvious that something serious had happened in this house, but he didn’t yet know what. He knew they had to be careful not to touch anything in order to preserve evidence. Then he heard the sound of the approaching sirens as the ambulance raced up the road, he went to walk out to the front door to meet the crew, but something caught his eye.
A small white stone lay on the carpet in the centre of the room, as if it had been deliberately placed there. There was nothing special about it, it was just unusual in its location and appearance, and in the way it was so perfectly situated. Terry didn’t know what it had to do with the events in that house, or even if it was significant at all, but his Policeman instincts told him that it was something he had to bag as evidence when the time came.
For now though, his concern was for Harry. The Paramedics had arrived and started to get to work.