'So,' said Faulds when the muted roar of an extractor fan kicked in,'down to business: why isn't she still in hospital?' The FLO pulled out her notebook. 'Discharged herself. She has a thing about doctors and nurses. Won't take witness protection either. Those Muppets were here earlier, trying to bully her into it.' 'Not acceptable. I'm not having the only surviving victim of the Flesher running around unguarded.' 'She doesn't want a guard; won't even let us put a patrol car outside the house. She wants to pretend it never happened. As far as Elizabeth Nichol's concerned, if you stick your head in the sand nothing can hurt you.' 'Then you'll have to stay.' Munro was lost for words. 'You ... what? I ...' 'You're her FLO aren't you?' 'But I'm supposed to be investigating her background, establishing victimology.' 'And do you really think that's more important than making sure she stays alive?' 'What?' 'Nothing's going to happen, but if anything does you'll be here to call for backup. We'll get a couple of cars doing lowprofile surveillance - Nichol won't even know about it - they'll be thirty seconds away. You see anything suspicious, you call them in. No heroics.' Munro tried again:'Look, sir, I'm supposed to be off at two, I've got--' 'Have you finished the background report yet?' 'I ... not as such, but--' 'Well, what have you done then?' 'I did the preliminary report.' Faulds didn't look impressed. 'You've been here all morning; where's the family history, work record, timeline?' 'I ... it's not easy, OK? She won't settle down for more than two minutes at a stretch. She's nervous. Probably still in shock.' 'Look,' said Faulds,'you've got an opportunity here to prove to everyone you're not a screw-up--' 'What? I'm not a screw-up! Who's saying I'm a screw-up?' 'After that business with William Leith--' 'That wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know he killed his wife? He said it was the Flesher: everyone--' 'Some people would think an experienced FLO wouldn't have made that kind of mistake.'
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