“Depends who you work for, I suppose. He works in the family business, and I think it’s struggling. But I haven’t told you that.”
“My lips are sealed, you can count on me. Does Tony love it there?”
“Yep. He keeps having a go at me, insisting we should’ve moved to Norfolk years ago. Now we’re living next door to Sally, it’s just perfect.”
“What’s the betting you get roped in to doing some police work up there?”
“Funny you should say that…Sally has asked me and Tony if we fancy delving into a case she’s just solved. The perp has killed numerous victims over the years, and apparently there are likely dozens more the police don’t know about. She wants us to try and find out who the vics are.”
“Really? Sounds intriguing and daunting at the same time. Will you do it?”
“We’re still debating it. It’s probably on the cards, though. Carol rang the other day, told me to pass on her best wishes to you and also wanted to mention that she’s available if you should need her and her psychic abilities going forward.”
“Umm…well, you know how I feel about that side of things. Let me ponder that for a while. I know Charlie is close to her, I can see her possibly twisting my arm to use her in the future.”
“She’s a good egg, don’t discount using her out of hand.”
“I won’t. I’m not as against the idea as I used to be. We’ll see what happens. Right, I’d better crack on with this damn paperwork, you know what it’s like first thing in the morning around here.”
“Hey, I bet it’s preferable to mucking out the kennels on a daily basis.”
“I doubt it. At least you get to play ball with the inmates afterwards.”
They both laughed.
“True enough. I’m always on the end of the phone if you need my help with anything, you know that, don’t you?”
“I do. Now bugger off. Have a good day.”
“I can take a hint. Speak soon, and send my congratulations to AJ and Georgina, too. Don’t forget you have an open invitation to visit us.”
“I appreciate that more than you know, Lorne. It was lovely catching up. Much love.” Katy ended the call, and the phone rang immediately. “DI Katy Foster,” she replied without hesitation.
“It’s Mick on reception, ma’am. There’s been a major incident that I think you would be interested in.”
“I would, would I? Which is?”
“Sometime yesterday afternoon, there was a crash on the Thames.”
“Okay, what does that have to do with the Murder Squad, Mick?”
“All right. I’m hearing things on the grapevine that I think you should be hearing.”
“You’re not making any sense. Run that by me again, if you would?”
Mick ran through what they knew about the incident and sighed. “Now do you see?”
“Okay. Charlie and I will go over there now. I take it the pathologist and SOCO will be finished by now, right?”
“I think SOCO are still at the scene.”
“Thanks for the info.”
Katy left the office and surveyed the incident room, pleased to see the rest of the team had arrived and had got to work.
“Listen up, folks. News just in that an incident occurred on the Thames yesterday afternoon. Charlie and I are going to take a trip out there to see what actually went on. Karen, can you see what you can discover on the system? Ring me as soon as you find anything.”
“I’ll get on it now.”
Katy and Charlie left the building and drove to the crime scene.
“Mum sends you her love,” Katy announced during the drive.
“Is she okay? Last I heard she was debating whether to help DI Parker with a cold case up there.”
“Yeah, she told me. She’ll do it, I have no doubts about that. If she’s considering it, she’ll find it hard not to get involved.”
“Yep, I think the same.”
“She’s so damn proud of you, Charlie.”
“Aww…that’s wonderful to hear. I’ve done my best to remain level-headed over the years. I think it has paid off in my personal and professional life so far.”
“Things can only get better for you. Having a supportive partner is an added bonus, too, take my word for that.”
“AJ is to be admired, giving up a career to raise a child. Not every man is up to the task. Dad did his best but failed once I hit my teens.”
“His heart was probably in the right place. Your mum used to tell me how difficult it was for him to get back to having a career. He was a mechanic, wasn’t he?”
“Still is, off and on. When the work dries up, he’ll do anything that’s on offer. Enough about personal stuff, I’ve had my fill for the day. It’s being in work mode that gets my heart pumping.”
“I hear you. We’re almost there, judging by the black smoke ahead of us.”
“And this happened yesterday?”
“Yep, hard to believe it’s still burning.”
The scene was cordoned off. Two uniformed officers guarded the perimeter against the burgeoning crowd, all straining their necks for a closer look.
“Why can’t people get on with their miserable lives?” Katy complained. She pressed the key fob to lock the car and strode towards the barrier.
After flashing their warrant cards, Katy and Charlie dipped under the tape and made their way over to the SOCO technicians working the scene.
James Baldwin, the head SOCO on site, smiled at them. “Hi, I wondered when one of your team would show up.”
Katy shrugged. “It would have been a lot sooner if someone had bothered to call us. Can you give me a quick rundown on what we have here? There seems to be some confusion as to whether it was an accident or something else.”
“I’m not surprised. As you can see, it’s still burning, keeps erupting every time the fire brigade leaves the scene, yet to be determined why that is. In between time, members of my team have managed to climb aboard. That’s when things escalated more into your realms.”
“How so?”
“We found four bodies on board. Three males and
