Chapter 54
Bradford
Acting DCS Nancy Chalmers hadn’t expected to enjoy being back in the major incident room quite so much. There was something about the constant smell of coffee combined with the gentle bustle of officers doing their thing – working on catching the bad guys. Also, on the plus side was that she’d escaped the mounting pile of paperwork that seemed to multiply every time she took an eye off it. If she hadn’t already decided that going for the DCS job when it came up wasn’t for her, this would have decided her. She was happy being a DCI – some paperwork, but still with direct contact with the investigative team – still in the loop, not some aloof DCS in an ivory tower becoming more and more distant from the actuality of an investigation, the more the paperwork ate you up.
She’d ignored her PA’s shocked expression when she’d told him to hold The Fort (ha ha – idiot hadn’t seen the humour in that) and to take care of the mulch that occupied her in tray – of course that had been figuratively speaking because they’d gone paper free – and the mulch was all saving trees in her email inbox. She’d glared at him as he’d attempted to convince her that her presence was more beneficial in her office in front of her computer, answering a whole load of inconsequential emails rather than proactively helping her team to catch a killer. He’d shut up soon enough when she’d growled at him and repeated the words, ‘Empty inbox – OK?’
Feeling deliciously free for the first time in a year, Nancy had flounced into the incident room announcing that ‘I’m all yours’ and proceeded to study the crime scene boards with a forensic eye.
It pleased her that she could see little that she would have done differently. Both Gus and Alice had their heads screwed on the right way and had directed a methodical and detailed investigation. Compo’s detailed insight from computer land had provided them with some good leads and Taffy’s diligence on the ground had eliminated many false ones. She was fascinated with the sketches, her eyes drawn continually back to them. She’d always considered herself to be one of Corrine McGuire’s best friends, yet she hadn’t for even a single moment stopped to consider that her friend’s early life might have been so very different from her own. Not that Nancy had been well off as a child, but she had been taken care of, not handed off to different families who were unable to empathise with a traumatised black kid, like Corrine had experienced. Perhaps that was what the younger ones meant by white privilege. Yes, Nancy had been unfairly treated because of her gender, the sexist comments, the sideways glances, the whispered comments behind her back. The fact that to get each and every promotion she’d worked harder and longer than her male counterparts – all of this had angered her – but her colour had never been a barrier. Corrine, on the other hand, had had to fight both to get to her position. White privilege, male privilege – it was all so senseless. Reaching out her finger, Nancy caressed Corrine’s cheek on the childhood sketch and under her breath vowed, ‘We’ll get this person, Corrine. Whoever he is, whatever his motive is for exposing your past, we’ll get him.’
Chapter 55
Scotland
Heart heavy, Gus trudged back to his mum’s car. His hands trembled as he tried to push his phone back into his pocket. He hadn’t decided what to do. Whether to tell his mum now or later. He wasn’t sure he could hold it together for the next leg of the journey, but neither was he sure she could take it right now either. The one thing he was certain of was that he had to tell her before they arrived at the psychiatric facility. He wished he could get Professor Carlton alone – sound him out on the matter, but he was already late returning to the car and Carlton was inside with his laptop open.
As Gus approached, his heart cracked when his mum stepped forward with a takeaway drink, a sandwich, and a chocolate cookie. ‘You need to eat, Angus. We’ve still got a couple of hours to go.’ She frowned as ever tuned into her son’s every mood. ‘You look peaky. Are you OK?’
Gus nodded and glanced away from his mum as he took the drink and food, knowing he had no stomach for either but that it was easier to accept. Professor Carlton looked out the window, a frown across his brow. He met Gus’s eyes, and, in that instant, Gus realised the professor had accessed the email that Compo had presumably sent to both of them. He inclined his head a little and gestured to the service station. Thrusting the drink back into his mum’s hands, he smiled, hoping it didn’t look as strained as it felt. ‘I need to go to the loo. Back in a sec.’
Carlton closed his laptop and struggled out of the car. ‘I’ll join you, Gus. Coffee always goes straight through me.’
Leaving Sadia and his mum moaning about ‘Men and their weak bladders’, the two men headed towards the toilets. ‘Compo emailed it to you too?’
Carlton nodded. ‘Is that what kept you?’
Gus nodded. ‘Yes, he phoned.’
Now that they were out of sight of the car, Sebastian stopped and turned to Gus. ‘Are you OK?’
Instead of nodding and dismissing the psychologist’s concern as he usually would, Gus thrust his hands through his dreads and shook his head. ‘I don’t have a fucking clue how I feel, and I don’t have a fucking clue how I’m going to tell her.’
Carlton placed his hand on Gus’s forearm. ‘This isn’t something you can tell your mum now. She
