Flyte

FLYTE

Monday morning saw and Streaky driving north to an industrial estate where the ambulance call centre covering Camden was located. Rather than going through the bureaucratic process of emailing a request and waiting for permission, his strategy was simply to turn up in person.

‘Nothing concentrates the mind like the flash of a warrant card,' he told her with a wink as he parked in the near-empty car park. He hauled himself out of the pool car and followed, her nerves still jangling from the ride: Streaky appeared to have picked up his driving technique from one of those old TV cop series.

They made their way into the call centre – housed in a nondescript low-rise red-brick building that could have been a storage facility were it not for the row of ambulances parked outside.

‘Why bring me though?' asked him, after they'd announced themselves at reception. She'd been wondering why he was allowing her to take such a big role in his investigation.

‘Oh, it never hurts to have a pretty face along,' he said.

She saw his wind-up grin in time. ‘Very funny.' Before going on, ‘Just don't go thinking any of this means I'm going to pull my punches when it comes to compiling my report.'

‘What, even if I treat you to a pie and mash afterwards?' asked Streaky.

They'd been advised that 8 a.m. would be the optimal time to visit, offering the nearest thing to a lull after a night of mayhem. And as the manager ushered them onto the open-plan call-centre floor, there was a definite ‘after the deluge' feel about it, and the smell of sweat and stale coffee in the air. At the first desk they came to a woman in her thirties, wearing a dark-green uniform, stretching and yawning.

‘Oh sorry!' she said, seeing her visitors, hastily clearing away a torn-open packet of Doritos into the bin.

‘Don't apologise,' said Streaky.

The manager introduced the woman as Holly, the team leader for the emergency medical dispatchers. He left them to it and Streaky explained that they were looking for any call-outs to a ‘Sophia Angelopoulos, also known as Bronte'. Adding her date of birth.

Holly's eyes widened at hearing the name, but all she said was, ‘And the timeframe?' before starting to tap at her keyboard.

‘We don't have one really,' said apologetically. ‘But could we search the last year to start with?'

It was only a moment before Holly shook her head. ‘Nothing under either of those names I'm afraid. Do you have an address and postcode?'

Streaky gave her Bronte's last two addresses: her previous place in Gospel Oak – a flat that she and Ethan Fox had shared for several months – and her canal-side apartment.

Holly's hands flew over the keyboard. ‘Nothing coming up.' Then she tapped in her latest address.

‘Here you go!' she said, beaming and angling the screen towards them. ‘Last September the fourteenth, at 1.03 p.m. a 999 call from a woman in distress, breathing difficulties. It was deemed a Category 1 – life threatening.'

The mobile number the call came in from wasn't Bronte's – or Ethan's, but of course he could have changed his phone in the interim.

‘When did the ambo get there?' asked Streaky.

Holly peered at the screen. ‘Eight minutes. Just outside the seven-minute target.'

‘What was her condition?'

Holly pulled an apologetic shrug. ‘We can't access the clinical details, they will have been archived along with the 999 call recording. You'll have to apply for those.'

‘Did she get taken to hospital?' This from Streaky.

Tapping the keyboard again, she shook her head. ‘That ambulance stayed at the address for about an hour before being sent to another location, so no. Unless she was a walk-in to A & E later.'

Streaky and shared a frustrated look.

Holly's gaze went between the two of them. ‘I can tell you the team who attended – they might remember something?' She did some more tapping. ‘Here you go .?.?. Gary Walbrook and Yasmin Chowdhury.'

‘How can we get hold of them?'

‘You're in luck,' said Holly, checking the clock. ‘They were based here last night and their shift ended twenty minutes ago. They'll be in the canteen.'