Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone #10)(9)

‘Before we start, Woody has insisted on some assistance for us on this one. Not sure who or why but it’s a condition.’ And one she’d been unable to argue against. ‘And even more upsetting is that none of us is allowed to speak to, interact with, or engage the press in any way shape or form. That will be handled from above.’ A condition she’d been happy not to argue against.

‘That must have upset you, guv,’ Bryant observed.

‘Gutted,’ she answered.

Stacey stood poised at the board.

‘Okay, unknown female on one board and unknown male on the other.’ It irked her that she had no names but she hoped to change that as quickly as possible.

‘Beneath the male, add tattoo of Celtic band, homeless and biscuit wrapper.’

‘Huh?’ Stacey asked, turning.

‘In his throat,’ Kim said, keeping her voice even. She’d decided that thinking of it as a biscuit wrapper helped her objectivity, and distance.

‘Jesus, what’s that all about?’ Penn asked.

Kim shrugged.

Her team would know as little as possible.

Hopefully, they could find the sick bastard responsible before she had to tell them anything.

‘Okay, Penn, I want you on CCTV and Stace I want you on victim identification and the anonymous call to the police.’

‘And what about us, guv? What are we doing?’ Bryant asked.

She took a breath. ‘We, Bryant, are going back to the scene of the crime.’





Eleven





‘You really think it’s a good idea to say nothing to them?’ Bryant asked, as they headed out of the building.

‘What would you have me do, copy my personnel file and circulate it around the station?’ she snapped.

‘You don’t think you’re tying their hands a bit?’

‘Bryant, we’ve had this case approximately two hours and I’ve barely had a chance to tie my laces never mind their hands. They have the facts of the case and that’s all they need.’

‘So, who is this person coming to help us and what exactly are they going to be doing?’ he asked, deftly changing the subject.

‘I have no idea and I have no idea,’ she answered, as he pulled out of the station.

‘So, it was a condition of keeping the case?’ he asked, shrewdly.

‘I know, let’s pretend we have a double murder to solve and have us a conversation about that, shall we?’

‘Ah, I thought so,’ he said, knowingly. ‘But fair enough. I do have some questions about that. Who are these kids? How were they killed? How were they lured to the flat or are they squatters? Who made the anonymous call to the police? Was it intentionally planned for your on-call? Why the handcuffs? Why the wrapper in the mouth? How did…’

‘Jesus, Bryant, give it a rest and answer just one simple question for me.’

‘Which is?’

‘Are we bloody there yet?’





Twelve





‘Go on then, I’ll have another,’ Stacey said, reaching into the Tupperware box for a chocolate chip cookie.

‘Don’t remember offering,’ Penn said, without looking away from the screen.

‘Compensation for losing Betty so soon,’ she said, taking a bite and dropping crumbs onto her desk.

‘You snooze, you lose,’ he said, reaching for the headphones.

Stacey had learned by now that was Penn’s not so subtle way of saying he wanted total immersion in the job at hand. And that was fine by her. She could respect that.

‘So, what do you make of this case?’ she asked.

He shrugged. ‘I’ve worked a double murder before,’ he said.

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, haven’t we all, but isn’t something a bit off? Boss attends and it’s not a murder, next day it is and now we’ve got some help coming.’

Penn thought for a minute. ‘You know, responding to any of that is not gonna help me trawl through the CCTV any quicker,’ he said, putting on the headphones.

She’d already sent emails to every shelter and community centre in a 20-mile radius with a description of the unidentified victims and was waiting on a response. Mispers had turned up nothing so far.

Penn was tapping away furiously, and Stacey couldn’t help the smile that landed on her lips. She was done being subtle with her colleague.

‘We have nothing on Hollytree, so you’re wasting your time,’ she said, loudly.

‘And I’ll take your advice over the boss’s direct instructions, shall I?’

‘She’d expect you to work it out and spend your time productively,’ Stacey offered.

‘Yeah, yeah. You do know I’m not really new any more?’ he asked, lifting up one earphone.

She shrugged, happy that she’d tried to help. He should know by now there were times when you followed the boss’s instructions to the letter and times when you worked it out for yourself. Knowing which was which was a perilous journey and shouldn’t be attempted without safety equipment.

‘Hmm…’ Penn said, removing his earphones completely.

Stacey peered around her computer.

‘Ah, so now you want me?’ she asked.