Chapter 20

It was 7.15p.m. when Kim entered the squad room.

Bryant followed her in and headed for the coffee machine. Kim shook her head. She didn't intend to hang around long enough to drink it. The day had grown long, and she planned on dispatching her team imminently.

‘Anything from the shrink?' she asked. Katie had been at Bushey Fields for a few hours.

Stacey shook her head. ‘After my third call he refused to speak to me.'

Some hope of getting done by suppertime. If Katie hadn't been assessed by now, they weren't getting an answer on whether they could even question her until the morning.

‘Okay, I'll draw up a battle plan for tomorrow but tonight—Hey, Tink,' she said, seeing the familiar face in the doorway.

‘Hey, boss, got a minute?'

‘Of course,' she said, pointing towards the Bowl. ‘You need me…?'

‘No, no,' she said, closing the door behind her. ‘I don't mind you telling me I'm overreacting in front of everyone.'

‘Oookay,' Kim said as Tink took a seat at the spare desk.

‘I was there today,' she said, twisting her fingers together. ‘At Donkey Pool when they brought the body out of the water.'

‘Okay,' Kim said, still unsure what was going on. She'd heard there had been developments, but Keats had got to her first and saddled her with an open and shut case. ‘Your first dead body?' Was she traumatised? Did she need to talk? Did she need comfort, and if so what the hell was she doing here?

Tiff shook her head.

‘We were waiting for the call,' Penn said.

‘I wish you'd got it.'

Kim folded her arms. ‘We were assigned another case. Why, what's up?'

Tiff's troubled expression didn't look like she'd suffered personal trauma.

‘Something doesn't feel right. The guy's been missing for almost two years, and the last folks to see him are acting a bit weird. A woman and her son in his early twenties. She was upset; he wasn't bothered. He identified the body and then asked me out.'

‘After being in the morgue with Keats?' Stacey asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Not Keats. Body is over at West Brom. Post-mortem is tomorrow.'

‘Likely to be sent to Wolvo then,' Bryant offered.

‘Yeah, Dudley's stuck on a court case. I feel like this is gonna be passed around until it falls through the cracks,' Tiff said. ‘There's probably nothing forensically viable due to the time in the water, and no one is really fussed in chasing a result. His only relative lives abroad and they weren't particularly close.'

‘So what exactly is your problem?' Kim asked.

‘Something feels off with the partner and her son. There was a tension in the air. It was like I wasn't getting a truthful reaction, emotionally, from either of them.'

‘You think they're responsible?' Kim asked.

‘Yes. No. I don't know. I just didn't know what to do.'

‘So what do you want us to do?' Kim asked, not unkindly.

‘Investigate?' Tiff asked hopefully.

Kim understood the girl's frustration. She was in the process of making the transition from officer to detective. She'd come across a situation that didn't smell right, and she knew this case was going to fall by the wayside. It was a frustration Kim understood. Throughout her career, she had always done her utmost to ensure no one got left behind.

Problem was they had their own major investigation. They had their own victim in Sheryl Hawne. And although they might have some of the answers, they didn't yet have them all.

‘No,' Kim said.

Tiff's face dropped. ‘You won't investigate?'

Kim shook her head. ‘No, we won't. You will. Penn will help, and you'll work it together. I'll clear it with Inspector Plant and square it with Woody.'

Because Tiff was in training it would officially be Penn's case, and she would be assisting as she had done on other occasions.

There was not one time they had gone to this girl for help and been refused. She had a hunch, and they had a responsibility to help her either prove or disprove it.

‘Okay, briefing at seven, including you, Tink. Now get lost, the bloody lot of you.'