Chapter 21

Chapter 21

‘What a complete and utter waste of time that was …'

DC Paul Jennings marched across the incident room, angrily tossing his jacket onto his chair, turning to face his colleagues. A couple looked away, unwilling to get involved, but DC Reid turned to him, always a willing audience.

‘The old boy I spoke to pulled over in the underpass to make a phone call. Big fucking deal!'

Exasperated, Jennings tossed his wallet and phone onto his desk, the latter landing with a heavy thunk.

‘Took me half an hour to get there,' he continued, aggrieved. ‘Best part of twenty minutes for him to shuffle to the front door and then another half-hour to get out of there, whilst he banged on about his dead wife, then the drive back. Two hours wasted. Two hours that could have been spent doing proper policework.'

‘True enough,' DC Reid replied, nodding, as DC Edwards joined them.

‘Same for me,' Edwards added. ‘Guy I spoke to worked for the council. He was in the tunnel for ten minutes last night, checking the overflow drains. Showed me his itinerary, his inspection report, everything was totally kosher. Smashing bloke too.'

‘Exactly. But because of Grace, you've wasted his time, your time, and for what? A wild goose chase for a kid who'll turn up in a day or two embarrassed and apologetic, wondering what all the fuss was about. All this whilst there's a gunman running around out there who wouldn't think twice before pulling the trigger on someone else. Honestly, the whole thing is a bloody farce …'

Jennings looked at Reid and Edwards, expecting both approval and confirmation, but suddenly his colleagues looked sheepish. And before he had even turned around, Jennings realized why.

‘Is there a problem, DC Jennings?'

He turned to face DI Grace, who had slipped back into the interview room, without betraying any embarrassment or unease.

‘The lads and I were just discussing operational priorities,' he replied coolly.

‘And what was the collective conclusion?' Grace replied, eyeing up Reid and Edwards, both of whom avoided her gaze.

Jennings paused, considering his options. Should he back down, making weak excuses or go on the offensive? Irked, he opted for the latter.

‘Well, we were just saying …' he replied, casting his eye around the incident room, ‘that we feel that we should be out hunting real criminals, pursuing real cases, rather than prioritizing teen runaways.'

The room had suddenly gone quiet, his colleagues surprised by his boldness. But fortune favoured the brave, Jennings had always believed that, and he felt too strongly about it to back down now.

‘A teenage girl not worthy of your interest, DC Jennings?'

I didn't say that.'

‘That's what it sounded like to me.'

‘Look, as yet there's no evidence of any crime having been committed,' Jennings insisted, but his intervention was short-lived, his superior talking over him.

‘On the contrary, there is strong evidence that Naomi Watson has been abducted, probably by a stranger, and is potentially in grave danger.'

Jennings puffed out his cheeks, but Grace was not deterred.

‘I can see why you might prefer to focus on the male victim of last night's shooting, why you might want to prioritize a case that's more high profile, more glamorous, but let me be very clear. In my opinion, there is a genuine and immediate threat to Naomi Watson's life and I expect every member of my team to pull out all the stops to find her. No exceptions, no free passes, everyone plays their part.'

She was glaring at him, but Jennings refused to break eye contact. Though she clearly held the whip hand in this confrontation because of her seniority, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of backing down.

‘To which end, I'd like you to go back over all local missing persons cases over the last six months to see if there were any other cases that might have a bearing on Naomi's disappearance.'

Jennings could hardly believe it. Having distracted him from his duties, was she now intent on humiliating him too?

‘Similar circumstances, similar MO, similar victim profile, anything that might throw light on her abduction. Quick as you can, please.'

Having delivered this punishment, Grace pivoted, marching swiftly across the room to her office. Seething, Jennings turned to look at Reid and Edwards, who were shaking their heads, similarly confounded by Grace's priorities and leadership. This was some consolation, the sense that he was not alone in his frustration and disquiet, and Jennings was momentarily buoyed by this show of solidarity. Grace was his boss and obviously he had no choice but to comply with her orders, but for how long? The consensus amongst the team was growing, their sense of disillusionment plain as day.

Helen Grace was losing it.