DI Jack Frost 02 - A Touch of Frost

them as if they were my own,” said Frost.
    Ingram forced a smile. “That’s what he’s afraid of.” The smile immediately snapped off. As he went out, he had to push past an agitated Sergeant Johnny Johnson coming in.
    Frost jerked his head at the departing Ingram. “He doesn’t look too happy.”
    “Wife trouble,” said Johnny Johnson. “I’ll tell you someone else who doesn’t look too happy, Jack. Mr. Mullett. He’s been sitting in his office waiting for you for more than an hour.”
    Frost’s jaw dropped and he smacked his brow. “Flaming hell, I forgot all about the old git. I was on my way in to him when Sadie Eustace phoned.”
    “He knows all about your tryst with her as well, Jack. Mr. Allen has been putting the verbal boot in.”
    “He’s a darling man,” said Frost as he zipped through the door on his way to the Divisional Commander’s office.
    He was halfway down the passage when Police Constable Kenny, looking pleased with himself, grabbed at his arm. “We’ve got him for you, Mr. Frost. He’s in the interview room.”
    Frost’s spirits rose. “Who?” he asked hopefully. “The Denton rapist?”
    “No, sir, Tommy Croll, the security guard from The Coconut Grove. You said you wanted him picked up.”
    “Oh,” said Frost, trying not to sound disappointed. With so much else on his plate the robbery had completely slipped his mind. “Where did you find him?”
    “Sneaking back into his digs to pick up his clothes.”
    Frost patted the constable on the back. “Good work, young Kenny. Hold on, would you. Mr. Mullett’s waiting all eager to give me a bollocking, so I’d better get that treat over first. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes though.” And he plunged on down the corridor for his tryst with the Superintendent.

    “Come in,” growled Mullett, his head bowed over his midday post. He heard the door open and close. He looked up and there was Frost, in that shiny suit with the baggy trousers, out of breath and looking worried. Good. He would give him something to look worried about.
    “I asked to see you more than an hour ago, Inspector,” he observed icily.
    “Sorry about that, Super,” said Frost, searching his pockets for his cigarettes. Damn, he’d left them in the office. He looked hopefully at the silver cigarette box twinkling in the sunlight on Mullett’s desk. Mullett scooped up the box and locked it away in his drawer. Sometimes Frost had the gall to help himself without being asked.
    “This is your last warning, Frost. In future, when you receive a summons from me, you will be here, on the double.”
    Silence from Frost, who was looking very sorry for himself. He would look even sorrier before Mullett had finished. Mullett produced the copy of the Denton Echo , the editorial ringed in blue felt tip. He pushed it over to Frost. “Have you seen this?”
    “Not yet, sir.” Frost gave it the briefest of glances and chucked it back. “Load of balls.”
    “On the contrary, Inspector,” snapped Mullett. “What they are saying is painfully correct. A girl was raped last night. Have you interviewed her?”
    “Well, no,” said Frost, shifting from one foot to the other, “Detective Constable Harvey took a statement . . .”
    But Mullett wouldn’t allow him to finish. “A rape case. A girl raped and the officer in charge of the investigation doesn’t even bother to interview her personally.”
    “We were busy with her boyfriend last night,” retorted the inspector. “She claimed he raped her. We had to clear him first.”
    “Clearing the innocent does nothing to reduce our unsolved crime figures. Catching the guilty does,” snapped Mullett. “I further understand you haven’t yet made a search of the rape area.”
    “I was on my way to do it when I got your summons, sir,” said Frost, meeting Mullett’s stare of disbelief unwaveringly.
    “Make sure you do it, then. And have you interviewed the men on the list of suspects that Mr. Allen has drawn up?”
    I’ve not even opened his bloody files yet, thought Frost. “It’s my number-one priority,” he said.
    Mullett had plenty more bullets in the chamber. “What progress with that dead tramp?”
    “Not much joy up to now, sir,” said Frost.
    Mullett stared hard to show his dissatisfaction. Frost shuffled his feet and looked down to the blue Wilton. It sped things up if you looked contrite, and Frost was dying to get back to the office for a cigarette. “If there’s nothing else,