“Aw come on. I thought you could do it?”
“We could, but if the guy had any sense, he wouldn't have brought the phone with him. So it would likely be a wasted effort. I think your best bet would be to work the full list of names. Get alibis and do it that way. Old fashioned police work.”
“But you said you could investigate individual numbers?”
Gilmore laughed. “This isn’t a SO15 case. From what I read, it’s an attempted sexual assault. I mean, it’s not even a rape. The guy had a key. Sounds like someone the woman knows. Most of these things are, right?” He sniffed, then continued. “I’ll upload the list of names and their contact details as requested, but that's it. SO15 won't do anything else on it. We don't have the remit, never mind the time or resources. I don’t see why we should do it when you can get a warrant on the numbers and run them by the carriers yourself?”
“Because it’s way longer going by the book.”
She heard him tap on a keyboard. “The list is now in the case file,” he said. “Time for you to go knock on doors, Sergeant.”
96
Ian arrived at the Lloyd's building in Lime street around 9am on Monday morning. In his office, he hadn't even got as far as logging on to the computer when Paul came in. “We need to talk.”
Ian shrugged. “Sure.”
“Mark got fired.”
“Oh? Was it something to do with having sex with his girlfriend in a client’s house?”
“No.” Paul came closer and peered at Ian over his glasses. “It seems it was a security issue. Something to do with a viewer getting a copy of the keys.”
“You mean the viewer who let himself into our house and assaulted Alice in her bed?”
“It wasn't Mark's fault.”
“It wasn't Alice’s either.”
“You could help get his job back. Call the agency and praise Mark’s professionalism. Tell them the issue with the keys could have happened to anyone. Perhaps you left a spare set lying around?”
Ian rubbed his nose and squinted at Paul. “Seriously?”
“Yes, Ian. Seriously.”
“What about Alice?”
“What about her? I understand nobody raped her and the police are looking for the culprit. They'll soon catch him, and Alice will be fine. But Mark needs that job.”
“I’m sorry, Paul, but I can’t do that. I hold Mark responsible for Alice’s ordeal.”
Paul removed his glasses and his face darkened. He pointed the glasses at Ian. “I’ll let you consider this over the course of the morning, and I shall ask you again later. We’ll take 5 minutes before the team meeting at 14:30, and I shall expect a different answer.” He put his glasses back on and stormed out of the room.
Ian sighed and let his shoulders slump when Paul left. Christ, he thought. The Flanagan DNA must result in a lot of arseholes. I need to get out of this place. He logged on to his computer and groaned at the number of emails. Rather than face them, he decided to call Jo Page and wrangle his way out of the coffee. As he held his phone ready to call her, he admitted the truth to himself. He needed to end it with Jo. The guilt now exceeded the benefits, despite the ache of last night’s argument with Alice.
“Jo, hi.”
“Didn't think you'd call.”
“Look, I, um...”
“You need to cancel, huh?”
“Yes. Something came up.”
“Spare me the excuses, Ian. You want to end it, don't you?”
His eyes wandered around the desk as he spoke. “It’s just awkward with, you know, Alice...”
“Oh come on. At least have the courage to be honest with me. You owe me that.”
“I don't want to do this on the phone.”
Jo sighed. “I can take it. But I won't make it easy for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Say it. Say you don't want to see me anymore.”
He glanced to the photo of Alice on his desk, shook his head and looked away. “I’m sorry. But...”
“Say it.”
“Maybe I could call you in a few weeks?”
“When Alice moves back to Copenhagen?”
“I don't think that's going to happen.”
“I see.” There was an edge to her voice. “So what is going to happen?”
“I hate saying this, Jo.” He leaned back in the chair and looked to the ceiling. “Maybe it would be for the best.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Ian. Stop bullshitting.”
He clenched his fist until it hurt. “I don't want to end on bad terms.”
“Afraid I’ll tell her?”
Ian looked to the portrait of Alice again. “Let’s be adult about this, huh?”
She said nothing for a moment, then she sighed. “Goodbye Ian. And thanks for all the room service champagne.”
Before he could reply, she killed the call. He tossed the phone onto a pile of documents and started work on the email.
97
At 11:30 on Monday morning, Cole shifted from one foot to the other outside the ICU at Hammersmith Hospital. Either the Xanax he’d taken earlier hadn’t kicked in yet or he hadn’t taken enough. The nurse didn't smile like she usually did as she let him in, instead she nodded and avoided eye contact. When the implication dawned on him, Cole contemplated taking another pill, but he opted to wait and see how things went before taking any more. There was a good chance he’d need a higher dose later.
Cole went to the bed where Daz lay, but there was no sign of the doctors. He took a seat and pulled close to Daz. If
