Bennett rewound the footage and froze the image again with the man’s face in profile. Then he clicked the cursor on file and print. As the wireless printer across the office powered up, Bennett fast-forwarded the footage at thirty times real-time speed. He gave it an hour, up to the time that Jamil had been found by Kate Walker, but neither Jamil nor the skinhead came back into shot. Bennett closed down the computer and went across to pick up the copies of the screen grab that he had printed off. He looked across at Delaney’s desk.
‘Help you with something?’ asked Jimmy Skinner.
‘Yeah,’ said Bennett and held out one of the pics he had just printed off. ‘Recognise this guy?’
Skinner looked at the photo. ‘Can’t say I do. No, sorry.’
‘No worries,’ said Bennett. ‘Maybe catch you later down the pub.’
Skinner gestured at his mound of paperwork. ‘Maybe.’
Bennett nodded and headed out. Skinner looked after him thoughtfully for a moment and then sighed and picked the next form up from the pile.
*
The Pig and Whistle was crowded. It always was at that time of night, and eighty per cent of the people in it were either on the job or civilian support staff from the station. Delaney was standing at the shorter bit of the L- shape of the bar that ran across one side of the room. Sally Cartwright was perched on a stool beside him, nursing a gin and tonic.
‘Are you going to drink that, Sally, or sip it to death?’ he asked, finishing his pint of Guinness.
‘I’m driving, sir.’
‘Very civic-minded of you!’ Delaney held his glass up to the Titian-haired barwoman. ‘Stick another large one in there for us.’
‘Sure thing, cowboy.’
‘Where’s your Saab, sir?’
Delaney winked at her. ‘Back at the ranch. One of the perks of having a doctor girlfriend up the stick is that she doesn’t drink. So I have to do it for both of us.’
Sally smiled. ‘Up the stick. Nice expression. You’d say that to herself, would you?’
‘Of course.’
‘Yeah, right.’
Delaney fixed her with a serious look. ‘Sure, would the devil not strike me down here in my very shiny shoes if I were to tell a lie?’
‘It will be me striking you down, Jack Delaney, you don’t watch it.’
Delaney turned round and grinned. ‘What did I tell you, Sally? Katy’s Kabs. Bang on time.’
Kate smiled despite herself. ‘Just get me a large orange juice. I’m going to powder my nose.’
Delaney watched her walking away, the smile lingering on his lips.
‘I don’t how she puts up with you, sir,’ said Sally.
‘To be perfectly honest with you, Sally, neither do I!’ He gestured at the barmaid again. ‘Angela, you beautiful thing, will you be after getting me a large orange juice?’ The barmaid grinned back resignedly as Bennett came into the pub and threaded his way towards them. ‘And a pint of …?’ He looked at Bennett questioningly.
‘Lager’s fine.’
The barmaid nodded and Delaney pointed at Bennett’s foot as he limped over to join them. ‘Industrial injury?’
Bennett laughed. ‘No, temporary infirmity.’
‘What from?
Bennett hesitated slightly. ‘I did it playing rugby last weekend.’
‘What position?’
‘Wing.’
‘Same here.’
‘You play?’
Sally laughed out loud and covered it with a cough. Delaney shook his head. ‘Used to. Long time ago …’
‘In a universe far, far away?’
‘Oh yeah! We’re definitely talking light years,’ said Sally.
‘You can get sent back to uniform very quickly, you know, detective constable.’
‘Sir.’ Sally pretended to look chastened.
Delaney took the drinks from the barmaid, handed her a tenner and gave Bennett his pint.
‘How did you get on with the footage?’
‘He finished his smoke and walked out of shot again. But someone did come up and have words with him. Looked like an argument or some drunk having a go at him.’
