components in the morning.
Then he could transport it to the place where it would demonstrate that the war on terror was definitely not being won. Yousef allowed himself a crooked smile. He’d show them what shock and awe really was.
‘You’re crazy,’ Paula said firmly. She’d thought it often enough, but there had never really been an appropriate or opportune moment to say it.
‘Which part is the crazy bit?’ Tony asked sweetly.
‘Which part isn’t?’ She looked around. ‘Have you got a wheelchair? Can we get out of here?’
‘No and no. You don’t need a cigarette to have a conversation.’
‘I do when it’s this crazy,’ she said.
‘You keep saying that. But just because Carol Jordan doesn’t want to pursue it doesn’t make it a crazy idea. She’s not infallible.’
Paula pointed at his leg. ‘And neither are you.’
‘I never said I was. The point is, Paula, this needs to be checked out. If I could do it myself, I would. But I can’t. Look at it this way. If I’m wrong, no harm done. But if I’m right, the investigation into Robbie’s death changes completely.’
Paula could feel herself wavering. She had to defend herself against his logic and against the debt she owed him for helping her back to dry land when she was drowning in her own misery and self-pity. ‘It’s easy for you to say, “no harm done”. It’s not your career on the line. I can’t go storming all over some other force’s ground and hope it won’t get back to the chief.’
‘Why should it get back to her? In the first instance, all I’m asking you to do is to talk to people. The local pub, the local dog walkers, Jana Jankowicz. I’m not saying, “Go down the nick in Sheffield and tell them they fucked up, can you see the paperwork on the murder they didn’t recognize.”’
‘Just as well,’ Paula grumbled. ‘Now that would be career suicide.’
‘See? I’m not asking you to do that. Just a few questions, Paula. You have to admit, it’s worth a look.’
And that was where he had her on the hook. She revered Carol Jordan. She knew she was maybe a little bit in love with her boss, But as he had implied, she knew better than anyone that the DCI sometimes got it wrong. Unconsciously, Paula rubbed her wrist. The wounds had long since healed, but there was still a network of fine scars barely visible across the base of her palm and her wrist. ‘It’s pretty thin,’ she said, trying to find a form of words to show she thought he might have something but which didn’t say flat out that Carol Jordan was wrong.
‘From what Carol tells me, thin is better than what you’ve got.’
Paula moved restlessly round the room. ‘Maybe not. Her and Sam, they’re off to Newcastle on a hot lead. Some stalker of Bindie Blyth’s who took a pop at Robbie outside the team hotel.’
Tony tutted. ‘Waste of time. I told her that when she called to say she wouldn’t be round tonight. When stalkers lose it, they want the world to know what they’re prepared to do for love. It’s John Hinckley trying to assassinate Reagan to make Jodie Foster love him. These are not secret squirrels, they’re shout it from the rooftop guys. Whoever killed Robbie, he wasn’t doing it to impress Bindie.’
‘And when exactly am I supposed to go and do these interviews?’ Paula said, realizing as soon as she’d spoken that she had capitulated.
Tony spread his hands, the picture of bewildered innocence. ‘Tonight? Now you’re off duty.’
‘ am not off duty,’ Paula said, teeth clenched and lips bared. ‘I am not even supposed to be here. I am supposed to be helping Chris deal with the avalanche of emails from the Best Days website so we can go back out tonight to Amatis with a pile of photos to see if we can ID any of them.’
Tony didn’t even flinch. ‘Well, maybe tomorrow, then?’
Paula kicked the end of his bed, hoping it hurt. ‘Stop playing the fool, Tony. You know the way we work. When there’s something big on, we work every hour God sends. There’s no such thing as overtime on the MIT. We sleep when it’s over.’
Tony shook his head. ‘Great speech, Paula. It might even work on somebody who doesn’t know how this MIT works. You talk a lot about teamwork. You fetishize the concept of a team. But I’ve seen you lot operate at close quarters. You’re like Real Madrid. A bunch of
Paula stopped in her tracks, shocked to hear Tony speak that way about Carol Jordan’s pride and joy. She didn’t think he had it in him to be so blunt about them. ‘You’re wrong,’ she said. It wasn’t even defiance, just an automatic denial.
‘I’m not wrong. Every one of you, you’re desperately trying to prove something. You live the job. And you all want to be the best, so you all go off on your own little missions.’ He sounded angry now. ‘When it works, it’s great. And when it doesn’t…’
‘Don Merrick.’ Paula fought to keep her voice cold and emotionless.
Tony smacked his fist into the mattress. ‘Damn it, Paula, let it go. It wasn’t your fault.’
‘He wanted to show us all that he deserved his promotion. That he deserved to be one of our elite little band.’ Paula looked away. There were some things she still didn’t like Tony to see. ‘You’re right. We are a law unto ourselves.’
‘So help me here.’
He was, she thought, utterly implacable. It made him a great clinician, that refusal to take no for an answer. But it made him a right pain in the arse sometimes too. She wondered how Carol dealt with it. ‘If I can,’ she said. ‘No promises.’
