‘What else?’ Naylor was stood up now, face to face with Nowak.
‘Fuckin’ hell, mate, I dunno. I’d just been nicked, hadn’t I? Has she given you a hard on or what? Tell you what, if it means that much to you, I’ll find out who she is. It won’t take one of my lot too long to find out.’
‘Do it. I want to know everything. Trust me, Piotr, I’ll owe you big time.’
Naylor turned in his bunk, feigning sleep so he wouldn’t have to speak to Nowak again. He was consumed with thoughts of Maya. He lay shaking, feeling the walls close in tighter round him than ever before. He had grown used to being institutionalised, but the sight of her made him want to smash his way out of the prison with his bare hands. He took in a few steady, deliberate, calming breaths. He couldn’t afford to lose control. Not now. Not now he’d seen her. The only one consistent thing he had in this shithole was time, and he would bide his for as long as it took Nowak to find out the information he needed to know.
She really was a beautiful young woman. But that wasn’t why he was interested. It was more than that. It was uncanny how much she looked like her mother. He would have recognised her anywhere. He was desperate to get to know more about her. And then? And then he would find a way to be in her life, whether she wanted him there or not. It was his opportunity to settle a few scores. Marcus Naylor was looking forward to being reunited with his daughter.
19
Kym was waiting for Maya the moment she returned to Beech Field. ‘My office, NOW!’ she exploded before turning on her heel and storming into her office. Amanda smiled weakly at Maya, holding up her two crossed fingers and mouthing ‘good luck’.
Maya’s face was burning, and she swallowed drily as she scuttled after Kym.
‘Shut the door,’ Kym hissed. Her arms were crossed on the desk in front of her and she didn’t speak for a moment as she watched Maya sink nervously into the chair opposite her. Eventually, she flung her glasses down on the desk and raked her hand through her hair.
‘For Christ’s sake, Maya, one minute you’re talking to corpses the next you’re sharing your half-baked conspiracy theories with the local gutter press. What’s next? Are you planning on conspiring with the local criminals?’
‘No! Of course not! I’d never do anything like that. It was a genuine mistake… I arrived at the scene and the way he called me over and spoke to me made me think it was DS Dwyer.’
‘Think,’ Kym bellowed. ‘THINK? You’ve made it abundantly clear, Maya, that the one thing you don’t bloody well do at a crime scene is think. Now thanks to you, I’ve got to go to a meeting at top office and explain to them why the press are circulating rumours that we have a serial killer in our midst.’
Maya cringed. Top office was the term given to the forensic services headquarters. Although all the SOCOs, including Kym, were part of the police force, they were a civilian unit answerable to their own senior leadership team. Knowing her indiscretion was going to be made public knowledge to the powers that be made a bad situation even worse.
‘I also have to explain,’ Kym continued, ‘why a journalist has quoted you as saying that you’re going to “scrape her up and ship her off to the corpse-cooler”. Do you have any idea how crass and unfeeling that sounds to the general public? Do you know how damaging that is going to be to the reputation of this force? The suggestion that we treat people like pieces of meat?’
Maya attempted to interject but Kym raised a hand to silence her.
‘I have warned you before about making stupid assumptions, yet you have completely disregarded this and spoken to a journalist – a bloody journalist – about your ridiculous conspiracies. This not only reflects badly on you, but all of us as a department, not to mention the force. You have just played into the hands of all the people out there who are quick to discredit and judge us. You’ve made us all look like an unprofessional laughingstock and now I have to take the brunt of your actions.’
‘But… I…’
‘But nothing. Now, bearing in mind you’re still under your probationary period, I think you really need to buck your ideas up. Start to think seriously about whether you’re cut out for dealing with major crime or whether you should be bounced back to Alder Street and left to fingerprinting stolen mopeds, where you can cause minimal damage.’
‘Kym, I am so sorry.’ Maya was perched on the edge of her seat now, desperate to make amends, but Kym dismissed her again with a wave of her hand.
‘I’m going to top office now and I will try to dilute this situation in the hope that we can both keep our jobs. In the meantime, you can go and debrief DI Redford. DI Mitton has also just come on duty and is understandably keen to know what the hell is going on. They’re both expecting you. Then I want you to process any exhibits from today and leave a copy of your scene notes on my desk. And woe betide I find you’ve left anything wanting.’
Maya’s heart was in her toes. As much as she was dreading having to go and explain herself to DI Redford and DI Mitton, she was convinced it wouldn’t be as bad as the dressing down she had just received from Kym. She was shaking with nerves and embarrassment. The urge to walk out of Beech Field and life as a SOCO was suddenly very tempting.
20
The Evening News had a field day with the quotes
