I See You(40)

Kelly, not knowing whether she was expected to stay or go, went with Lucinda. She had assumed the DI would have his own office, but Nick Rampello’s desk space was open-plan, like the rest of the MIT. Only the DCI’s office appeared to be separate, the door closed and no lights showing through the slatted blinds.

Nick gestured to Kelly to take a seat. ‘I need links between these two jobs,’ he said to Lucinda, who was already scribbling in a notebook. ‘Do they know each other? Are they chatline operatives? Escorts? What does Walker do for a living? Check out where Tanning works – is she a teacher like Beckett? Do her children go to Beckett’s school?’ Kelly listened, sensing that, even though she had the answers to some of the questions the DI was firing out, an interruption from her wouldn’t be welcome. She would speak to Lucinda afterwards and give her as much information as she knew.

Nick continued. ‘See if any of them used dating sites. I had a call from Zoe Walker’s partner; it’s possible he found out she was using the site and now she’s claiming she knows nothing about it.’

‘Sir, she wasn’t using a dating site,’ Kelly said. ‘Zoe Walker was very agitated when she made contact with me.’

‘As she might be if, say, an aggressive partner discovered she was seeing other people,’ Nick countered. He turned to Lucinda. ‘Get Bob to pull the original file from BTP and go over it; make sure everything was done properly, and do it again if it wasn’t.’

Kelly narrowed her eyes. It was hardly a surprise to find a Met officer dismissing work done by another force, but he could at least have the decency not to do it in front of her. ‘CCTV was secured immediately,’ she said, deliberately looking at Lucinda, and not the DI. ‘I can get you copies tomorrow, as well as stills of the offender. Given the original offence, I didn’t consider it proportionate to request DNA at the time, but I’m assuming budget won’t be a problem now: the bag has been correctly exhibited and retained by BTP, and I can arrange for your team to have access. Cathy Tanning has no children, she isn’t a teacher and she has never worked as an escort. Nor, just as pertinently, has Zoe Walker, whose photograph also appears in the London Gazette, and who is understandably rather concerned for her safety.’ Kelly took a breath.

‘Have you finished?’ Nick Rampello said. He didn’t wait for an answer, turning instead to Lucinda. ‘Come back to me in an hour and let me know how you’ve got on.’

Lucinda nodded, standing up and smiling to Kelly. ‘Nice to meet you.’

The DI waited until Lucinda had returned to her desk, before folding his arms and staring at Kelly. ‘Do you make a habit of undermining your senior officers?’

‘No, sir.’ Do you make a habit of rubbishing another officer’s work? she wanted to add.

The DI looked as though he were about to continue, but, perhaps remembering that Kelly wasn’t his officer to reprimand, unfolded his arms and stood up. ‘Thanks for letting us know about the link between the jobs. I’ll give my oppo a call later and take ownership of the bag dip. May as well bring it under one roof, even if it isn’t technically a series.’

‘Sir?’ Kelly steeled herself. She knew the answer even without asking the question, but she couldn’t leave MIT without trying.

‘Yes?’ Rampello was impatient, his mind already on the next thing on his list.

‘I’d like to carry on working the Cathy Tanning job.’

‘Sorry, but that doesn’t make sense.’ Perhaps seeing the disappointment in Kelly’s face, he sighed. ‘Look, you identified the link between the two jobs. You were quite right to get in touch, and I really appreciate you coming to the briefing. You’re off-duty, right?’ Kelly nodded. ‘But the job needs to come to us. Any series will always be dealt with by the team dealing with the lead crime; in this case, that’s Tania Beckett’s murder, which puts the series under MetPol’s jurisdiction, not British Transport Police’s. As I’ve already made clear, I’m reserving judgement on whether this is a series, but if it is, your bag-dip victim may have narrowly escaped being a murder victim. That’s a job for MIT, not your Dip Squad.’

It was unarguable.

‘Could I work with you?’ The words were out before she’d had a chance to sense-check them. ‘A secondment, I mean. I investigated the Cathy Tanning job when it came in, and I can help with the Underground enquiries on your murder case – I know every inch of the Tube and you’ll need hours of CCTV footage, right?’

Nick Rampello was polite but to the point. ‘We’ve got enough resources.’ He gave her a smile which softened what came next. ‘Besides, I have a feeling working with you might be rather exhausting.’

‘I’m not inexperienced, sir. I spent four years on the Sexual Offences Unit in BTP. I’m a good investigator.’

‘As a DC?’ Kelly nodded. ‘Why are you back in uniform?’

For a second Kelly thought about bending the truth. Claiming she’d wanted more operational experience, or she was working towards her sergeant’s exam. But something told her Nick Rampello would see through her in a heartbeat.

‘It’s complicated.’

Nick surveyed her for a moment and she held her breath, wondering if he was about to change his mind. But he dropped his gaze and opened his daybook, the action dismissing her even before he spoke.