She sighed.
‘That surprise you?’
‘I thought he was an OK bloke, you know? Fair. Turns out…’
‘… he’s just like the rest of us?’
She glared at him, her eyes fierce.
‘We’re not all the same,’ he said. He studied her for a moment, took a pull on his cigarette. ‘What about you?’ he tried to sound casual. ‘You seeing anyone?’ He smiled.
‘Only my husband,’ she retorted.
Shap’s face fell. He liked Andrea, young and pretty, with a bit of a gob on her – but husbands he could do without.
Shelley bustled into the room, peeling off a tight, white leather jacket. ‘What’s going on?’
‘They’ve arrested Jimmy.’
‘What for?’
‘Rosa.’
‘’Kin ‘ell.’ Shelley stared at Shap. ‘That right?’
He nodded.
‘God!’ she exclaimed. ‘That is really creepy. That’s horrible, that is. What about this place? What’ll happen?’
‘We haven’t charged him,’ Shap told her.
‘But you’ve taken him in,’ Andrea said.
‘Just think, could have been any of us,’ Shelley said dramatically to Andrea. ‘Working with him, day in day out. Turns my stomach. That poor girl.’
‘Don’t hang your boots up just yet,’ Shap said crossing over to the door. ‘Innocent until proven guilty.’
The looks they gave him, full on and cynical, said it all.
‘Yeah,’ Andrea folded her arms, ‘you’re just saying that in case you can’t pin it on him.’
‘You wouldn’t arrest him if you hadn’t something on him,’ Shelley added.
Shap held up a hand. ‘Happens all the time. He lied to us, we don’t like that.’
‘And he was sleeping with her,’ Andrea told Shelley.
‘He never was.’
Andrea nodded.
‘They’re always prime suspects,’ Shelley said knowingly.
‘The bastard,’ Andrea said quietly and a silence settled between them.
At the station, Harper immediately demanded his own solicitor. While arrangements were made, Richard and Janine caught up with other events, taking reports from officers staffing the incident room.
‘All known haunts covered for Stone – no joy,’ Richard summarised.
‘Someone must know where he is,’ Janine complained. The man’s face had been plastered the length and breadth of the country ‘Any more sightings in Warrington?’
They looked at the log. Nothing had been added in the last few hours. ‘Did you speak to them?’ she asked Richard.
‘Butchers did. But maybe…’
They might get more cooperation from the neighbouring force if a request came from a more senior rank. Janine nodded. ‘I’ll call – though it looks like he’s moved on going by that log.’
‘Boss.’ Another detective constable had brought them coffee and biscuits. Janine took a cup and chocolate bourbon; she bit into the biscuit and took a sip of the drink. Drinkable. Just. She had her own coffee maker in her office but when things got crazy like this there wasn’t time to stop and make a decent brew. So much for her fond imaginings of relaxed child-free coffee breaks.
